Warbler wrapup, 2023

 

In the past, I've fretted about my year's warbler numbers going up and down, but I think I've finally realized that one observer, in one small yard in Somerville, is just way too small a lens.  That said, my numbers were decent this year -- 26 individuals, across nine species.  And I was even away for a critical window, from the 6th to the 9th of May (I was in Cape May, New Jersey, where, ironically enough, I saw almost no warblers, despite some diligent looking).

Magnolia was the winner this year, with six individuals, across a range of days.  Common yellowthroat was just behind, with five, then four black-and-whites, and four ovenbirds.  Those patterns have been pretty typical over the years.  But unusually this year, I had three new species for Somerville:  Canada, Tennessee, and bay-breasted.  Unfortunately, I only got pictures of the Tennessee, and they were of a quality I would describe as sub-masterpiece:

These sightings were all from my yard, since I scarcely ventured out into Somerville to look for warblers elsewhere.  And beyond warblers, there wasn't much -- more hummingbirds than usual, a few flycatchers, and that was that.  The last flycatcher showed up on June 8th, which seemed unusually late.  Somebody forgot to make themselves a calendar alert, I guess.