fter the previouswinter of record-breakingwarmth, it should have come as no surprise to New Englandersthat 2002-2003was a return to business as usual in the north- temperatezone. Over the Regionas a whole, averagetemperature ranked in the lowest 25% of winters on record, with statesbordering the Gulf of Maine •rt

(Maine, New Hampshire,Massachusetts) ß colder than the Regional average. In Canbou manyareas, there was no hint of a Janu- ary or February thaw. Snowfall was roughly normal, although this was a result of below-averageprecipitation to ß Baxter SP the north and above-averageprecipita- tion to the south.The latter was aidedby five northeasters that swept ashore MAINE between mid-December and mid-Febru-

ary ß ß Bangor The effects of this "normal" winter on Chaml)lain Island Pond New Englhnd'sbirdlife were generally ß Augusta pretty obvious.Early freezingof north- Mtl•. •t.besert I em lakes and rivers forced waterfowl and -- • i NF &Acadia NP ..... 10NT eaglessouth by mid-winter, and cold r • Wint,e- • MonheganI. temperatures in general probably _••au/•e Portland resulted in one of the lowest totals of lin- HAMPSHIRE gering half-hardiesin recent years. In rea,Bay.IßP_.nuL.. contrast,there werefour hummingbirds Pad.awayS•a -• •s•esor•noa•s in the Region,including Massachusetts's first Calliope Hummingbird and a Berkshire/_•SS•C•OSE•S ••½• •c, CapeAnn .... Selaphoruswell to the north in coastal •uny• f •Qu•? BOto•t•gen Maine. Carolina Wrens, a species not / •r,--h=H• •s. •h• BankPr•ir=etown known for its cold tolerance,managed to Litchfi• ., . •)• Stor=0'• I R_I.fi , [ '• hold on to most of the range expansion County• .a•ora•" I .... • ß• •Ch•ham facilitatedby the winter of 2001-2002. The northeastersresulted in exceptional • e• • • I • Martha's• ß numbersof seabirds,particularly alcids, • • • •mmo•••,B,oc• I.I X Vin•ard along the Massachusettscoast, with Stam•rd..... • -. I S•h•st Pt. higher-than-usualnumbers of Razorbills ugnmou••. Jamest•n even penetratingwell into . Rarities not associatedwith any par- ticular weather event included Massa- LOONSTHROUGH VULTURES Pam Hunt chusetts'ssecond Long-billed Murrelet, The exceptionalflight of Red-throated three Tufted Ducks in Vermont, a Black- Loons observed in e. Massachusetts in 66 ParkStreet #2 throated Gray Warbler in Nov apparentlydid not result in more (continuing from November), and an than the usualnumber of birdswintering Northfield,New Hampshire 03276 intriguingkingbird on CapeCod. North- in the Region.This season'sPacific Loons ern fincheswere essentiallyabsent, and included one in Portland, Cumberland, ([email protected]) evennorthern areas reported fewer birds ME in mid-Dec(fide WT), and 2 in Mass- than normal for a non-invasion year. achusetts: Eastham 12 Dec and Woods And finally,several now-famous visitors Hole, Barnstable4-5 Jan. The Eared Grebe to Massachusetts returned for another returned to Gloucester,Essex, MA for its winter, including Eared Grebe, Tufted 8th consecutive winter. Another was seen Duck, and Gyrfalcon. sporadicallyat Groton, New London,CT 16 Jan+ (D. Provencher).A singleRed- Abbreviations: Eastham (Eastham, necked Grebe lingeredthrough 5 Jan at Barnstable, MA), M.A.R.C. (Massachu- Ferrisburg,Addison, VT (TM, A. Strong). setts Avian Records Committee), Nan- Western Grebes were all in Massachusetts: tucket (Nantucket I., MA), P'town Plymouth 7 Dec, Scituate 1 Jan, and (Provincetown, Barnstable,MA), Quab- Nahant 2-20 Jan. bin (Quabbin Res., w. MA), Rockport During the northeasterof 12 Dec, 3 (Rockport,Essex, MA). Greater Shearwaters were seen off Rock-

