Bird Sightings: September-october 1998 Summary

Weather for fall migration was ideal.September was warm and sunny, while October brought cool temperatures and more sunshine than normal.The average temperature in September was 66.3" in Boston, with a high of 88" on September 6 and a low of 46" on the 24th.In October, the first half of the month was quite cool and the last half of the month was mostly on the mild side.The temperature averaged 54.5° in Boston, with October 18 reaching a high of 77, the low for the month was 38" on the 27th.Winds were out of the northwest, the most favorable direction for southbound migrants on September 8, 9, 11, and 23.Favorable winds were even more frequent in October, occurring on October 9, 15, 16, 22 29, 30, and 31. R. H. S. LOONS THROUGH WOODPECKERSA Pacific Loon still in breeding plumage was carefully (albeit briefly) scrutinized as it flew by Andrew's Point in Rockport.The Eared Grebe that had spent the previous four winters in East Gloucester arrived in early October.The only Northern Fulmar reported during the period was at Stellwagen Bank, and the only Cory's and Audubon's Shearwaters were noted at Hydrographer Canyon, at the continental shelf break, south of Nantucket.Whereas Cory's typically ranges north at least to Cape Cod in mid summer through the fall, Audubon's Shearwater is virtually never seen away from the warm waters over the continental slope.A count of thirteen Great Egrets in Wayland represented an above-average total for an inland site.A report of a juvenile Little Egret in Chatham, September 9, currently being reviewed by the MARC, would represent the first record of a juvenile in the state, and one of the first anywhere in North America.A juvenile Little Egret was also reported from Block Island, R.I., five days after the Monomoy sighting.If either of these two reports are accepted by the respective state committees, the central question will become, "where did these birds hatch?"Now that this species is nesting in the West Indies (albeit in small numbers), and spring/summer sightings of adults in New England have become annual, close attention should be given to local Snowy colonies.A Snowy Egret in Marlboro was noteworthy so far inland.The only Greater White-fronted Goose noted during the reporting period was found in a cranberry bog in Carlisle.A remarkable Snow Goose flight October 3-5 was most unusual in that virtually all the birds were seen at the immediate coast.In fact, many of those noted from the shoreline were observed flying in off the ocean as if they had been deflected even farther eastward and were just then regaining land.Typically most Snow Geese move through the BIRD OBSERVER 33 Sightings for September/October 1998interior of the state.Yet among a total of at least seventeen flocks reported during this flight, only two were noted inland.Generally, birds as strong and as heavy as geese are capable of compensating for crosswinds and are rarely set so far off course.A cursory attempt by this writer to find a correlation between the flight and wind patterns in eastern Canada revealed little in the way of an explanation, but still, the wind provides the most likely answer.Concurrent with the Snow Goose flight was a (primarily inland) passage of many thousands of Canada Geese, identified as Canadian birds by the great height at which they were observed.However, few (if any) Snows were noted among these.For example, none were detected among nearly 2,500 southbound Canadas counted over Concord, nor among more than 5,0(X) over Newburyport during this same three-day period.A Brant in Westminster was noteworthy because this species is rarely detected inland even though it must regularly overfly interior regions during migration.A rush of Eurasian Wigeon reports included at least six individuals within a ten-day period in October, and Green-winged Teal were well represented by two high counts at Plum Island and at the Great Meadows Refuge in Concord.The latter locality became especially productive for waterbirds after one of the two pools was drained as part of the refuge staffs ongoing efforts to control the invasive aquatic plant, water chestnut.The Tufted Duck that has spent the previous four winters in Worcester County returned October 10.Scaup are not often detected far offshore, so a flock of 35 migrating Greaters at Stellwagen Bank was noteworthy.Three early King Eider were observed flying in together and alighting in the water off Manomet Point in mid-October.Of the three scoter species.Surf is least frequently seen away from the coast, so six inland reports were unusual.Other inland scoters included rafts of 47 and 51 Blacks on lakes in Sharon and Waltham, respectively, and an Oldsquaw at the Great Meadows Refuge in Concord furnished a rare record for the Sudbury River Valley.A Barrow's Goldeneye in South Dartmouth was a bit early, and a Common