HUDSON-DELAWARE 
in Jefferson, NY (JBo). Elsewhere, they bred at 
the Seneca Falls Fairground, Seneca, NY (Paul 
Flurtado et ah), but 11 there 18 Jul (Chris 
Wylie, Tim Fenz) may represent a post-breed- 
ing assemblage. Farther s., breeding was prob- 
able at Blue Chip Farm, Ulster, NY (m.ob.), 
conhrmed at Gabreskie Airport, Suffolk, NY 
(fide SSM), and continued at two sites in New 
Jersey: Fakehurst (down to 8 birds) and the 
Atlantic City airport (fide Don Freiday). In- 
triguingly, 2 visited the old Columbus Sod 
Farm, Mansfield, Burlington, NJ 3 jul (Dana 
Eglinton). As Burlington County now owns 
this site, future breeding is imaginable there. 
GULLS THROUGH ALCIDS 
A count of 7000 Faughing Gulls in the back 
bays of Cape May 20 jun (MO’B) suggests this 
species’ abundance here. Nine Little Gulls in 
prealternate molt lingered at Fort Niagara S.P., 
NY 21 Jun (ph. JP); this plumage is seldom 
seen in this Region. An ad. Black-headed Gull 
lingered exceptionally at the Niagara R. 
mouth until 9 Jun (WW), and another ad. vis- 
ited Cape May, NJ 27 & 30 Jun (ph BF). Gull- 
billed Terns are increasing on Long Island. 
Eight to 10 pairs inhabited the estuaries of 
Hempstead, Nassau, Long I., though high 
tides prevented breeding (JZ). The Gull-billed 
Terns that frequented Jamaica Bay in Jul cli- 
maxed on 31 Jul at a near-record 24; one of 
these birds sported a band (DG, JP). In New 
Jersey, however, they were absent from 
Barnegat Bay (JBu) and seem not to have bred 
n. of Brig. 
The tidal bar where Royal Terns nested for 
the last two years near Cape May was eroded. 
A few pairs joined a skimmer colony nearby at 
Stone Harbor Point, but everything disap- 
peared in a total washover (TP). A single 
Caspian Tern pair bred in Barnegat Bay once 
again (JBu) , far from the Region’s only colony 
at Little Galloo Island in L. Ontario. Roseate 
Terns increased to 1600 nesting pairs on Great 
Gull 1. (HH). The effort to create alternate 
colonies was set back when Cartwright Shoal, 
the most promising site, was overwashed. 
Only isolated Roseate Tern pairs breed else- 
where on Long Island. Common Terns on 
Great Gull I. reached 10,500 pairs (HH), 
about a third of Long Island’s total. This 
colony, elevated above the tides, was highly 
productive (HH), while productivity in 
Barnegat Bay fell to 0.13. Productivity has 
been below one chick per nest there in seven 
of the past eight years (JBu). Arctic Terns, now 
known to summer regularly around Long 1. in 
small numbers, coming ashore usually for 
only one day at a time, numbered 9 this year 
(SSM), Black Skimmers plummeted in New 
Jersey from 2787 ads. last year to 2219, 
though the count may have been skewed by 
emigration after flooding. Only five colonies 
formed (down from ten in 2008), and a mea- 
ger total of 327 young fledged came from a 
single colony (Seaview Harbor Marina, Long- 
port, Atlantic). In Barnegat Bay, some skim- 
mers were learning to nest on higher sub- 
strates of Spartina patens, but the water even- 
tually got them, too Obti)- On Long L, the 
Lido Beach, Suffolk colony reached a historic 
maximum of 933 individuals QZ). None nest- 
ed in Delaware (MB). A South Polar Skua, a 
species reported less than annually, was pho- 
tographed 77 km sse. of Shinnecock Inlet, 
Long 1. 4 Jul OS)- Totally unexpected were 2 
alternate-plumaged Dovekies photographed 
94 and 114 km sse. of Shinnecock Inlet 27 
Jun, and another 136 km sse. of Shinnecock 
Inlet 4 Jul QS). There are some old mid-sum- 
mer records but few recent ones. 
DOVES THROUGH WRENS 
In addition to the well-known colony at Sel- 
byville, on the s. Delaware/Maryland border, 
Eurasian Collared-Doves seem to be establish- 
ing themselves around Rochester, NY. Those 
found at Parma in winter 2008-2009 continue, 
and another 2 at Hamlin 20-30 Jim exhibited 
courtship behavior (DT). One appeared in Og- 
den Township, NY 25 Jul (DT). The ConEd 
power company is contending with some 300 
Monk Parakeet nests in Brooklyn and Queens, 
many of them on power poles (New York 
Times, 18 Apr 2009). For the 2nd summer. 
