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Bird Observer VOLUME 44, NUMBER 5 OCTOBER 2016 HOT BIRDS Jerry Twomey and Alan Trautmann discovered a Barn Owl roosting in a grove of trees at Belle Isle Marsh in early May. A wise decision was made to wait for a couple of months before making the sighting public in order to protect the bird from being harassed by photographers. Alan took the photo on the left. WAYNE R. PETERSEN An evening bird walk in Parker River NWR, led by Sue McGrath, discovered a Fork- tailed Flycatcher on August 10. The bird was not relocated the next day. Lee Weber took the photo on the right. Maybe the most-viewed bird in the state this summer, an American Avocet appeared at Plum Island in late July and lingered in the area for over a month. Suzanne Sullivan took the photograph on the left. The August 2016 edition of the BBC Extreme Pelagic was its usual spectacular self, with at least fiveWhite-faced Storm- Petrels and a Black-capped Petrel, plus a Sowerby’s Beaked Whale and perhaps most astonishingly a Whale Shark! Luke Seitz took the photo on the right. TABLE OF CONTENTS WHEN CHANGE IS THE NORM: THE MONOMOY BARRIER SYSTEM AND ITS CONSTANTLY SHIFTING HABITAT Kate E. Iaquinto 297 THE FOUNDING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF MASSACHUSETTS BIRD CLUBS, 2016 John Nelson 312 A CLOSE LOOK AT BANDED GULLS Dave Adrien 316 PHOTO ESSAY More Gulls Dave Adrien 324 MUSINGS FROM THE BLIND BIRDER A Short but Sweet Season Martha Steele 326 GLEANINGS It’s a Noisy World Out There David M. Larson 329 FIELD NOTES Broad-winged Hawk Attacks its Reflected Image Alfred Maley 332 Catbird Fights Image in Car Windshield William E. Davis, Jr 334 Courtship Feeding during Migration Tom Aversa 336 ABOUT BOOKS Quoth The Raven, “Cogito Ergo Sum” Mark Lynch 339 BIRD SIGHTINGS May-June 2016 346 ABOUT THE COVER: American Wigeon William E. Davis, Jr. 358 AT A GLANCE August 2016 Wayne R. Petersen 360 ABOUT THE COVER ARTIST: Barry van Dusen 361 Follow Bird Observer on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/birdobserverjournal and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BirdObserver BIRD OBSERVER Vol. 44, No. 5, 2016 295 Bird Observer A bimonthly journal—to enhance understanding, observation, and enjoyment of birds VOL. 44, NO. 5 OCTOBER 2016 Editorial Staff Corporate Officers* Editor Marsha C. Salett President Wayne R. Petersen Associate Editors Vice President Carolyn B. Marsh Mary-Todd Glaser Regina Harrison Treasurer Lynette Leka David M. Larson Jeffrey Boone Miller Clerk John Shetterly Production Editor Peter W. Oehlkers Assistant Clerk Elisabeth J. Clark Photo Editor Anne Hubbard *Members of the Board ex officio Bird Sightings Editor Marjorie W. Rines Compilers Board of Directors Mark Faherty Seth Kellogg Robert H. Stymeist Fay Vale Paul Fitzgerald H. Christian Floyd Copy Editors John B. Marsh Marsha C. Salett Susan L. Carlson Elisabeth J. Clark Robert H. Stymeist Eric Swanzey Melinda S. LaBranche Fay Vale At a Glance Wayne R. Petersen Book Reviews Mark Lynch Subscriptions John B. Marsh Cover Art William E. Davis, Jr. Advertisements Robert H. Stymeist Where to Go Birding Jason Forbes Mailing Renée LaFontaine Hot Birds Joshua Rose Maps Jill Phelps Kern Webmaster Eric Swanzey Proofreader Christine King Social Media Jan Heng Index Judy Marino SUBSCRIPTIONS: $25 for 6 issues, $48 for two years (U.S. addresses). Inquire about foreign subscriptions. Single copies $5.00, see <http://birdobserver.org/Subscribe>. CHANGES OF ADDRESS and subscription inquiries should be sent to: Bird Observer Subscriptions, P.O. Box 236, Arlington MA 02476-0003, or email to John Marsh at <jmarsh@ jocama.com>. ADVERTISING: full page, $100; half page, $55; quarter page, $35. Contact: Bird Observer Advertising, P.O. Box 236, Arlington MA 02476-0003. MATERIAL FOR PUBLICATION: BIRD OBSERVER welcomes submissions of original articles, photographs, art work, field notes, and field studies. Scientific articles will be peer- reviewed. Please send submissions by email to the editor, Marsha C. Salett <msalett@gmail. com>. Please DO NOT embed graphics in word processing documents. Include author’s or artist’s name, address, and telephone number and information from which a brief biography can be prepared. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BIRD OBSERVER, P.O. Box 236, Arlington MA 02476-0003. PERIODICALS CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT BOSTON MA. BIRD OBSERVER (USPS 369-850) is published bimonthly, COPYRIGHT © 2016 by Bird Observer of Eastern Massachusetts, Inc., 36 Lewis Avenue, Arlington MA 02474, a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Gifts to Bird Observer will be greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. ISSN: 0893-463 296 BIRD OBSERVER Vol. 44, No. 5, 2016 When Change Is the Norm: The Monomoy Barrier System and its Constantly Shifting Habitat Kate E. Iaquinto oad C Br r Figures 1 & 2. (Left) Map of the original refuge boundary and landform when Monomoy NWR was established in 1944. Figure credit: USFWS 1944, Division of Realty. (Right) Map of the islands after the Blizzard of 1978. Figure credit: USFWS 1988. Environmental Assessment—Master Plan: Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Chatham, Massachusetts. 