HUDSON-DELAWARE 
were also heard over Tompkins, NY that 
night (KR). The largest total of American 
Robins was a feeble 2050 at Fire I. 17 Nov 
(SSM). Six Bohemian Waxwings were a faint 
echo of last winter’s flight: one was at Aus- 
able Pt., Clinton, NY 19 Nov (BK), 3 were at 
Hamlin Beach 24 Nov (DT), one was at Du- 
rand-Eastman, Monroe, NY 25 Nov (K. 
Frisch), and another was at Lakeside Beach, 
Orleans, NY 29 Nov (CW). 
WARBLERS 
Ten Golden-winged Warblers were found at 
coastal locations 5 Aug-19 Sep, and a Brew- 
ster’s Warbler was at Cape May 4 Oct Qoyce 
Harden). Numbers of migrant passerines 
were low, so the warbler counts that follow 
should be interpreted in that light. Ten 
Nashvilles were at Dreier-Offerman Park, 
Brooklyn, NY 4 Oct (AlW), and 15 were at Al- 
ley Pond Park, Queens, NY 5 Oct (Corey Fin- 
ger). Twenty-five Northern Parulas were in 
Prospect Park 19 & 28 Sep (DGo, BG), and 
45 Yellow Warblers were at Braddock Bay 13 
Aug (GL). On 16 Sep, 60 Magnolia Warblers 
were banded at Braddock Bay, and 40 were 
seen in Central Park (DA). Twenty-two Black- 
throated Blue Warblers were in Westchester 6 
Oct and 25 Black-throated Green Warblers 
there 16 Sep (both Evan Edelbaum). Yellow- 
rumped Warbler counts were very low: peaks 
were 250 at Fire I. 12 Oct (SSM) and 350 at 
Plum Beach 17 Oct (DGo). A Black-throated 
Gray Warbler was seen by many at Central 
Park 21 Sep (David Speiser, Cal Vornberger, 
m.ob.) for about a 30th Regional record. A 
Yellow-throated Warbler at Fort Tilden, 
Queens, NY 4 Oct (SA) was the only one re- 
ported this fall. One hundred Palm Warblers 
at Dreier-Offerman Park 18 Oct and 35 Black- 
poll Warblers at Owls Head Park, Brooklyn, 
NY (AlW) were characteristically modest to- 
tals for the fall, but 50 Blackpolls at Arm- 
strong Mt., Essex, NY 21 Sep (Diane Demers) 
made a local record. Two Cerulean Warblers 
were seen in upstate New York, 2 & 13 Sep 
(KCG; R. Douglas), and one was at Prime 
Hook 21 Sep (BGP). Fifty American Redstarts 
were at Prospect Park 27 Aug, 52 at Central 
Park 8 Sep (AlW, JBa, CW), and 450+ at Cape 
May 17 Aug (SG et al). A Prothonotary War- 
bler at Montauk 13 Sep (HM) was the only 
one reported, and about 10 Worm-eating 
Warblers were in the New York City area 15 
Aug-12 Sep. A Louisiana Waterthrush was at 
Chestnut Ridge Park, Erie, NY 9 Aug MMo). 
Nineteen Connecticut Warblers were found 1 
Sep-13 Oct and 27 Mourning Warblers 2 
Aug-29 Sep. Single Kentucky Warblers were 
in Central Park 20 Aug Qack Meyer et al.) 
and Staten 1. 11 Oct (TPW). 
TAIAGERS THROUGH DICKOSSEL 
Five Summer Tanagers were reported n. of 
known breeding areas, including one at Buffa- 
lo, Erie on the late date of 11 Nov (Darrell 
Stevens). A Western Tanager was at Higbee 
Beach, Cape May 1 Nov (Bob Fogg, S. Ziegler, 
J. Kerr). Two thousand Chipping Sparrows at 
Greenwoood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY 29 Oct 
(RJ) was a substantial aggregation, and about 
25 total Clay-colored Sparrows were found 1 1 
Aug-27 Nov. About 18 Lark Sparrows were 
found, all but 2 on the coast, near average for 
recent autumns. A Lark Bunting was at Fire 1. 
17-22 Sep (DFu, m.ob.), adding to an in- 
creasing number of recent records following 
their relative scarcity in the 1980s-1990s. A 
Grasshopper Sparrow was at Higbee Beach, 
Cape May 24 Oct (Gunnar Numme), and sin- 
gle Le Conte’s Sparrows were at Plum Beach 
(DGo et al.) and Sandy Hook (SB), both 8 
Oct. The migration of White-throated Spar- 
rows was abysmally weak, with peak counts 
of 200 at Staten I. 11 Oct (HF) and 40 at Fire 
I. 5 Oct (SSM); oddly, extremely early mi- 
grants were at Staten 1. 9-14 Aug (RRV) and at 
St. Jones River, Kent, DE 12 Aug (Karen Ben- 
nett). A Harris’s Sparrow was at Brandywine 
Creek S.P., New Castle, DE 11 Oct-7 Nov 
(APE et al.) for a 3rd Delaware and about 
65th Regional record. Nine Blue Grosbeaks 
were found on Long I. and in New York City 
6 Sep-16 Oct, a low total by recent standards, 
and a female Painted Bunting was at Cape 
May 27 Oct (jerry Dewaghe et al.). About 20 
Dickcissels were found at the coast, a below- 
average count. 
