REGION 8 - HUDSON-MOHAWK 
Jane Denker Graves 
133 York Avenue 
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866-2533 
As reported from the Albany International Airport, September's mean 
temperature was 64.8°F, 3.5° above normal, with 51% possible sunshine. 
October averaged 48.9°, 1.2° below normal, with 51% possible sunshine. 
November was mild, averaging 44°, 4.3° above normal, with 44% possi¬ 
ble sunshine. The drought conditions of the summer ended abruptly with 
the advent of Hurricane Floyd, which drenched the area with 6" of rain 
on the 16th and 17th of September. The month continued rainy and 
ended with 11.06" of precipitation, 8.11" above normal, making it the 
wettest September since records began to be kept in 1826 and the third 
wettest of any month on record. Things dried out some in October, with 
2.42" of rain, 0.41" below normal. November continued dry, with 2.07" 
of precipitation, 1.16" below normal. The first frost occurred on 8 
October. The first snow flurries occurred at the end of November, and the 
ground remained unfrozen through the period. 
The summer drought resulted in generally poor mast crops, although 
the hawthorn, bittersweet, wild cherry, honeysuckle, multiflora rose and 
grape crops looked fairly good. The cone crop was practically nonexis¬ 
tent. Weather systems were such during the passerine migration as to 
produce no fallout days. I received few reports indicative of any unusu¬ 
al sightings related to Hurricane Floyd, although it was hard to get to 
some of the area waterbodies because of flooded roads. Paul Connor 
reported seeing over 1000 Tree Swallows flying low and covering most of 
the surface of Nassau Lake immediately after the heavy rain. Waterbird 
reports were generally unimpressive, although an early sighting of over 
1000 Snow Geese on Bell's Pond COLU on 28 September must have been 
eye-catching. There was a "you can't win" scenario with shorebird habi¬ 
tat, first because of the drought; and then, after the hurricane, because of 
high water. Shorebird reports were sparse, with few individuals of 12 
species spotted. Reports of migrating thrushes were extremely low. I 
saw no thrushes at all for the first time in my 11 years of birding. 
Bobolinks remained in the Amsterdam area far later than usual, with 
eight still present on 5 November. There were early indications of an 
irruption of northern species. Northern Shrike was reported throughout 
the Region beginning in late October. Both Red and White-winged cross¬ 
bills were seen and heard over the Camp Pinnacle Hawkwatch from late 
The Kingbird 2000 March; 50(1) 
90 
