The Winter Season December 1, 1974 -March 31, 1975
The Winter Season December 1, 1974 -March 31, 1975 HUDSON-ST. LAWRENCE REGION status as a local half-hardy: Am. Bittern, Wood Duck, Merlin, Turkey Vulture, Am. Coot, Com. Snipe, Am. / P. A. Buckley and Richard Kane Woodcock, Dunlin, LaughingGull, Belted Kingfisher, Corn. Flicker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Yellow- The winter of 1974 - 1975 was uniformly charac- bellied Sapsucker(I 5 in n. New Jersey alone), all three terized as beingextraordinarily mild, relativelydiffer- mimids, Am. Robin, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned ent terms on the south shoreof Long Island and the Kinglet, (n. to the Adirondacks), LoggerheadShrike, north shore of the St. Lawrence, but nonetheless in Palm Warbler (seven in one day at Mecox Bay, L.I. in agreement.Snowfall and snow cover were very light, in late January), Corn. Yellowthroat, Baltimore (N.) Oriole (eight on L.I., ten in N.J., two in w. Mas- sachusetts.one in n.e. Pennsylvania, etc.), Field Spar- row, Chipping Sparrow, Rufous-sidedTowhee (n. to • I •' ' .:::. severallocationsin P.Q.), White-throatedSparrow (dit- 0 •l•'e.An•e •delo Poc•'•reP •':'"• to), White-crowned Sparrow and Swamp Sparrow. The mild weather and open water were probably in largest measureresponsible for somegreat increasesover pre- viously high counts on the annual mid-January N.Y.S. [ lroisRiv[.... •q•¾o .. • waterfowl censusin the N.Y.C.-LI. area; e.g. Gadwall 848, up 136%;Pintail 400, up 101%;Green-winged Teal 410, up 73%; Blue-winged Teal 30, up 207% (and see later text); Wood Duck 53, up 253%; and Am. Coot 1582, up 96%. Aside from having been a winter finch year only in the extreme northern part of the region, it was a raptor year only in the north as well.
[Show full text]