Date: 10/11/25 6:37 pm From: Matt S. <accipiter22...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] October 11, 2025 Mount Auburn Cemetery Cambridge – Autumn Big Day - Several DOZEN warblers in one tree..
Hi All,
I had not gotten out on Cornell’s Big Days as much as I wanted to the past
two years, so I made it a point to get out today, and head to Mount
Auburn. Usually around now there are a few trees near Willow Pond that are
exploding with warblers as their leaves turn. Today though, I found that
the trees were still largely green. We have only had one day of the
lightest frost one can have, it seems that much of the cemetery is holding
on to summer or early autumn still, despite that one rush of migrants we
got earlier this week with the chilly day or two. In fact I saw no
“typical” migrants, aside from some red-breasted nuthatches, and a couple
of swamp sparrows that are not residents. I ran into a fellow birdwatcher
who said “I’m looking for a bird. Any bird. Have you seen one?” That
captured the general feeling at the time. After wandering the ponds and
dells, taking some video along the way, I decided to check over at Halcyon
and there things really heated up.
I ran into someone who had just seen a Wilson’s in a turning sugar maple,
and right away I picked up a lot of movement in the tree. The first bird I
spotted was an apparently late Parula, although eBird marked it as rare I
have a lot of pictures over the years of parula around now. Right after
that was an orange-crowned warbler, right next to a Tennessee. They were
gorging and flitting about. The wilson’s popped back up, as did what
appeared to be a least flycatcher. There was plenty activity there to keep
everyone occupied, and I ran into AG & JG who offered to show me this
apparently insane tree between Magnolia and Birch Ave. They had 40(!!!)
blackpoll warblers on it this week, along with other stuff apparently
gorging on some insect outbreak.
As we walked up I saw what is usually a good sign; other birders looking at
the tree. Upon approach the tree, which is on Butternut Path, it gave the
impression of being shaken by a breeze that had somehow woven among the
surrounding trees without touching any of them, yet violently shaking this
particular one. I realized it was from DOZENS of warblers ravaging the
insects that must be there. I was somewhat stunned, I have not encountered
anything like this, ever, really. They were coming down to eye level,
oblivious to our presence. The dominant species, as earlier in the week
apparently, was blackpoll warbler, although there were a lot of
yellow-rumps, a parula, some kinglets, and other birds mixed in. The
blackpoll eventually decided to head to a nearby tree, and flew out one by
one for about 90 seconds, making a count easy. I counted THIRTY-THREE that
came out of this single somewhat small tree. There were over 4 dozen
birds in this single tree. On closer inspection you could see what
appeared to be some aphids on it, and on a stone below the tree there were
hundreds of lady bug larvae and adults gorging on them. I could have stayed
in this one little area for hours, I have never seen anything quite like
this.
After that I walked back to my car, somewhat dazed by the sheer density of
warblers I had just seen. It was like one of those fall-out days you come
across, but isolated to a single tree. I NEVER go over to this part of the
cemetery either, or if I do, it is passing through. Mount Auburn is such a
wonderful place, and I have a usual loop I make, and then there are
secondary spots I will hit every couple of trips. I think this experience
points out the value in heading to other spots within our patches that may
be overlooked.
