This male Black-backed Woodpecker on Nantucket, Massa- 
chusetts 25 (here 26) April through 17 May 2009 was far 
south of its northern New England haunts. Photograph by 
Vernon Laux. 
Massachusetts alone. Perhaps better than any 
other set of records, this unprecedented 
species total illustrated how large the late Apr 
influx really was (Table 2). Other noteworthy 
warbler records included a Townsend’s War- 
bler in Newton, MA 14-19 Apr (D. Romps et 
al., ph., vt.) and an apparent Audubon’s War- 
bler at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA 
13 May Q- Mullen). A warbler wave 17 May 
yielded single-day maxima on Cape Ann, Es- 
sex, MA that included 73 Northern Parulas, 
68 Magnolias, 66 Black-throated Greens, and 
73 Black-and-whites (RH). A high count of 65 
American Redstarts came from Provincetown, 
MA 31 May (BN). An early Summer Tanager 
in Orleans, MA 28 Mar (C. Kennedy) preced- 
Among an above-average total of five American Golden- 
Plovers found in New England this spring, this individual 
was in Phippsburg, Maine 14 May 2009. Photograph by 
Mike Fahay. 
ed by about a week the fallout of this species 
and other Neotropical migrants. More fre- 
quent in the Region in fall than spring, a 
Western Tanager was a nice find in Madison, 
CT 8 May Q- Connolly). 
A late American Tree Sparrow lingered at 
Tuckernuck 16-17 May (SP et al). A Lark 
Sparrow in Exeter, NH 17 Mar (ph. S&JM) 
furnished a rare spring record for the Region, 
and a big slug of 400 White-throated Spar- 
rows put down in Provincetown, MA 9 May 
(BN). A Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow in 
Scarborough, ME 1 Mar (ph. LS, ph. DL) may 
have wintered locally, and single Golden- 
crowned Sparrows visited feeders in Orwell, 
VT 13-24 Apr (N. & M. Latourelles, ph., vt.) 
and Natick, MA 18-19 Apr (ph. P. Loranger). 
Ten Lapland Longspurs in Chatham, MA 26 
Apr were decidedly late (B. Harris). Black- 
headed Grosbeak is less than annual in the 
Region, so the occurrence of 2 this year was 
noteworthy. One in Hope, ME continued 
from the winter until at least 11 Apr (ph. D. 
Reimer); the other appeared in Hope Valley, 
R1 24 Mar (ph. B. Sweisford). The occurrence 
of a Painted Bunting in Whatley, MA 30 
Apr-3 May (B. Benner, fide SK) coincided 
with the influx of the many other migrants at 
the end of Apr. Another Painted Bunting was 
discovered at Nantucket 8 May 0- Papale). 
Once more regular, Western Meadowlark has 
all but disappeared as a visitor to New Eng- 
land. Pending acceptance by the M.A.R.C., a 
Western Meadowlark in Westport, CT, 21-24 
Apr would represent the first fully document- 
ed record for the state (T. Green, ph. J. Hand, 
v.r. NB). Yellow-headed Blackbirds were at 
feeders at West Gardiner, Kennebec, ME 27 
May (ph. G. Benoit), at Milford, CT 7-15 Apr 
(S. Hanks et al.), and continuing from the 
One of two in the New England in spring 2009, this Black- 
headed Grosbeak remained in Hope, Maine from the winter 
season through at least 11 April (here). Photograph by Don 
Reimer. 
NEW ENGLAND 
Careful scrutiny of this apparent Western Meadowlark in 
Westport, Connnecticut included detailed study of recorded 
vocalizations. Photograph by A. J. Hand. 
winter season at Salisbury, MA 1-5 Mar (P 
Cozza). A Yellow-headed that was found for- 
aging in a field in Haverhill, MA 19 Mar 
(S&JM) roughly 21 km from the Salisbury 
bird may have been the same individual. A 
three-hour count of American Goldfinches 
migrating past a point on the New Hampshire 
seacoast 11 May produced a total 1504 
(S&JM). Two similar efforts by the same ob- 
servers last year netted totals of 1516 on 7 
May and 1270 on 18 May. It’s becoming ap- 
parent that these large diurnal flights of 
American Goldfinches along this stretch of 
coastline (including Plum 1.) are typical in 
mid-May. 
Observers, subregional compilers (bold- 
face), and contributors (italics): D. Akers, E. 
F. Andrews, Audubon Society of New 
Hamshire (A.S.N.H.), J. Berry, Bird Observer 
(journal; B.O.), N. Bonomo, R. Bowes, G. 
Dennis, eBird, N. Famous, R. Farrell (Rhode 
Island), D. Finizia, G. Hanisek (Connecti- 
cut), R. Heil, P Hunt (New Hampshire), M. J. 
Iliff, S. Kellogg (Massachusetts), V Laux, T. 
Lloyd-Evans, D. Lovitch, Maine Audubon 
Rare Bird Alert (M.A.R.B.A.), E. Masterson, J. 
Mead, S. &. J. Mirick, T. Murin, B. Nikula, S. 
Perkins. D. Provencher, E. Ray, M. Rines 
(Massachusetts), L. Seitz, B. Sheehan, ]. St. 
Jean, A. Strong, M. Suomala, R. H. Stymeist 
(Massachusetts), W. Townsend (Maine), J. 
Trimble, F. Vale (Massachusetts), P. Vickery, 
R. R. Veit. © 
Simon Perkins, Mass Audubon 
208 South Great Road, Lincoln, Massachusetts 01773 
(sperkins@massaudubon.org) 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 3 
397 