Snowy Owls remained into midsummer in up- 
state New York; Chyton, Jefferson (Jide JBo); 
Albany Airport (Will Raup, ph. Chris Al- 
bright, fide RG); and Deerfield, Oneida (ph. 
Steven Heerkens). A gratifying 24 Whip-poor- 
wills sang at Fort Drum 5 Jun QBo). 
Red-headed Woodpeckers, which declined 
76% in New York State between the 1988 and 
the 2008 atlases, hang on along the Great 
Lakes and in the St, Lawrence 'Valley. The best 
location is Fort Drum, with eight pairs OBo)- 
Outside these areas, isolated pairs remained; 
one nested again in Manorville, Suffolk, Long 
1. (Robert Adamo, Sy Schiff, m.ob.), and n. 
New Jersey had three sites in Sussex, Middle- 
sex, and Moiris. One at the Rehoboth Beach 
Yacht Club golf course in Jul represented the 
only Delaware report (Birdline Delaware). 
Twenty-one Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in 
High Point S.P., Sussex 13-14 Jun (DF, MO’B) 
were remarkable, considering that nesting 
was unknown in New Jersey until about a 
dozen years ago. 
Acadian Flycatchers continue their slow 
advance northward and upcountry. A pair at 
Miner Flat Rock, Altona Township 18 Jul 
(Kenneth Adams, Melanie A. McCormack, 
John & Patricia Saxton et ah, ph.) represent- 
ed a first record for Clinton, NY and for the 
Adirondacks. A Gray Kingbird at the Nature 
Conservancy’s Cape May Migratory Bird 
Refuge (formerly South Cape May Meadows) 
4 Jul, thought to be a first-year by its broad 
primary ends, made a first Jul record for Cape 
May (MO’B). A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher visit- 
ed Warinanco Park, Union, NJ 1 Jun (Cliff 
Miles, ph. Bill Boyle, Hank & Karin Burk). 
Another, or the same, appeared 12 Jun on 
Staten I. (Cliff Hagen et ah), just 11 km away. 
Late spring is a typical time for Scissor-tailed 
Flycatchers to appear in the Region. 
White-eyed Vireos ventured well beyond 
their n. limits in the Region, with singles at 
the University of Rochester’s Lehigh Swamp 
in mid-Jun (William Rowley) and at the Han- 
nacroix Creek Preserve, Greene, NY 5 Jun 
(RG). Common Ravens are now seen occa- 
sionally within New York City: one flew over 
Forest Hills Gardens 12 Jul (Steve Plust). In 
the New Jersey highlands, they “continue 
their march southward” from Sussex and War- 
ren into the Hunterdon and Monis highlands 
(RR). An early fall roost of 9000 Bank Swal- 
lows “perched along every row of dead cat- 
tails” at Montezuma 16 Jul (Chris Wiley, Tim 
Lenz) was impressive. Highly localized Sedge 
Wrens increased steadily at Fort Drum from 2 
singing males in early Jun to 39 in late Jul, 
and about 10 others were found at other St. 
Lawrence valley locations QBo). Elsewhere, 
they were detected at only about ten localities 
in upstate New York, the southernmost being 
Montgomery, Orange (Carl McDermott, Ken 
McDermott, m.ob.). A singing male Ruby- 
crowned Kinglet at Summerhill, near Ithaca, 
NY 5 Jun-7 Jul showed no signs of breeding 
(CW, JBa, MY). Bicknell’s Thrushes still breed 
s. to the Catskill summits where they were 
first described. Good counts included 15 on 
Slide Mt., Ulster, NY 17 Jim (Kent McFarland, 
Brendan Collins) and 8 by the same observers 
on Plateau Mt., Greene, NY 16 Jun. 
WARBLERS THROUGH FINCHES 
Golden-winged Warblers are now best looked 
for in the n. reaches of the Region. Fort Drum 
contained over 50 pairs, alongside about 40 
pairs of increasing Blue-winged Warblers 
QBo). Two males each sang on L. Champlain 
at Westport (MDM, EKT) and at Webb Royce 
Swamp QoBn &: Patricia Thaxton), both Es- 
sex, NY. The best areas in downstate New York 
remain the powerline cuts in Sterling Forest, 
Orange, where this season’s maximum was 8 
on 6 Jun (Rob Fanning). Only one was report- . 
ed in New Jersey, at Layton, Sussex in mid-Jun 
(fide RR). The zone of Golden-winged/Blue- 
winged hybridization is likewise shifting 
576 
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 