VOLUME 57 (2003) NUMBER 2 177 port (RH). A total of 440 Northern Gan- appearsthat the large flocks departed soon Burlington,Chittenden, VT 19 Feb (TM). nets was seen from the same location on thereafter.The Regionaltotal of 6 Greater Lingeringdiving ducks included 6 Red- the samedate, but this numberpaled in White-fronted Geese is a little below aver- headat Stratham,Rockingham, NH i Dec comparison to age for recent (onestaying though 12 Dec) and3 more counts elsewhere years.There were 2 ] . at theCrown Point Bridge, Addison, VT 26 in Massachusetts • m Connecticut and Dec--10Jan. Redheads paled in compari- during Dec, a group of 4 that son to another waterfowl find at the including1000 in ; i spentall of Febat Crown Point Bridge.On 26 Dec, birders Chatham,Barnsta- • Fairhaven, Bristol, located 2 male Tufted Ducks (2nd state ble 7 Dec and ' a i MA.A Barnaclerecord) in a flockof 1400Greater Scaup 1650 at P'town 25 r • Gooseat Upton, (itself an impressivefind; TM, m. ob.). Dec (bothBN). By _ Worcester, MA 31 Thesewere joined by a female,and one of late Dec, good • Jan was suspected the maleswas still present5 Jan. Five numbersof gan- = to be an escapee, moreTufted Ducks were in Massachusetts, nets had also but 2 at Rehoboth, includinga bird at the WachusettRes., moved into Rhode ' ,a• Bristol,MA i Feb Worcester for the 8th winter in a row Island waters, (M. Larson et al.) Rhode Island hosted 2 of this Eurasian with 1672 and 750 were deemed more species:one in Wakefield,Washington 28 on theS. Kingston likely to be wild. Dec+ and one in Providence,Providence C.B.C. and Block Final word on 15-28Feb. King Eiders in unusualplaces I. C.B.C., respec- these birds awaits includedone on GreatBay, NH 9-13 Dec tively Finally, a deliberationby the and 2 in coastal Connecticut. A Black gannet in Way- M.A.R.C. There Scoterwas similarly out of placealong the land, Middlesex, were 3 Tundra Connecticut R. in Greenfield, Franklin, MA 4 Dec (A. ThisRufous orAllen's Hummingbird wasphotographed at Swans in Connecti- Hancock,Maine 2 December2002, a firstwinter-season MA 9 Jan. Even Long-tailed Ducks Webber)provided recordfor the state.The bird was last seen after a snowstorm cut in early Dec, showedup inland,with birdsin Laconia, one of fewer than thefollowing day. Photo9raph byKen and Sue Noddin. and 5 appearedin NH 28 Dec, TurnersFalls, Franklin, MA 9 a dozen inland Coventry, Kent, RI Jan, and Hinsdale,NH in Jan (C. Petrak). recordsfor the Bay State. Great Cor- in lateJan, marking about the 20thwinter WhereLong-tailed Ducks are supposed to morants seemed more common inland thatthe specieshas wintered in thisloca- be, 250,000 were tallied in Nantucket than usual this season. Some 43 were tion (fide M. Tucker). Sound 22 Dec (a number similar to the reported along the Merrimack R. in Despitethe earlyfreeze and generally C.B.C.total in the previouswinter). Lawrence,Essex, MA 25Jan, and up to 10 cold temperatures,a Numbers of Harle- werefarther upriver in Manchester,Hills- few ducks managed quin Ducks at tradi- ,NH 27 Feb. One bird was even to show up in tional locations in presentuntil 21 Jan at Laconia,Belknap, unusual inland loca- Maine, Massachu- NH (C. Anderson)_ In the Connecticut tions. Three Wood setts, and Rhode Valley,single individuals were at Holyoke, Ducksduring Feb in Island were roughly Hampden,MA 14 Dec, Quabbin 28 Dec, New Hampshirewas normal,with a peak and Hinsdale,Cheshire, NH 29 Jan. Seven definitely an above- regionalcount of 104 spentall or partof thewinter up the Nan- averagetotal, as was at Rockport during gatuckR. in Waterbury,New Haven,CT the count of 3 Gad- Jan (lB). More (M. Szantyr). wain in w. Massachu- unusualwere a single Lingeringherons were scarce--repre- setts. Eurasian Harlequin at Stam- sentedby a singleGreat Egret at Weeka- Wigeon numbers ford,Fairfield, CT 10 paug,Washington, RI 5 Jan and a total of were about normal Jan, and another well 17 Black-crownedNight-Herons in e_ and included one in up the Connecticut Massachusettsin Jan and Feb. The only New Hampshire,8 in R. in Littleton, BlackVulture report away from Connecti- Massachusetts, at Grafton,Nit 3 Jan (T, cutwas a singlebird at Ashaway,Washing- least5 in Rhode • MacPherson). One of ton,RI, a locationwhere several were pres- Island,and 3 in Con- •. only a handful of ent during the previouswinter. Eight necticut. Northern ,,_ inlandrecords