HUDSON-DELAWARE 
f A The M.Y.D.E.C. asked spring turkey hunters to report Ruffed Grouse drumming. In 4800 hours in the field, 541 partic- 
sJ /%ipants detected Ruffed Grouse at an overall rate of 0.3 per hour, or one every 4.1 hours. Frequency was highest in the 
St. Lawrence Valley (0.73 grouse drumming per hour in the field), and least in the lower Hudson Valley (0.22). These figures 
were higher than in this suvey's first two years. 
cygnets (fide RGS). Eleven at Perch River 
WM. A., Jefferson, in mid-Jul included a pair 
with 4 cygnets (TWB, Gail Benson). A single 
was at Volney, Oswego, NY 9 Jun and TO Jul 
(WP). A drake Eurasian Wigeon was a sur- 
prise at Montezuma 21 Jun (Mike & Joann 
Tetlow). A Northern Shoveler with 4 duck- 
lings at Chazy River 21 Jul (BK) was a wel- 
come record of this occasional breeder. A 
Redhead duckling at Montezuma 4 Jun (CW, 
JBa, SK) conhrmed this species’ persistence at 
This adult Mississippi Kite, discovered by Stephanie Restuc- 
cia near Ames, Montgomery County, New York 1 June 2009, 
was photographed that day (here). The bird was rediscov- 
ered in late June and joined by a subadult 12 July, and the 
two were enjoyed by multitudes of birders until early Au- 
gust. This was New York's first apparently territorial pair, 
but no sign of breeding could be discovered. Photograph by 
Michael Restuccia. 
one of its two regular New York breeding 
sites. Among the usual summering geese and 
diving ducks, including Brant, all three scoter 
species, both scaup, and a handful of Long- 
tailed Ducks, 14 Snow Geese at the n. end of 
L. Cayuga, Tompkins, NY 13 Jun (Steve & 
Susie East) were a new summer high for the 
Finger Lakes region. Genuinely rare were 3 
mid-summer Buffleheads well inland: a male 
at the Batavia W.T.P, Genesee, NY 22 Jun 
(WW et al), a female at Tompkins Park on 
Cayuga L., Ithaca, NY 21 & 26 Jul (CW.JBa, 
SK, Ml), and one that summered at Dividing 
Creek, Cumberland, NJ (m.ob.). 
More Red-throated Loons summered than 
usual: one was at Hamlin Beach (RGS, m.ob.), 
2 on Long I. (AW, DG), 2 around Staten I., NY 
(Catherine Barron et al.), and one in alternate 
plumage was observed on the Hudson R. at 
Inwood Hill, New York City 12-14 Jul (Mo- 
hammed Alomeri, ph. DA). Good counts of 
Pied-billed Grebe, listed as Threatened in 
New York, were 47, including chicks, at Mon- 
tezuma 4 Jun (CW) and 35, including chicks, 
at Alabama Swamps, Genesee, NY 27 Jul 
(David Gordon). A Red-necked Grebe on the 
Mohawk R. at Cohoes, Albany, NY 8-20 Jun 
(John Hershey, Bill Lee, Ken Harper et al.) 
and one at Hamlin 28 Jul, followed by 2 more 
three days later (William Symonds), fur- 
nished rare mid-summer records. 
Much of our Region’s offshore birdlife re- 
mains beyond our ken. John Shemilt took 
several fishing/photography excursions well 
offshore, Ending a healthy 7 Audubon’s 
Shearwaters at Block Canyon 25 Jul. Two oth- 
er Audubon’s were 32-40 km off Avalon, Cape 
May, NJ 28 Jul (DF, Mike Fritz). Shemilt also 
photographed 12 Leach’s Storm-Petrels 138 
km sse. of Shinnecock, Long I. 27 Jun, and 12 
more near the 500-fathom contour sse. of 
Shinneock 4 Jul. Among the inshore 
tubenoses in Jun, Northern Gannets (not 
ads.) were often observed, the maximum be- 
ing 89 at Democrat Pt., Suffolk, NY 19 Jun 
(SSM, TWB). This was roughly twice last 
summer’s maximum. 