BLACKBIRDS THROUGH FINCHES 
Twelve hundred Bobolinks were at Montezu- 
ma 19 Aug (TL), and 235,000 Red-winged 
Blackbirds were there 11 Aug QBa, CW). 
There were 3 Yellow-headed Blackbirds: sin- 
gles at Cape May 20 Aug and 29 Sep (m.ob.) 
and one at Montauk 22-24 Sep (Vicki Busta- 
mente). Larger flocks of the declining Rusty 
Blackbird included 270 at Potsdam, St. 
Lawrence, NY and 250 at Upper and Lower 
Lakes W.M.A., St Lawrence, NY 22 Oct OSB). 
Eight Baltimore Orioles at Cape May 22 Nov 
(m.ob.) was late for so many. 
“Winter finches” irrupted widely through 
the season, especially White-winged Cross- 
bills, Pine Siskins, and American Goldfinch- 
es. Six Pine Grosbeaks were at Upper and 
Lower Lakes W.M.A., St. Lawrence, NY 11 
Nov QSB), and 6 others were seen in upstate 
New York in late Nov. About 50 Red Cross- 
bills were seen in upstate New York in Nov, 
but White-winged Crossbills made big news: 
about 4500 were found in New York. In the 
period 3-8 Nov, about 2500 were found in the 
Tug Hill area, with a maximum of 1660 at 
Martinsburg, Lewis, NY 3 Nov (TM). Nesting 
was suspected in the Tug Hill area during the 
fall. Later in the month, maxima included 
1785 at Hamlin Beach 24 Nov (DT), 300 at 
Schroeppel, Oswego, NY (BPu), 250 in 
Chenango, NY 28 Nov, and 250 in the Niaga- 
ra area 3 Nov+. About 30 birds made it to 
Long 1. 18 Oct+. These are some of the largest 
counts ever recorded in most of these report- 
ing regions of New York. Only a few Com- 
mon Redpolls were found, the largest flock 
being 25 at Canton, St. Lawrence, NY OSB). 
Unlike the crossbills, a major movement of 
Pine Siskins that materialized around L. On- 
tario in Oct quickly extended southward to 
Long I. by Nov. About 2500 passed Hamlin 
Beach 24 Nov (DT), 1000 were in the Niaga- 
ra area 6 Oct+ (MMo), and a record-breaking 
6520 were counted flying over Fire 1. 10 Nov 
(PJL, SSM). American Goldfinches also 
staged a major southward movement: maxi- 
mum counts were 4000 at Fire 1. 18 Nov 
(PJL, SSM), 3320 at Fort Tilden, Queens, NY 
16 Nov (KM), and 1420 at Derby Hill 5 Nov 
(BPu). A first for the Region, and one of few 
recorded in the East, a black-backed male 
Lesser Goldfinch attended a feeder in Wilm- 
ington, New Castle, DE 3 Aug (Maria Mc- 
Crutcheon et al.); the species is expanding its 
breeding range, with vagrants recorded in 
Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Kentucky, and 
Maine. Fourteen Evening Grosbeaks were at 
Ohio, Herkimer, NY 6 Aug (BPu). 
Observers (subregional compilers in bold- 
face): Deborah Allen (Central Park), Seth 
Ausubel, Andy Baldelli, Scott Barnes (North 
Coast Region, NJ: P.O. Box 553, Ft. Hancock, 
NJ 07732), Tom Bailey, Jessie Barry, Gail Ben- 
son, Shane Blodgett, Michael Bochnik (Hud- 
son-Delaware, NY: 86 Empire St., Yonkers, 
NY 10704), Jeffrey S. Bolsinger (St. 
Lawrence region, NY, 98 State St., Canton, 
NY 13617), Justin Bosler, Tom Boyle (TBo), 
Michael Britt, Tom Brown, Thomas W. 
Burke (New York Rare Bird Alert), Barbara 
Butler (Dutchess County, NY), Judy 
Cinquina, Richard Crossley Willie D’Anna, 
Ray Duffy, Vince Elia (South Coast and 
Delaware Bay Regions, NJ: CMBO R&E Cen- 
ter, 600 Rte 47 North, Cape May Court- 
house, NJ 08120), Walter Ellison, Andrew R 
Ednie, Ken Feustel, Tom Fiore, Howie Fisch- 
er, Sean Fitzgerald, Brendan Fogarty, M. 
Frail, Valerie Freer, Don Freiday (Cape 
May), Mike Fritz, Doug Futuyma, Sam Gal- 
ick, Mark Garland, Dick Gershon (NYC 
Parks), John Gluth QGl), Bob Gochfeld, 
Doug Gochfeld, Kevin C. Griffith (Genesee 
Region, NY: 61 Grandview Lane, Rochester, 
VOLUME 63 (2009) 
NUMBER 1 
53 
