CONTINENTAL SURVEY The Nesting Season June l-July 31, 1985 NORTHEASTERN MARITIME REGION Stuart I. Tingley osting areasbirds reported this summer. conditions Coverage veryof favorable the Regiontonest- was once again somewhat incomplete with thorough reporting submitted only from Newfoundland, Rhode Island, and Breton Connecticut.Substantial reports were receivedfrom Massa- chusetts and New Brunswick, and bits and pieces from Nova Scotia, Maine, and New Hampshire. No observations were received from Prince Edward Island. ABBREVIATIONS-- G.M.I. = Grand Manan Island, New Bruns- wick; S.P.M. = the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. LOONS THROUGH CORMORANTS- Red-throated Loons have apparently nestedregularly at S.P.M. since at least 1964. ATLANTIC This summer 5 nestswere found there (RE}. Elsewhere in the Region,scattered non-breeding birds were reported,the south- OCEAN ernmostbeing one at NapatreePt., R.I., June 10 (fide DE}. A breedingpair of Corn.Loons at Norfolk, Conn., establishedthe first nestingin that statesince 1978 (DR}.A Red-neckedGrebe PoJnl in breedingplumage which remainedthroughout the periodoff Castalia, G.M.I., furnished a rare summer occurrence for New Brunswick (BD}. The only N. Fulmarsreported in the s. portion of the Region were six offMt. DesertRock, Me., June16 ([ideWT}. A count of HERONS THROUGH WATERFOWL -- In Connecticut, 500 + from the CabotStrait ferry July 4 was unusually high (DS, GreatBlue Herons were found nestingat 2 new sitesnear Nor- ST}. Three pairs of fulmarson the cliffs near kittiwake colonies folk and N. Stonington(DR}. A successfulSnowy Egret nest on at Langlade,S.P.M., probably indicated a future nesting loca- an islandin the MusselRidge group in PenobscotBay. Me. (fide tion, which would be the southernmost in North America. The WT}, was the northernmostnesting ever in the Region,although only Cory'sShearwater reported n. of s. New Englandwas a againsummering birds at 2 locationsin both New Brunswick singlebird on the Nova Scotiaside of the Cabot Strait ferry and Nova Scotia suggestedan impending further northward crossingJuly 19 (BM}. Other shearwaterswere reported in aver- push. Very rare in w. Massachusettswas a Little Blue Heron at agenumbers, although six Manx Shearwatersat Cox's Ledge, Hadley,July 28-29 and up to three Yellow-crownedNight-Her- R.I., July 6 were unusual (fide DE}. An estimateof 10,000 Wil- onsat Pittsfieldthroughout the period (fide SK}.An ad. Yellow- son's Storm-Petrels between Great Duck I. and Mt. Desert Rock, crownedNight-Heron was unusualin s. New HampshireJune Me., June22-23 was extraordinary(fide WT}. In Rhode Island 25 (fide JW} as was one at Cushing, Me., July 9 (fide WT}. In the SakolmetPoint Double-crestedCormorant colony, estab- RhodeIsland, the total of 296 GlossyIbis nestson Narragansett lished in 1981, continuedto expand exponentiallywith 545 Bayislands was reported as the highestever (fide DE}.A report nestsreported this year (fide DE). of a "pale, immature flamingo" at Tracadie, N.S., for several Volume 39, Number 5 885 weeksin Julyand August has just surfaced and detailsare being sought{G. Cooch,fide AE), while a pale flamingoat Quono- chontaug,R.I., June 26-July 31 + was identified as a Chilean (fide DE). The Mute Swan flock at BriggsMarsh, R.I., reached an im- pressive380 in late July. To quote David Emerson, "it would be interestingto learn where all theseswans are comingfrom and why they congregateat this particularspot every summer. They appear to be all adults, possibly non-breedersthat disperse northward during mid-summer."Summering Brant included one at Moonstone Beach, R.I., July 21 (fide DE) and three at StrattonI., Me., July 11 (fide WT). A BarnacleGoose was report- ed with a flock of Canada Geesein blueberry barrens n. of Kennebunk,Me., June4 (K. Gammons,fide WT). Rare in New- foundlandwere a Gadwall June23 and a Wood Duck June22, both in the CodroyValley (RB). The southernmostsummering Oldsquawin the Regionwas one at Milford Pt., Conn.,July 21 (REn,DV). Most unusual was a flock of 600-650 White-winged Scotersfeeding off Cape Ray, Nfld., June 22-23 (RB). HAWKS THROUGHRAILS-- Turkey Vultures continued to be widely reported in Maine but the only report received from GreaterYellowlegs on nestat LiscombGame Sanctuary, N.S., the Maritimes was of a singlebird at McGowan'sCorner, N.B., June 3, 1985. Photo/HarryBrennan. July 25 (BJ}.Most observersagree that Ospreyscontinue to increasethroughout the Region although no hard data are at hand to back this up. Up to six imm. Bald Eagleswandered graphedby a tourgroup at St. Paul'sInlet, GrosMorne N.P., July aroundCape Cod, Nantucket,and Martha'sVineyard this sum- 14 (JimHaw, BM, SandraSchacht, Tony White et al.), providing one of very few Regionaland North American recordsof this mer,apparently none of them banded(fide BN}. Amongseveral Old World plover.A goodfind in Maine was a Wilson's Plover reportsof N. Goshawkswas one of a nest found at Langlade, at SeawallBeach, Phippsburg, June 9-10 (PV et