American White Pelicans, once exception- 
al, now visit annually. One was on the Hud- 
son R. at Kingston Lighthouse, Ulster, NY 8 
Jul Qack Haber) and at nearby Pt. Ewen 9-10 
Jul (m.ob.). Two arrived at the Thousand Acre 
Marsh, New Castle, DE 15 Jul Qeffrey Hall, 
m.ob.) and remained into fall. Numbers of 
post-breeding Brown Pelicans were a bit 
above average, with maxima of 5 at Cupsogue 
22 Jul (Dave Klauber, Bob May, Jim Cullen), 
40 at Barnegat Light 26 Jul (Carole Gobert), 
and 24 at Cape Henlopen in early Jul (Bird- 
line Delaware). One passed Montauk, NY 13 
Jun (Dan Heglund) and later that evening 
Great Gull 1. Qoe DiCostanzo), a first record 
there. Another traveled to L. Erie at Dunkirk 
Harbor, Erie, NY 6-8 Jul Qoe Gula, m.ob.); it 
was found dead 14 Jul at Evans, 19 km to the 
north (Peter -Schultz). Double-crested Cor- 
morant nests totaled 1183 in New York Har- 
bor, slightly down from 1333 last year (EC), 
but general numbers showed little effects of 
the N.Y.D.E.C.’s control measures. An Anhin- 
ga was over the Rea Farm, Cape May, NJ 27 
Jun (KL, ph. BE) and reappeared 28 Jun (BE) 
and 2 Jul (ph. MO’B). Most conhrmed records 
are in May/Jun. 
This female Ruff was present at Taylor's Gut, Woodland 
Beach Wildlife Area, Kent County, Delaware, 25 July into 
early (here 1 ) August 2009; it was the only one of its species 
found in summer 2009 in the Hudson-Delaware region, 
where a half-dozen or more would have been expected a 
few decades ago. Photograph by Frank Rohrbacher. 
HERONS THROUGH RAPTORS 
Most of the herons in the greater New York 
City area have concentrated in New York har- 
bor to breed, safe from predators but exposed 
to contaminants. The 23rd Harbor Herons 
Survey, sponsored by New York City 
Audubon, found 1683 heron nests, down 9% 
from 1846 in 2007, the last full survey. Black- 
crowned Night-Herons (750 nests) accounted 
for nearly half, followed by Great Egret (308), 
Snowy Egret (295), and Glossy Ibis (205) 
(EC). The true “southern herons,” having col- 
onized Long I. and beyond in the 1950s, have 
retreated from their 1980s peaks. Only 5 Little 
Blue Herons nested in New York harbor, plus 
several at two Long Island sites: Moriches In- 
r A Beginning abruptly 1 8 Jun, unprecedented numbers of tubenoses moved close to the beach, especially along Long l.'s 
3 #ls. shore, and the phenomenon was also observed in New England waters. Indeed, more tubenoses were counted from 
land than from boats offshore. On that evening, over 600 seabirds streamed eastward past Robert Moses during two hours, 
including one Sooty, 300-f- Cory's, 17+ Greater, and 2 Manx Shearwaters, 33 Wilson's Storm-Petrels, 80 Northern Gannets, 
and a Parasitic Jaeger (SSM, PLi). Simultaneously, 1 00+ Cory's Shearwaters passed Tiana Beach, 56 km farther east (AB). The 
maximum was 3000+ shearwaters, mostly Cory's, seen just w. of Montauk Pt. 8 Jul (Brad Carlson, Doug Daniels). Observers 
tended to relate these observations to incessant easterly winds. More likely, they were related to food supply, as nutrient-rich 
waters piled up against these shores, driven perhaps by wind or perhaps by oscillations and convergences of currents that are 
still poorly understood. 
574 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
