New England! 
Representing Connecticut's first record of this western subspecies of Brant, this 
Black Brant was in Stratford 10-13 (here 11) April 2009. Photograph by B. Fman. 
New England's only Eared Grebe of spring 2009 was in Sanford, Maine 26 May 
2009 and later (here 1 June). Photograph by Doug Hitchcox. 
This White-faced Ibis at Jamestown, Rhode Island 3-5 (here 3) May 2009 was the 
first non-adult ever identified in New England. Photograph by Dan Finizia. 
Simon Perkins 
T he spring season got off to a quick start. 
In the first half of March, a strong, per- 
sistent airflow from the west/southwest 
delivered record numbers of Greater White- 
fronted and Ross’s Geese (Figures 1,2). Two 
“bookend” weather events at the beginning 
and end of April also stood out. Back-to-back 
storm systems in the first week of April con- 
spired to produce a textbook fallout of 
Neotropical migrants that spanned the Re- 
gion’s coasts (Figures 3, 4; Table 1). Then, for 
a full week at the end of the month, another 
strong and persistent airflow from the south- 
west culminated in temperatures reaching the 
high 80s Fahrenheit on 25-26 April and top- 
ping out in the 90s on the 28th. This deep 
wind flow “air-mailed” huge numbers of mi- 
grants northward and accounted not only for 
many early arrivals but also delivered many 
on-time species in numbers far above average 
(Figure 4; Table 2). This influx in late April in- 
cluded a wide assortment of taxa, from bitterns 
to buntings, but warblers were especially well 
represented. By the end of April, no fewer than 
29 species of warblers were already “in.” The 
majority of the records that are included below 
to document the big influx were from Massa- 
chusetts. This is not necessarily because there 
were more birds in the Commonwealth than 
there were elsewhere in the Region. Rather, it 
reflects the fact that more birders live in Mas- 
sachusetts. In the words of the late, great Lud- 
low Griscom, “birds are where people are.” 
Abbreviations; L. Champlain (Vermont side 
of L. Champlain); M.A.R.C. (Massachusetts 
A.R.C.); Nantucket (Nantucket I., Nantucket, 
MA); Plum I. (Newburyport, Newbury, Row- 
ley, Ipswich, including Parker River N.W.R., 
Essex, MA); Tuckemuck (Tuckernuck T, Nan- 
tucket, MA). 
WATERFOWL 
At a time when they would 
have just begun their north- 
ward migration, geese that nor- 
mally migrate well to the w. of 
the Region were deflected east- 
ward by strong southwesterly 
winds. On 7 Mar, 17 Greater 
White-fronted Geese, by far 
the largest number ever found 
at one locality in the Region, 
appeared in Saugus, MA and 
remained through 22 Mar (P. 
Peterson et al., ph.). The entire 
flock was comprised of birds 
belonging to one of the pink- 
billed taxa, almost certainly 
frontalis. Greater White-front- 
ed numbers in other states in- 
cluded 9 in Connecticut and 2 
in New Hampshire; and 2 de- 
scribed as flavirostris were not- 
ed in Sharon and Hadley, MA 
in Mar. The great majority of 
recent Greater White-fronted 
Goose records in the Region 
have pertained to flavirostris, 
from Greenland. A week after 
the arrival of the Saugus birds, 
a minimum of 15 Ross’s Geese 
hit the ground in Massachu- 
setts. This figure more than 
doubled the previous Regional 
maxima that had become rou- 
tine among the fall throngs of 
Snow Geese on the shores of L. 
Champlain. Readers are left to 
their own devices to guess 
whether some of the following 
records involved some of the 
same individuals: 7 commut- 
ing daily between Ipswich and 
Plum 1. 15-23 Mar (ph. RH et 
al.); one in Ipswich/Plum I. 22- 
31 Mar (N. Landry et al.); 2 on 
the Merrimac R., Haverhill 19- 
28 Mar (ph. S6a:JM et al.); 8 in 
Easthampton 16-18 Mar (B. 
Beida et al., ph.); 5 in Hadley 
20-22 Mar (A. Mueller et al). Clearly, based 
on dates, the Easthampton birds were not the 
Ipswich/Plum 1. birds, and while it is less 
clear, it is probable (based on proximity) that 
the 5 in Hadley were part of the Easthampton 
flock. Another, single Ross’s Goose in Bidde- 
ford, ME 15-18 Mar (R Moynahan et al., ph., 
p.a.), which brought the Regional total to a 
minimum of 16, represented the 2nd record 
for the Pine Tree state. Connecticut’s first 
Black Brant was in Stratford 10-13 Apr (ph. 
NB et al.). No Barnacle Geese were found this 
year, but Cackling Goose was represented by 3 
in Connecticut, 2 in Massachusetts, one in 
Rhode Island, and one in New Hampshire. 
An impressive count of 300+ Wood Ducks 
came from Haverhill, MA 20-21 Mar Q- Fen- 
ton). No fewer than 14 Eurasian Teal included 
6 in Massachusetts, 3 in New Hampshire, 3 in 
Connecticut, and 2+ in Maine. One of the 6 
drakes in the Bay State paired with a female 
Mallard in Newton and stayed through the sea- 
son (m.ob., ph., vt.). Eurasian Teal x Green- 
winged Teal intergrades were noted in Maine 
VOlUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 3 
391 
