HUDSON-DELAWARE 
spring. The Green-tailed Towhee that win- 
tered at Hadden, Camden, NJ remained until 3 
May Qohn & Peggy McDevitt). A Clay-col- 
ored Sparrow wintered in Sussex, DE and was 
present until 7 Mar (ES), and single migrants 
were seen at Keene, Essex, NY 30 Apr (]&PT), 
at Manitou 1 May (b.; B.B.B.O.), and at Wil- 
son-Tuscarora Park, Niagara, NY 16 May (]P, 
WD’A). A Lark Sparrow at Smyrna, Kent, DE 1 
Mar (Roger Masse) had probably wintered lo- 
cally, but one at Jones Beach 24 Apr (Sam Jan- 
nazzo) was an unusual spring migrant, A 
Grasshopper Sparrow at Riverside Park, Man- 
hattan 18 May (TF) was unusual, as these are 
rarely seen in spring away from breeding loca- 
tions, and a Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow at 
Marine Park, Brooklyn 22-29 Apr (DG) was 
early for a spring migrant and may have win- 
tered nearby. Two hundred White-throated 
Sparrows at the s. end of Staten I. 22 Apr 
(RRV) was, surprisingly, the largest concentra- 
tion reported this spring, and a Harris’s Spar- 
row photographed at Raritan, Hunterdon, NJ 
20-23 Apr (Pamela Petropoulos) furnished 
about a 30th Regional spring record. A Gam- 
bel’s White-crowned Sparrow at Shinnecock 1 
Mar (SSM, PJL) probably wintered nearby. 
Flocks of 60-100 Lapland Longspurs at Mid- 
dletown, Kent, DE 24 Mar (Kitt Heckscher) 
and 60 at Yates, Orleans, NY 2 Apr (MM) were 
large, as was one of 400 Snow Buntings at Ea- 
gle, Wyoming, NY 10 Mar (MM). Unlike Sum- 
mer Tanagers and most “southern” warblers, 
Blue Grosbeaks appeared in as large or larger 
numbers than they did during the record 
spring of 2005; 18 were found around New 
York City and on Long 1. 5 Apr-17 May, and 
an additional 8 “likely breeders” were seen at 
now almost traditional sites on Long 1. 14 
May+ (SSM). Oddly, considering the numbers 
of Blue Grosbeaks reported, only 5 Indigo 
Buntings appeared on Long 1. 5-22 Apr. One 
or 2 green Painted Buntings were at Cape May 
29 Apr-5 May (MSG, KL); these have ap- 
peared regularly in recent springs. Two Dick- 
cissels 8-15 May made a relatively low number 
at Cape May this spring, and one wintered at 
Clarence, Erie, NY until 19 Apr (Deb Abgot). 
BLACKBIRDS THROUGH FINCHES 
Some 1745 Bobolinks were counted over 
Braddock Bay 14 May (DT), while 209 Rusty 
Blackbirds at Hamlin Beach 18 Apr (]Ba, CW) 
and 210 at Braddock Bay 28 Apr Q- Lawrey 
DT) were notable tallies. A male Brewer’s 
Blackbird was at Murray, Monroe, NY 4 May 
(KCG). Two Yellow-headed Blackbirds were 
seen: a female at Bear, New Castle, DE 2 Mar 
(Charlie Jackson) and a male at Webster, 
Monroe, NY 25 Apr (D. & D. Traver). A flight 
of 516 Baltimore Orioles was observed at 
Braddock Bay 14 May (DT). 
The substantial “winter finch” flight pro- 
duced several spring records of interest. Three 
Pine Grosbeaks were in Clinton, NY O^dy 
Read), and another was at Lincklaen, Chenan- 
go, NY in early Mar (MAY). On the Buffalo Or- 
nithological Society’s Apr count 19 Apr, 327 
Purple Finches were tallied, and 260 flew past 
Braddock Bay 28 Apr (DT). Red Crossbills 
were broadly distributed in w. and cen. New 
York into early May. About 40 were in the Mor- 
gan Hill S.E in Truxton, Cortland, NY, and 
these and others in cen. New York were record- 
ed uttering vocalizations of four or five differ- 
ent Types (MAY), suggesting origins from dif- 
ferent geographical localities. White-winged 
Crossbills were more widespread and found in 
larger flocks: 150 were in the Morgan S.E 
through early May (MAY), about 100 were in 
the Niagara Frontier region until the end of 
May (MM), 30 or so were in the Cooley Bog in 
Parksville, Sullivan, NY with a few remaining 
until late May (MF et al), 40 were at Rochester 
3 May (L. Crowell), and 30 made it out to the 
coast at Easthampton, Suffolk, Long I. 3-4 May 
(HM). Thousands of Pine Siskins persisted 
through the winter, and a very pronounced 
northward migration was also evident: 1276 
were banded at two Adirondack stations 
through 8 May QMCP, Gary Lee), 1138 were 
counted over Hamlin Beach 18 Apr OBa, CW), 
1065 passed Braddock Bay 14 May (DT), and 
120 were at Calverton, Suffolk, Long I. 11 Apr. 