for the Turkey Vultures on the Newburyport Shovelers were lim Granite State. With C.B.C. (Essex,MA) 22 Dec represented ited to 12 scattered • the early and thor- only the 2nd recordfor the count (lB), around e. Massachu- oughfreeze, numbers and otherwayward buzzards included sin- setts,with the excep- of Hooded Mer- glesin Amherst,Hampshire, MA 20 Feb tionof a singlebird in Thisdark-morph Gyrfakon atBlack Fakon Marine Terminal, gansers seemed and Portland,ME throughmost of Feb Exeter, Rockingham, SouthBoston, Massach.,cetts 19January 2003 had been lower in inland areas, (DL). NH ! Dec. The only bandedatLogan Airport in1998. Photograpl• byPhiIBrown. an observation con- Common (Eurasian veniently balanced Green-winged)Teal was at Eastham11 by slightlyhigher numbers in s. coastal Dead Creek W.M.A., Addison, VT still Jan. An unusual male hybrid between areas.A flockof 500 RuddyDucks in Old WATERFOWLhosted 2500 Snow Geese l Dec, but it Wood Duck and Mallard was observed in Saybrook, Middlesex, CT 1 Jan (D. Sosen- 178 NORTH AMERICA" BIRDS sky)was an impressiveearly-winter total (fideGH). A bird describedas an ad.Yel- reviewby theVermont records committee. for the Nutmeg State. low-leggedGull was seen in Salisbury, Amongn. owls,Snowy Owls staged one of Essex,MA 19 Feb (RH) and awaitsreview their weakest incursions in recent winters. RAPTORSTHROUGH ALCIDS by M.A.R.C.In conjunctionwith thebig Forexample, the statewide total for Mass- It wasnot a particularlyinteresting winter alcidflights, 1500 Black-legged Kittiwakes achusettswas only 6-7 birds,a number for birds of prey. Lingering Ospreys were tallied at Rockport14 Dec (RH), oftenexceeded at LoganAirport alone.A included one well to the n. on the Orono with another1260 in CapeCod Bay4Jan singleNorthern Hawk Owl brieflyvisited C.B.C.(Penopscot, ME) 15 Dec,an appar- (m. ob.). Two individualsof this pelagic Sandwich, Carroll, NH 29-30 Dec (R. entlyoverwintering bird alongthe Nau- gull evenmade it to Connecticut'sportion Ridgely,m. ob.).Short-eared Owls seemed gatuckR. in Waterbury,CT (G. Allen,m. of LongIsland Sound, where the species is more abundant than usual in Maine, e. oh.), and two Dec sightingsin Massachu- consideredrare (fide GH). A Common Massachusetts,and Rhode Island. setts.The prolongedfreeze caused Bald Tern barely made it into the seasonat If any taxonomicgroup would be Eaglesto shiftsouthward in lateJan, when Wellfleet, Barnstable,MA I Dec (BN). expectedto sufferin a cold and snowy up to 80 frequentedthe lower Connecti- Massachusetts and Rhode Island each winter, it would be the Trochilidae. cutValley in Connecticut,and roughly 50 hosted 2 Forster's 'ferns, with the latest Nonetheless,after a moderate fall influx, wereseen along the GeorgesR. in Warren, beingat Falmouth,Barnstable, MA 11Jan there were four hummingbirdsreported Knox,ME (fideD. Reimer).Golden Eagles (G. 'fepke). amongthree New EnglandStates between were also regularin thesetwo locations, Alcidactivity was dominated by impres- earlyDec and mid-Jan. Three were Selas- with 4 in Connecticut and one in Maine. sive numbers of Razorbills and murres phorusspecies, including one at Bridgewa- The Jan snow may also have forced alongmost of the New Englandcoast, but ter, Plymouth,MA 1 Dec (R. & E Ellis). Rough-leggedHawks southward just prior smaller speciesalso warrant mention. Farthest n., and last seen after a snow- to the eaglemovement. Numbers in e. Firstand foremostamong the latterwas a storm, was a probablefemale Rufous Massachusettsin Dec were suggestive of a Long-billedMurrelet at Rockport3 Jan Hummingbirdin Hancock,Hancock, ME goodflight (fide RH), andJan numbers in (RH), providingonly the 2nd recordfor through3 Dec (ph. K. and S. Noddin). Connecticutwere alsohigher than usual Massachusetts(the firstwas brought in by Lastinglongest was a bird in Old Say- (fide GH). Perhapsrepresentative of this a catin 1982).'fhe highcount for Dovekie brook,CT through13 Jan (ph. m. ob.). populationshift was the