NEW ENGLAND 
Vermont's first Cave Swallow spent two days successfully foraging for insects at Charlotte Town Beach, Charlotte, Chittenden 
County 1 5 and (here) 1 6 November 2008. The presence of two unmolted outer primaries indicates that this was a hatch-year 
bird, as adults complete their primary molt in September. Photograph by TedMurin. 
Windsor-Bloomfield Landfill, Windsor, Hart- 
ford (p.a., NB, ph. MSz, m.ob.). This birds 
mantle color seemed pale to some who dis- 
cussed it on the Internet, but it is unclear if 
the species is variable in mantle color, shows 
geographic variation (with southerly breeding 
birds being paler), or whether paler birds 
might be hybrids with other North Pacific 
gulls, as many have opined. Sabines Gulls 
had another exceptional autumn, with the 14 
reported exceeding last year’s 1 1 -year-high. 
Three were inland on L. Champlain: 6 Sep at 
Charlotte (TGM et al.) and 19 Oct in Grand 
Isle (DJH), with 2 young birds on the latter 
date. Coastal birds ranged from 24 Aug in 
Eastport, ME (M.A.B.A.) to 1 Nov at A.P. 
(EN), with an exceptional 
high count of 4 on Stell- 
wagen Bank 14 Sep (W. 
Petersen et ah). There was 
a sustained early flight of 
juv. Black-legged Kitti- 
wakes on L. Champlain 5 
Aug-13 Sep, with 15-20 
individuals reported. 
The only Gull-billed 
Tern of the season was 
found after the passage of 
the remnants of Tropical 
Storm Hanna at James- 
town, Newport, R1 7 Sep 
(p.a., W. Munns). Among 
the hordes of gulls at Her- 
ring Cove, Provincetown 6 
Nov were 2 extremely 
tardy juv. Roseate Terns 
(JPS). Also tardy was an 
Arctic Tern at Seabrook, 
Rockingham, NH 30 Sep 
(ph. S&jM). Noteworthy 
Forster’s Terns included an 
impressive count of 37 n. 
of Massachusetts at Hampton and Seabrook, 
NH 19 Sep (S&JM et al.), a count of 86 at First 
Encounter Beach 20 Oct (BN), and the first in 
many years on L. Champlain, notably late at 
Grand Isle 1 Nov (tDJH). Five Royal Terns 
were found in Aug, with 3 n. to New Hamp- 
shire and 6-7 reported on Long Island Sound, 
including 5-6 at Hammonasset, Madison, New 
Haven 6 Sep in the wake of Hanna (m.ob.). 
Also in the wake of Hanna were 350 Black 
Terns on S. Beach 7 Sep (BN). Dovekies ar- 
rived early again, with singles at A.P. 28 Oct 
(RH) and Rye, NH 29 Oct (E. Masterson). 
Three hundred forty passed A.P. 25 Nov (RH), 
and an offshore trip from Rhode Island record- 
ed 72 at Cox’s Ledge 29 Nov (S. Tsgarakis). 
DOVES THROUGH WOODPECKERS 
Two White-winged Doves reached New Eng- 
land this season: one was reported from Nan- 
tucket 8 Sep (VE), and another made sporadic 
appearances at a Portland, Cumberland, ME 
feeder 3 Oct-r (ph. N. Lund, E Paul et ah). 
Connecticut observers encountered 3 Barn 
Owls, one in early Aug in Torrington, Litch- 
field (T. Leenders), one pre-dawn at the Mil- 
ford Pt. Big Sit 12 Oct (E Gallo et al), and an- 
other at Lighthouse Pt. 23 Oct (D. Morgan). 
About 60 Snowy Owls reported was equiva- 
lent to the last big flight in 2001. The first, 
and not surprisingly farthest n., in Woodland, 
Aroostook, ME 19 Oct (B. Sheehan) was 
quickly followed by others at traditional 
coastal locations, plus about 5 in Vermont. 
The seldom-encountered Eong-eared Owl ap- 
peared at Acadia N.P, Hancock, ME 25 Oct 
and in Newburyport, MA 9 Nov. Short-eared 
Owls put on their best showing since 2003, 
with 24 across the Region, including 7 in Ad- 
dison, VT 9 Nov OMe)- The first documented 
autumn Boreal Owl since the surprising nest- 
ing record in 2001 was photographed in Bass 
Harbor, on Mt. Desert L, Hancock, ME 22 Nov 
(S. Grierson, fide WT). Common Nighthawk 
migration was lackluster this season, with 
high counts of only 554 at S. Quabbin, Hamp- 
shire, MA 23 Aug (L. Therrien) and 500+ in 
Hamden, New Haven, CT 30 Aug 0 - Zipp). 
Readers may draw their own conclusions 
about the relationship between the Region’s 
first Broad-billed Hummingbirds. The first 
was photographed at a feeder in Oakdale, 
New London, CT 13 Aug (ph. S. & K. Sed- 
don), and the next was banded and pho- 
tographed in Dennis, Barnstable, MA, where it 
entertained visitors 23 Aug into Dec (R. & M. 
Murphy, m.ob.). Observers at Lighthouse Pt. 
tallied their second-ever triple-digit Ruby- 
throated Hummingbird day 15 Sep, with a to- 
tal of 270 migrants (GH). At least 3 Calliope 
Hummingbirds appeared this season: the first 
(Massachusett’s 5th overall) was an ad. male 
photographed in Deerfield, Franklin 1-2 Aug 
(R. Ranney-Blake); the season’s and Connecti- 
cut’s 2nd lingered at a Simsbury feeder mid- 
Oct+ 0- Kaplan, ph. MSz, m.ob.); and the last 
spent 23 Oct-1 Nov in Blue Hill, Hancock, 
+ . - Jjf , v" 
In fall 2008, three Northern Wheatears were found in the usual mid- to late September 
window in New England. This one was found at a Gray, Cumberland County, Maine 
blueberry barren on 18 September, when this photograph was taken, and remained 
only until 19 September. Photograph by Derek Lovitch. 
46 NORTHAMERKANBIRDS 