Merganser in Lakeville was very early (or it over-summered there).Raptor migration was, with a few exceptions, rather typical.The biggest show came September 13 at Mt. Watatic in Ashburnham.Highlights from this flight included the season's largest single-day totals for Bald Eagle (14), Golden Eagle (3), and Broad-winged Hawk (8,975).While such flights at this site and/or nearby Mt.Wachusett have become more or less expected (though the Golden Eagles were surprisingly early), another flight in early October in Newburyport was somewhat anomalous, insomuch as it occurred at a site that is generally thought to be much less productive for migrant raptors in the fall than it is during the spring passage.The Newburyport flight included the season's largest single-day totals for Osprey (71), and Northern Harrier (57), and the second largest total for Peregrine Falcon (13), and other features included modest numbers of Sharp-shinned Hawks, American Kestrels, and Red-tailed Hawks, and a late pulse of Broad-winged Hawks.These latter birds were especially surprising because, in addition to being somewhat late, in Massachusetts, Broadwingeds usually try to avoid the immediate coast at any time of year.A report of two Swainson's Hawks at Provincetown is currently under review by the MARC, and a "Richardson's" Merlin, a paler, western prairies subspecies rarely detected in eastern North America, allowed careful study for two consecutive days at Tuckemuck.Sightings for September/October 1998 34 V o l.2 7 ,# l, 1999A Yellow Rail, carefully observed in the Neponset marshes in Dorchester, was a rare find.The aformentioned drawdown at the Concord section of the Great Meadows NWR created mud flats that proved to be very attractive to a wide variety of waterbirds, especially shorebirds.Remarkably, at least nineteen species of shorebirds were recorded there, among which was an impressive assortment of species rarely seen in the Sudbury River Valley: Black-bellied Plover, Whimbrel, Sanderling, White-rumped Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, Dunlin, Stilt Sandpiper, and Buff-breasted Sandpiper.Indeed, Whimbrel and Sanderling are rarely seen inland anywhere in New England.Elsewhere, other shorebird highlights included American Avocets in Quincy and Chatham, and the Red-necked Stint at Duxbury Beach that was first found in August.By the time the stint was last seen, it was nearing full basic plumage.A count of twelve Long-billed Dowitchers at South Monomoy represented a high count for any locale away from the Newburyport/Plum Island area, and an American Woodcock seen flying by a whale-watch boat at Stellwagen Bank must have looked oddly out of place.The fifteen Lesser Black-backed Gulls reported represented a near-average total for a fall season in Massachusetts, as did the total of five Sabine's Gulls.A Gull-billed Tern that remained in Chatham for a week provided many birders with a rare opportunity to study this coveted southern visitor.A less accommodating Sandwich Tern was seen only once on the Lynn/Nahant town line.For several days in mid September, unusually large numbers of Black Terns gathered each evening on the beach in the North Monomoy/South Beach area of Chatham.A pair of Black Skimmers that nested very late in the season on Plymouth Beach, lingered there with one fledged young until late September, and one very late individual from this family group remained for yet another month after that.Single migrant Short-eared Owls appeared at several coastal locales throughout October, and eight Short-eareds appeared quite suddenly during one October day at Tuckernuck.Virtually all of the roughly ten nesting pairs on this small island had, seemingly, departed by September.So, were the eight individuals in October returning residents, migrants, or both?A late Common Nighthawk was reported from Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, a migrant Whip-poor-will was out of place at North Monomoy in early September, and an unusually late, large swarm of 80 actively feeding Chimney Swifts was observed on the South Shore in the first week of October.An unidentified immature/female-type Selasphorus hummingbird visited a feeder in Leicester October 29-31, and represented the first record for Worcester County.A well-described Black-backed Woodpecker was carefully studied in Groton in late October.S. A. P. Red-throated Loon 10/27 Newbypt 15 R. Heil 9/19 N. Monomoy/S.B. 1 H. Ferguson# Pacific Loon (details submitted) * 9/27 Chatham 1 D. Brown# 10/9 Rockport (A.P.) 1 brpl R. Heil 10/9 Rockport (A.P.) 36 R. Heil Common Loon 10/11 Manomet Pt. 27 W. Petersen 9/13 Rockport (A.P.) 6 R. Heil 10/11 Barnstable (S.N.) 260 T. Raymond 9/15 Essex 3 D. Brown# 10/17 Lakeville 1 W. Petersen 9/18 Quabbin (G33) 1 B. Lafley 10/25 Nantucket Shoals 25-h T. Young# 9/19 Newbypt/P.I. 9

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