NEW ENGLAND 
ME (L. Clapp, PV, m.ob.). The now-expected 
Rufous Hummingbird was represented by ad. 
males in Antrim, Hillsborough and Plaistow, 
Rockingham, NH, S. Yarmouth, Barnstable, 
MA, and Middle Haddam, Middlesex, CT. An 
additional Selasphoms eluded specific identi- 
fication in Leicester, Worcester, MA 8 Oct (ph. 
M. Rowden). Only 6 Red-headed Woodpeck- 
ers were reported this season, in contrast to 
the abundance of Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 
which spread northward after mid-Oct, per- 
haps as a result of the combination of a sum- 
mer cicada emergence and high acorn pro- 
duction. Over 80 were tallied in New Hamp- 
shire n. to Hanover, Grafton and Sandwich, 
Carroll, and observers in Maine compared the 
irruption there to that of 2004. The high 
count from Massachusetts was 14 in Hingham 
24 Nov (S. Williams), and the flight was not- 
ed offshore as well, with 6 on Block 1. 4 Oct 
(DF). 
FLYCATCHERS THROUGH WRENS 
The value of photographs in the identification 
of small late-season flycatchers is illustrated 
by the season’s latest Least Flycatcher, en- 
countered on Plum I. 2 Nov (SG et al.). How- 
ever, photographs don’t always clinch an iden- 
tification; a flycatcher photographed at Moon- 
stone Beach, S. Kingstown, Washington, RI 10 
Nov (N. Conway) was variously identified as 
Empidonax or Elaenia; after some debate on- 
line, several veteran observers thought that it 
looked most like an Empidonax. High counts 
for common flycatchers seldom make these 
pages, but a tally of 73 Eastern Phoebes at the 
Ware River Important Bird Area, Worcester, 
MA 20 Sep (ML et al.) was impressive. For the 
2nd year in a row, 2 Say’s Phoebes were docu- 
mented, one at Race Pt. 11 Sep (P Champlin 
et al.) and the other on Plum I. 2-3 Oct (S. 
Stanton, m.ob.). A Myiarchus flycatcher de- 
scribed as “pale with little rufous” in 
Rochester, NH 13 Nov (tD. Hubbard) eluded 
further identification. Observers encountered 
only 3 Western Kingbirds, one inland at Con- 
cord, NH 13 Oct (tPH, R. Quinn) and 2 on 
the Massachusetts coast. 
1mm. White-eyed Vireos made it n. to New 
Hampshire and Maine in early Oct; in Massa- 
chusetts, where small numbers nest, tardy 
birds were banded in Brewster, Barnstable 3 
Nov (SF) and seen at Halibut Pt., Rockport 8- 
9 Nov (P & F Vale, m.ob.). A Yellow-throat- 
ed Vireo sang and caught insects in Nau- 
gatuck, New Haven on the Connecticut- 
record-late date of 21 Nov (P. DeGennaro). 
Thirty-two Blue-headed Vireos were among a 
fallout of migrants at Cousin’s 1., Yarmouth, 
ME 6 Oct (DL); the species was found in high 
numbers elsewhere, and at least 4 lingered 
into Nov. Three Red-eyed Vireos also lingered 
into late Nov, and the high count of 57 in 
Windsor, Berkshire, MA 13 Sep (ML et al.) 
was well inland. Vermont’s tiny nesting pop- 
ulation of Fish Crows was represented by a 
family group in Burlington, Chittenden 21 
Aug (S. Schwenk), and one in Concord, NH 
1 Sep was at their n. limit on the Merrimack 
R. (R. Suomala). An impressive count of 520 
Northern Rough-winged Swallows was made 
in W. Roxbury, Suffolk, MA 17 Sep (M. J. 
Iliff). A Bank Swallow was tardy at Grand 
Isle, VT 9 Oct (DJH). Connecticut continues 
to be the focal point of the annual Cave Swal- 
low invasion of New England in Nov, al- 
though sightings were documented in every 
New England state this season. The first were 
10 in Stratford, Fairfield, CT and 4 in Wester- 
ly, Washington, RI 8 Nov; one reached New 
Hampshire the next day, followed by a major 
push on 11 Nov, with as many as 56 in Con- 
necticut, 30 in Rhode Island, 17 in Massa- 
chusetts, and one north to Scarborough, ME. 