Common Redpolls were not as numerous but 
nevertheless widespread: there were about 150 
throughout Mar in the Niagara area (MM) and 
60 in the Burnt Hills, Albany, NY 17 Mar. Mul- 
tiple Hoary Redpolls were reported: high 
counts of 10 and 8 came from Hamlin Beach 1 
& 3 Mar (DT, RC), respectively; one of these, 
on 1 Mar, resembled Greenland Hoary Red- 
poll, subspecies hornemanni (CW). Other 
Hoaries were at Holland, Erie, NY through 3 
Mar (Chris Newton et al.) and at Buckhorn Is- 
land S.E, Erie, NY 6 Mar (WW). A few small 
flocks of Evening Grosbeaks were seen at 
widespread locations in New York, s. to the 
Hudson-Mohawk area 30 Apr. It was a very 
large spring for American Goldfinches (follow- 
ing a near record fall in 2008), and 3450 were 
counted at Hamlin Beach 16 May (DT). 
Observers (subregional compilers in bold- 
face): Deborah Allen (Central Park, NY), Seth 
Ausubel, Scott Barnes (North Coast Region, 
NJ: Sandy Hook B.O., P.O. Box 553, Fort Han- 
cock, NJ 07732), Jessie Barry, Shane Blodgett, 
Michael Bochnik (Hudson-Delaware, NY: 86 
Empire St., Yonkers, NY 10704), Jeffrey S. 
Bolsinger (St. Lawrence Region, 98 State St., 
Canton, NY 13617), Tom Boyle (TBo), Brad- 
dock Bay B.O. (B.B.B.O.), Tom Brown, Thomas 
W. Burke (New York Rare Bird Alert), Barbara 
Butler (Dutchess County, NY), Brad Carlson, 
Richard Crossley, Seth Cutright, Willie D’ An- 
na, Glen Davis, Tom Dudones, Peter Dunne, 
'Vince Elia (South Coast and Delaware Bay Re- 
gions, NJ: C.M.B.O., 600 Rte. 47 North, Cape 
May Courthouse, NJ 08120), Tom Fiore, Bob 
Fogg, Valerie Freer, Don Freiday (Cape May: 
C.M.B.O. R&E Center, 600 Rte. 47 North, 
Cape May Courthouse, NJ 08120), Mike Fritz, 
Sam Galick, Mark S. Garland (Cape May, NJ), 
John Gavrity, John Gluth (JGl), Doug 
Gochfeld, Anthony Gonzon, Kevin C. Griffith 
(Genesee Region, NY: 61 Grandview Lane, 
Rochester, NY 14612), Rich Guthrie, Candace 
' Hess, Marshall J. Iliff, Ed Johnson, Tom John- 
son (Finger Lakes Region, 150 Triphammer 
Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850), William Keim, Jim 
Kimball, Bill Krueger, Doug Kurz, Robert J. 
Kurtz, Laurie Larson (LLa; New Jersey), An- 
thony J. Lauro, L. Lauster, Greg Lawrence, 
Tony Leukering, Patricia J. Lindsay (Long I. 
and New York City: 28 Mystic Circle, Bay 
Shore, NY 11706), Karl Lukens, Linda Mack, 
Tom Magarian, Al Martens, Melanie A. Mc- 
Cormick, Hugh McGuiness (Eastern Long I., 
NY: P.O. Box 3005, Southampton, NY 11969), 
Shaibal S. Mitra (Long I. and New York City; 
Biology Department, College of Staten Island, 
2800 Victory Blvd., Staten Island, NY 10314), 
Mike Morgante (MM) (Niagara Frontier re- 
gion, NY: 59 Briar Hill Road, Orchard Park, NY 
14127), Dave Neveu, Michael O’Brien, Jim 
Pawlicki, Bruce G. Peterjohn, John M. C. Pe- 
terson (Adirondack-Champlain Region, NY: 
477 County Rte. 8, Elizabethtown, NY 12932), 
Betsy Potter, Bill Purcell (BPu) (Oneida Lake 
Basin, NY: 281 Baum Road, Hastings, NY 
13076), Rick Radis (nw. NewJersey: 69 Ogden 
Ave., Rockaway, NJ 07866), Tom Reed, Richard 
Salembier, Frank Sencher, Ed Sigda, Robert & 
Susan Spahn (RSp) (Genesee Ornithological 
Society), David & Debbie Suggs, W. Symonds, 
David Tetlow, John & Patricia Thaxton, 
Christopher J. Vogel, William Watson, Matt 
Webster, Carol & Owen Whitby, Timothy E 
"White, Angus Wilson (AnW), Chris Wood, 
Seth Woolney, Will Yandik (Hudson-Mohawk 
NY: 269 Schneider Rd., Hudson, NY 12534), 
Peter Yoerg, Matthew A. Young (Susquehanna, 
NY: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 159 Sapsuck- 
er Woods Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850), Robert E Yu- 
nick, Louise Zemaitis. O 
Richard R. ¥eit. Biology Department, CSl-CUNY 
2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, New York 10314 
(veitrr2003(ayalioo.com) 
Robert 0. Paiton, 460 Riverside Drive, Apt. 72 
New York, New York 10027, (ropl@c 0 lumbia.edu) 
Frank Rehrbacher, 5 Neva Court 
Wilmington, Delaware 19810, (rohrbaf@aol.com) 
402 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
