Warbler Migration EXPLODES — Is This the Week I Hit 200 Species?!?! | Essex County Little Big Year

Week 19 and the floodgates opened. This week the warblers started moving through, and Essex County delivered in a big way — will I (or some would say, already...) hit my 200 species goal this week???? Parker River NWR was the engine this week. Warblers everywhere: Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, Cape May, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Chestnut-sided, Nashville, Wilson's, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Ovenbird — most of them lifers for me, stacking up fast. Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting, and Bobolink rounded out the songbird wave. On the shorebird side, Wilson's Phalarope was a standout, along with White-rumped Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Black-bellied Plover. A Lincoln's Sparrow triggered the rare bird alert — it's primarily a fall migrant in the region, so a spring showing was unexpected. Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, White-eyed Vireo, Veery, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Least Flycatcher, White-crowned Sparrow, and Bobolink also checked in. Topsfield Fairgrounds added Spotted Sandpiper. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary came through with Wood Thrush (beautiful!). Martin Burns WMA in Newbury rounded things out with Blue-winged Warbler and Magnolia Warbler. 🐦 Species added this week: American Redstart Bay-breasted Warbler Black-bellied Plover Blackburnian Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Blue-winged Warbler Bobolink Cape May Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Common Yellowthroat Eastern Kingbird Great Crested Flycatcher Green Heron Indigo Bunting Least Flycatcher Lincoln's Sparrow Little Blue Heron Magnolia Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Waterthrush Ovenbird Scarlet Tanager Semipalmated Sandpiper Spotted Sandpiper Veery White-crowned Sparrow White-eyed Vireo White-rumped Sandpiper Wilson's Phalarope Wilson's Warbler Wood Thrush 📍 Locations: Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary (Mass Audubon), Ipswich Martin Burns WMA, Newbury Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport Topsfield Fairgrounds, Topsfield 00:00 Introduction 02:57 Shore Birds 08:00 Song Birds 12:00 Flycatchers 13:16 Thrushes, Raptors, Vireos 14:42 Warblers 21:00 Topsfield Fairgrounds 23:35 Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary 25:53 Year Totals Find this content and more on the Wayfaring Warbler YT channel — search @WayfaringWarbler to find us! 📷 Nikon Z6III + 180–600mm Cover Photo Featured Bird: Blue-winged Warbler