at., ph.), where S.P.M.,June 21, providinga first nestingrecord for the islands (fideRE}. A Red-shoulderedHawk nestdiscovered at Magagui- thestate's first confirmed Wilson's Plover occurred May 21-22, 1983.In the GrandMarian archipelago, a pair of agitatedSemi- davicL., N.B., in early June {David Miles, fide BD} provided a firstmodern definite breeding record for the province,although palmatedPlovers at RossIsland July 11 was probablynesting, somethingthat has occurredonly sporadicallyat one other site thespecies occurs annually throughout the summer,particular- ly in the Frederictonarea. The only Golden Eaglereported in in New Brunswick(BD). A thoroughsurvey of PipingPlovers by the Regionwas an immature at CastaliaMarsh, G.M.I., June1 & the MassachusettsNatural Heritage Programrevealed 120_+ pairs in the state,the largestof any e. coaststate or province, 3 (BD). althoughobviously only a remnant of previous populations Noteworthy was a confirmed nesting of King Rails at Old (fideBN). A pair of this specieswith youngat GrandBarachois Lyme, Conn. (DR). A King Rail heard and seen briefly at Scar- boroughMarsh, Me., in earlyJune was a rare occurrencefor that July17 provideda first breedingrecord for S.P.M. (AD, PJ,fide state(PV et at.). A Purple Gallinule was observedat Guilford, RE). In RhodeIsland, this speciesapparently had a very poor nesting season (fide DE). Conn., July 14-21 (FS, fide DV). An oystercatcher,sp., at Grand Barachois,S.P.M., on an un- SHOREBIRDS-- As many as one dozen Black-bellied Plo- specifieddate this summerwas not describedto species--inan versin mixed plumagesapparently remained at CastaliaMarsh, areawhere Eur. Oystercatcher must be considereda possibility (CandiceStorm, fide RE). American Oystercatcherscontinued G.M.I., throughoutthe period, providing one of few definite summering records for New Brunswick (BD). In Newfound- their increasein s. New England,nesting at new sitesin Con- land, a Greater Golden-Plover was discovered and photo- necticut(fide DV) and RhodeIsland (fide DE), and as many as 16 nesting pairs reported from Monomoy (RH, fide BN). Not previouslyreported were two Am. Avocetsphotographed at Saint'sRest Marsh, Saint JohnWest, N.B., May 11 (JakkoFinne et ol.). The first Newfoundland nestingrecord for Willet was documentedwhen 2 pairs and a half-grownyoung were found on Flat Bay I. in St. George'sBay, on the province'sw. coast (AlanBurger, fide BM). A confirmednesting at Castalia,G.M.I., N.B., July 28 provideda first modernbreeding record for the archipelago(BD). In Massachusetts,30+ pairsof Upland Sand- pipersnested at 7 locations:3 privately owned and probably soonto be developed,and 4 siteson U.S. Air ForceBases where hopefullythe birdscan be protected.The largestcolony was at Otis A.F.B. (14 pairs) where 100 + birds in late July must have included migrants{BN). The 2nd Massachusetts record of Little Stint was well-docu- mentedat Third Cliff beach,Scituate, July 25 into August(WP et aid. The bird was seenby many observersover a 2-3 week period.This influx of observersresulted in a confusing(to this editor)series of reportsof several(?)stints which will be left to the fall migrationeditor to sortout (Goodluck, Dick!). A breeding-plumagedPurple Sandpiperwas late at Crescent Beach,N.S., June16 (J & SC). A breeding-plumagedCurlew Sandpiperphotographed at St. John's,Nfld., July 15, was sur- GreaterGolden-Plover at St. Paulg Inlet, Nfld., July 14, 1985. prisinglya first for the province(D. & S. Phelanet at., fide RB). Photo/JimHaw. Therewere 2 reportsof Ruffsduring the period:an ad. femaleat 886 AmericanBirds, Winter 1985 of a first-summer bird at Phippsburg, Me., June 4 {PV}. The actual nesting site of the Com. Black-headed Gulls seen each summer at Stephenville Crossing, Nfid., was discovered this yearby Alan Burgerwho found at least 4 nestsin tern colonies at Flat BayI., St. George'sBay {fide BM}. Among other reportsof this specieswere two subadultsand one adult at Grand Bara- chois,S.P.M., July 2, a first-summerbird at GlaceBay, N.S., July 8 and an adult at Conrad's Beach, N.S., July 24 (BM), a first- summerbird at Plum I., Mass.,July 22 0B}, and a bird of unspe- cified ageat Sandy Pt., West Haven, Conn., from July 5, found dead in August, wearing a Netherlands band! {RS et al., fide DV). There were 3 reportsof small groupsof Bonaparte'sGulls summeringin Nova Scotiaand s. New Brunswick,all involving first-summerbirds aswould be expected.Perhaps as many as a few hundred individuals may sometimes(or routinely?)sum- mer along the n.e. coastline of New Brunswick. The imm. Mew Gull at E. Passage,N.S., mentioned in the springreport was again locatedthere July 28 (EM, IM). The only Iceland Gull reported was an imm. bird at the mouth of the Little CodroyR., Nfld., June22 {RB},while the only sightingsof Adult Curlew Sandpiper.first for Newfoundland, with a Great- LesserBlack-backed Gulls were of singlebirds at seaoff Labra- er Yellowlegs at SL Johns, Nfld., July 15, 1985. Photo/Doug dor, a subadult 300 mi e.n.e.