186 pp. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hadley, Massachusetts. [AR, lC, 307- 490] U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 5, Newton Corner, Massachusetts. Chatham, Massachusetts, located on the elbow of Cape Cod, is the quintessential coastal New England town and summer destination for many tourists. More recently, Chatham has been in the news for its increasing gray seal population and the great white sharks that have followed. These are amazing wildlife resources, but what makes Chatham special to birders is the enormous diversity and numbers of avian species that can be seen here. BIRD OBSERVER Vol. 44, No. 5, 2016 297 Chatham is home to an extensive barrier beach system, part of which was established in 1944 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) as Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge (refuge or NWR). These islands are immensely important for nesting and migratory shorebirds and seabirds. In 2016 alone, the refuge and adjacent South Beach hosted 67 pairs of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus), 10,505 pairs of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo), 14 pairs of Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii), over 700 pairs of Least Terns (Sternula antillarum), 19 pairs of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus), and saw thousands of migrant shorebirds and staging terns. Monomoy NWR is also a diverse nesting area for waterfowl such as American Black Duck (Anas rubripes), wading birds such as Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) and Great Egret (Ardea alba), and landbirds including Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) and Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus). The dynamic nature of the Monomoy barrier beach system is what makes it a unique and important place to protect for all of the species that depend on it. To me, the feeling of Monomoy is always the same regardless of its physical form or a particular map. It is a beautiful barrier beach that has for many hundreds of years stretched miles off the shore of Chatham. Whether it was a peninsula or a chain of islands, whether it was connected or disconnected, whether it was inhabited or deserted, the place remains the same: a stretch of beautiful beach—largely unaltered by humans—that is essential wildlife habitat, especially for birds. While looking at our refuge map, a visitor recently asked me if the map showed “what it looks like out there right now.” “That’s a tricky question!” I said. The map was a 2015 aerial, but since the area is constantly changing, aerial imagery is immediately outdated. We see measurable changes in the shoals and channels on a daily basis; this place does not remain the same for more than one tide cycle. Each day the tides ebb and flow and so do the beaches of Monomoy and the inlets that enable boat access to the southern end of South Beach and the northern end of South Monomoy Island. One day, one route is perfectly acceptable to pass through at mid tide; the next week, it is no longer passable. This makes it a constant challenge and keeps us on our feet. It also discourages many boaters except those who are the most experienced or have a stake in getting out there, e.g., the refuge’s and Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program staff, shell fishermen, and the occasional birding group, fin fisherman, or beachgoer. The dynamic nature of Monomoy is also what makes it so intriguing, especially to the public for many of whom the refuge islands are out of reach. One needs a private boat or permitted tour boat to access the refuge. This is problematic because it prevents the public from easily visiting their national wildlife refuge, and it impedes friends’ groups and volunteers hoping to access the refuge for service projects. But this inaccessibility is part of what makes Monomoy so special; its relative isolation from human populations enhances its value for the wildlife populations we are working to conserve. I have had the pleasure of working at Monomoy since the summer of 2007. Monomoy is a challenging refuge to work at for many reasons. We are a federally designated Wilderness area, which guides the management applied on the refuge, often meaning that we use more primitive techniques. We have a field camp where 298 BIRD OBSERVER Vol. 44, No. 5, 2016 our seasonal staff live and work seven days a week from May through July. We manage habitats for four threatened or federally endangered species: Piping Plovers, Roseate Terns, Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa), and northeastern beach tiger beetles (Cicindela dorsalis dorsalis). We are a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site of regional significance, meaning that tens of thousands of shorebirds pass through annually during migration.