changein num- was 20 at Eastham 26 Dec, and 3 Atlantic Trumpingall theprevious birds was Mass- bersin Vermont'sChamplain Valley: from Puffinsmade a high count for the York achusetts'sand the Region'sfirst Calliope 38 on 24 Decto 15 on 12Jan (fideWS). C.B.C. in Maine 16 Dec. Hummingbirdat a feeder in Eastham Observersin Maine have noteda grad- through31 Dec 0- Kricher,A. Fuller et ual increasein the number of Peregrine OWLSTHROUGH CROWS al.). The bird was first detectedin Nov but Falconswintering in the state:there were While 3 Barn Owls in Connecticut and not conclusivelyidentified until later in 8 this seasonin comparisonto an average oneon Nantucketare relatively normal for the winter, when it was also pho- of 2 perwinter for theprevious 11 winters a New Englandwinter, one in Vermontis tographed. (fidelD).Boston's Gyrfalcon returned for a certainlynot. In light of its rarityin the BothRed-headed Woodpeckers and Yel- 2nd winter, and observerswere able to GreenMountain State, a reportof a Barn low-belliedSapsuckers were more com- readits band,revealing that it had origi- Owl from Poultny,Rutland 1 Feb awaits mon thanusual. Noteworthy totals of the nallybeen banded as a juv. at LoganAir- portin Jan1998. Other Gyrfalcons were at Grand Isle, Grand Isle, VT 30 Jan and Brunswick,Sagadahoc, ME in lateJan. Unusual shorebirdswere few, high- lightedby a GreaterYellowlegs well inland in Sheffield, Berkshire, MA 1 Jan (W. Cook). A SpottedSandpiper in Provi- dence,RI the nextday (D. Finzia, R. Far- rell) provideda record-latedate for the OceanState. As usual,Cape Cod hosteda few lingeringCalidris, including a White- rumpedSandpiper in Eastham15 Jan (W. Petersen).In nearbyChatham, 3 Western Sandpiperson 15 Dec had dwindledto oneby 6 Jan(E Flood). PomafineJaegers continue to setwinter records for Massachusetts.Twenty-four seenat Rockport12 Dec(RH) is twicethe previousDec high. In CapeCod Bay,21 were seen from Dennis, Barnstable26 Dec (E Floodet al.), with 10 still presentin the area4 Jan (BN). Winter gullsshowed no notablepattern of distribution,with the exceptionof Connecticut,where they were viewed as more abundant than usual

VOLUME 57 (2003) NUMBER 2 179 former include 3 in Rhode Island and 6 in cially in the balmys. partsof New Eng- Sparrowat Bloomfield,Hartford, CT; and Connecticut,while sapsuckerstandouts land. There is little better indication of single wintering Clay-coloredsin New- included3 in New Hampshireand I9 in this trend than a roost of I8,876 robins in buryport,MA and Stamford,CT. Lincoln's Massachusetts. A few Eastern Phoebes lin- the GreatSwamp, Washington, RI 21 Dec. Sparrowsare not regularwinter visitorsto gereddespite the deepfreeze. Two made it Single Varied Thrushes were reported the Region,so a total of 3 was unusual. at leastinto mid-Janin Wayland,Middle- from Hamden,New Haven.CT in lateJan, Twowere in Connecticut(fide GH), while sex, MA and Richmond, one at Cape Elizabeth,Cum- Washington,RI. Top honors, berlandprovided only the 3rd however, go to a phoebe winter record for Maine in the along the ConnecticutR. at past 15 years (fide JD). A Bellow's Falls, Windsor, VT Rose-breasted Grosbeak was throughat least 14 Feb (fide on Nantucket 2 Dec (B. WS). Last but not least, a Vigneau), with 2 more Thick-billed Kingbird was reportedfrom Orleans,Barn- reportedin Falmouth,MA 2 stable,MA in late Feb (fide Dec (I. Nisbet). The bird was BN). The latter presumably never relocated, and the appeared on the same M.A.R.C. was not able to southerly flow that brought acceptthe record to species. an astoundinglyearly Blue Nonetheless,the bird in ques- Grosbeak to Chatham 23 Feb tionwas clearly not a kingbird 0. Kenneally,fide BN). A Yel- speciespreviously recorded low-headed Blackbird was in in Massachusetts,any of W. BridgewaterMA 3-5 Dec which would constitute an (R. Finch, m. ob.). Baltimore exceptionalrecord. Orioles seemed more com- A few lingering Blue- mon than usual, with 4 in headed Vireos are normal for Anotherwesterner