Bird Sightings: May-june 1999 Summary

May 1999 was dry with normal temperatures, averaging 58.2° in Boston.It was a good month weatherwise for birders, with comfortable temperatures and very little wind.In Boston, the high for the month was 87° on May 31, which was the first 80° reading of the year, well later than the average date of May 6. Coastal sea breezes kept the temperature down along the coast and warmest temperatures were mainly recorded inland.Rainfall totaled 2.70 inches, with measurable amounts falling on just nine days.There were increased grass and forest fire alerts, since May was the third dry month in a row.There was little wind recorded; in fact, this was the month with the lowest average wind recorded for Boston since 1973.During the first nine days of the month, the light winds were unfortunately from the east or northeast, with fog recorded on May 3-9.Those favorable winds for birders, southwest, were noted on May 14, 25, 26, and 30.Other days with a southerly flow were noted on May 16, 17, 23, 24, 28, and 31.June was a wonderful month for those seeking tans, with over 62 percent of possible sunshine recorded.June, however, was also very hot and extremely dry.The temperature averaged 71° in Boston, 3.3° above normal, and this was the seventh hottest June in 129 years of record.The high reached 97° on June 7, and many communities west of Boston exceeded 100°.Temperatures over 80° were recorded on more than 16 days in the month in Boston.Rainfall was just a trace, a new record low for June and equaling March 1915 as the two driest months in 129 years of records.R. H. S. LOONS THROUGH WOODPECKERSOne hundred and eighty Red-throated Loons were still lingering off Tuckernuck in mid-May, and a late Pacific Loon was identified off Cape Ann.A pair of Pied-billed Grebes, present in Westminster for the entire month of May, may have nested locally, an event that is becoming increasingly rare in Massachusetts.A Western Grebe was photographed off Magnolia in mid-May.Most state records of this rare visitor occur in winter.Cory's Shearwaters typically arrive in the warmer waters south of the Cape and Islands in late June and early July following the completion of their breeding season in the eastern Atlantic.One hundred Cory's arrived on schedule south of Martha's Vineyard, where roughly 50 Leach's Storm-Petrels were also seen.The petrels were over 100 miles from the nearest known nesting colony at Penikese Island in the Elizabeth Islands (moreover, this colony contains only a few pairs, not nearly enough to account for this total), and roughly 200 miles from the nearest nesting Islands in the Gulf of Maine where hundreds breed.While petrels often forage far from their colonies, the birds off Martha's BIRD OBSERVER 267 Sightings for May/June 1999 Sightings for May/

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