Date: 4/29/25 2:07 pm From: Matt S. <accipiter22...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] April 29, 2025 Parker River NWR Newburyport - A brief warbling
Hi All,
Radar looked great last night, so this morning I headed over to Parker. Folks had been reporting a pretty good haul right after it opened, but by time I got there it looked like the party was over. I liken these days to a volcano that explodes once and then goes silent again. I saw / heard a few yellow-rumps, and at Pines had a quartet of Parula, and a B&W, but other than that not a ton. A killdeer is nesting right in the middle of the maintenance shed area. I almost tripped on it before it shouted at me. There was a single egg in the nest. On my way back, staff was cordoning off the area to give the bird space. Not a ton else to report, earlier in the day there were BTG, Blue-Winged, Ovenbird, etc. in good numbers.
Coolest part of the trip was that Sam Z had spotted a flight line of warblers leaving the island, by the maintenance area, and sure enough, over the curves and heading inland was this constant flow of warblers. Too distant to pick out firm IDs, along with starting to get hit by the sun from the vantage point I was viewing. I had 75+ over a period of time, in groups of 4 or 5, and Sam had reported it quite some time prior to my arrival. I assume they had made landfall overnight and reorienting to get further inland and continue on their journey. It's like a bowl full of warblers, and it was draining for who knows how long, hours probably.
That's all for now, sighting list below.
Matt S. Newton, NH <Accipiter22...> --------------------------- Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) X Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 2 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 4 American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) 2 Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) 2 Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 2 Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 1 Willet (Tringa semipalmata) X Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) X American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus) X Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) 6 Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) 2 Great Egret (Ardea alba) 4 Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 1 Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 2 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1 American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 1 Common Raven (Corvus corax) 1 Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 2 Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 4 Purple Martin (Progne subis) 8 Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) 2 American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 2 House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 3 Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) 2 American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 15 Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) 1 White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) 8 Savannah Sparrow (Savannah) (Passerculus sandwichensis [sandwichensis Group]) 3 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 16 Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 15 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 6 Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 2 Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 6 Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) 1 Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) 4 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) (Setophaga coronata coronata) 6 new world warbler sp. (Parulidae sp.) 75 flight line heading inland, it was much higher than this as Sam had been watching for a while, but in the time I spent there they were rolling through in groups of 5 or 6 for a good amount of time. Too distant and sun-blinded to pick out IDs