attempting to overwinterwas this Western Tanager at Portsmouth, Maine, at least 8 in Massachu- earlyDec in s. New England, NewHampshire from middle December 2002 to 10 January (here 8 January)2003, one of setts,2-3 in New Hampshire, but not so the White-eyed twoWestern Tanagers inthe Region this season. Photograph bySteve Afirick. and one in Woodstock, Wind- Vireo seen in W Gloucester, sor, VT 2 Dec. Irruptive Essex,MA 5 Dec (RH). There is only one and Gilford,Belknap, NH in late Feb. In a finches were almost nonexistent. Pine later recordof this speciesfor Massachu- seasonwith relativelyfew half-hardies,a Grosbeakswere reported only from setts.Far to the n. and w., GrayJays were Gray Catbird was inadvisablyfar n. in Maine,and eventhen in only threeloca- observednest-building at Victory Bog, Houlton, Aroostook,ME through 14 Jan tions.Common Redpolls and Pine Siskins Essex,VT in late Feb,providing what was (L. Little, fide JD). BohemianWaxwings madeit to a few locationsin s. New Eng- likely the first confirmationfor the state's were almost absent, even in their tradi- landand were only slightly more common new breedingbird atlas.This recordalso tional strongholdsof n. Maine and New in the n. three states.Perhaps farthest bringshome the fact that weathercondi- Hampshire. afieldwere 5 EveningGrosbeaks in Guil- tionsthat forcebirders to considertropi- Not surprisingly,there were relatively ford, New Haven,CT 13 Jan, especially cal vacationsare quite normal to birdsof few unusual warblers this winter, but a since this specieswas scarceeven far to the boreal forest. A Fish Crow in Salem, few records stand out. These include a the north. Rockingham,NH I0 Dec providedone of Black-throatedBlue in Hanover,Grafton, only a few winter recordsfor the state. NH 3 Dec, and 2 Pine Warblers in nw. EXOTICS Vermont. More noteworthy were two South-coastalNew England's growing NUTHATCHESTHROUGH FINCHES holdovers from Nov, a Black-throated populationof Monk Parakeetshas regu- Like virtuallyall n. irruptivespecies, Red- Gray Warbler at HammonassetBeach larly sentscattered individuals into Rhode breastedNuthatches were often quite hard S.E, New Haven,CT through9 Jan, and a Island and se. Massachusetts in recent to find overmuch of the Region.Carolina HoodedWarbler at Matunuck,Washing- years. This winter, one of these hardy Wrens, on the other hand, seemed to do ton, RI through 2 Dec. More typical lin- birds appearsto have crossedBuzzard's quite well despitethe persistentsub-zero gering warblers included 3 Nashvilles Bay, after which it was seen in Woods temperatures.It appearsthat the gains and 3 Black-and-whites in Dec, 8 Hole, MA 5 Feb.Another parakeet in Pel- made during the previouswarm winters Orange-crowneds(including an above- ham,Hillsborough, NH 6Janis morelikely were largelymaintained, with reports(all average2 in Maine), and 2 Ovenbirds. to havebeen a localescapee_ at feeders) from Lancaster and Berlin, Two WesternTanagers spent part of the Coos,NH and Millinocket, Penobscot,ME. winter in the Region.One frequenteda Subregionaleditors (boldface), contribu- The EasternBluebird, another species that feeder in Portsmouth,Rockingham, NH tors (italics), and observers: Ann Aversa hasincreased dramatically as a winterres- from mid-Dec through 10 Jan (ph., m. (VT), Jim Berry,David Deifik (NH), Jody ident in the Region,reached record-high ob.), and the other was at Ninigret Despres (ME), David Emerson (R1), numbersin Maine(fide JD). A Townsendg N.WR., Washington,RI 26 Dec--18 Jan Frank Gardner,Greg Hanisek(CT), Rick Solitairewas reportedfrom Quabbin11 (m. ob.). Heft, Seth Kellogg(MA), DerekLovitch, Jan (M. Sylvia)but withoutaccompanying Unexpectedsparrows included a Lark TedMurin, Blair Nikula, Marjorie Rines details. American Robins, like bluebirds, Sparrowwas in Westerly,Washington, RI (MA), Wayne Scott (VT), William arebecoming increasingly common, espe- 22 Dec (S. Mitra); a winteringHarris's Townsend(ME). •

180 NORTHAMERICAN B'•RD'S