Swallows continued to disperse along the 
coast over the next week, and one reaching 
Vermont’s “west coast” at Charlotte 15-16 
Nov (H. Rich, CP, ph. tTGM, m.ob.) became 
that state’s first documented record. The last 
Massachusetts and Rhode Island reports 
came 19 Nov, while a flock of up to 20 found 
refuge and food at a New Haven, CT sewage 
plant to the end of the season. The total num- 
ber of birds involved is difficult to determine 
but may have been close to 200. In spite of a 
major movement of Boreal Chickadees in 
Quebec, only one was found out of range in 
New England, at Pack Monadnock, Peterbor- 
ough, NH 23 Oct 0- Tilden). Sedge Wrens 
made only later-season appearances this year, 
on Nantucket 29 Sep (VL), in Brunswick, 
Cumberland, ME 18-19 Oct (S. Walker, M. 
Fahay), and in Stratham, Rockingham, NH 28 
Nov (ph., tS. Young). 
KINGLETS THROUGH WARBLERS 
Counts of 155 Golden-crowned and 471 
Ruby-crowned Kinglets at Cousin’s 1. 6 Oct 
were both record highs for the location (DL). 
Three Northern Wheatears were well dis- 
persed but followed the usual mid-Sep tim- 
ing; the first was at Rocky Hill, Hartford, CT 
10 Sep (S. Fox); the next found a N. 
Kingstown, Washington, RI sod farm to it lik- 
ing 15-29 Sep 0- & R- LEtoile, ph. P. LEtoile, 
m.ob.); and the last graced a blueberry barren 
in Gray, Cumberland, ME 18-19 Sep (B. Han- 
cock, ph. DL, ph. LS). Acton, Middlesex, MA 
saw a gathering of 100 Eastern Bluebirds 12 
Oct (B. Porter). A female Mountain Bluebird 
discovered at Fort Hill, Eastham, MA delight- 
ed visiting birders 23-29 Nov (B. Parker, 
m.ob.). An estimated 100,000 American 
Robins were part of an avian spectacle that in- 
cluded 300,000 mixed blackbirds at the 
Methuen, Essex, MA roost 2 Nov (M.A.S., D. 
Larson). An imm. Varied Thrush was pho- 
tographed on Cape Ann, MA 26 Oct (RH et 
al), but one reported at Deer Isle, Hancock, 
ME 18 Nov (CM) was not relocated. 
Bohemian Waxwings showed signs of a re- 
peat of last year’s irruption into the Region. A 
very early individual appeared on Monhegan 
12-13 Sep (M.A.B.A.), and another reached 
Lighthouse Pt. with a Cedar Waxwing flock 
31 Oct (D. Campbell), but numbers did not 
build substantially until the winter season. 
However, Cedar Waxwing numbers, in Ply- 
mouth, Grafton, NH at least, were remark- 
able: flocks totaling 7000 birds covered “every 
tree, ground, and rooftop” at Plymouth State 
University 30 Nov (BG). A scattering of Blue- 
winged Warblers across the Region was 
capped by a state-record late bird at Boothe 
Park, Stratford, CT 4 Nov (C. Barnard). Ver- 
mont’s lone Golden-winged Warbler report 
came from early Aug, while singles in New 
Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts were 
sighted in early Oct. Rounding out the 
“winged warbler” collection were Brewster’s 
Warblers in Vermont and Massachusetts and a 
Lawrence's Warbler banded coincidentally in 
Brewster, MA (SF). Reports of the now-scarce 
Tennessee Warbler included several Nov re- 
ports from East Shore Park, New Haven, CT, 
the last 29 Nov Q- Workman). The same park 
also sheltered Northern Parula, Nashville, 
Chestnut-sided, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, 
and Wilson’s Warblers, and American Red- 
starts in mid- through late Nov. The Nashville 
Warbler high count of 9 came on the more ex- 
pected date of 30 Aug in Nelson, Cheshire, 
NH (R Brown). Regional birders tallied over 
100 Orange-crowned Warblers in Sep-Nov, 
the list of one- or two-at-a-time sightings was 
broken by a report of 3 at Plum 1. 19 Oct (T. 
Spahr). A number of notable warbler high 
counts came from Cousin’s I. this season: 44 
Northern Parulas 16 Sep, and 40 Yellows, 50 
Magnolias, and 213 American Redstarts 27 
Aug (all DL). Other respectable high counts 
included 41 Pine Warblers in Penacook, Mer- 
rimack, NH 13 Sep (PH) and 286 Blackpoll 
Warblers in the Ware River Important Bird 
Area, MA 20 Sep (ML et al). Early season mi- 
grants found well outside of expected dates 
included a Yellow Warbler in Arlington, Mid- 
dlesex, MA 23 Nov (C. Thrope) and a Mourn- 
ing Warbler in Winchester, Middlesex, MA 2 
Nov (R Devaney). The latest Prairie Warbler 
in Massachusetts was photographed in 
Acoaxet, Bristol 27 Nov (EN), one of 3 re- 
ported in that month. New Hampshire ob- 
VOIUME 63 (2009) 
NUMBER 1 
47 
