October 2023

Hot Birds: October 2023

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:17 GMT

Natalie Donofrio, while monitoring breeding Piping Plovers for Mass Audubon, discovered a Mountain Plover on a beach near Centerville. It was the state’s second record, preceded only by a specimen collected in 1916. Ian Davies took the photograph. See the full story on page 332 of this issue.

This was clearly the summer for plovers on Cape Cod. Less than 15 miles from the location of the second state record Mountain Plover, Mary Keleher managed to top it with a first state record Lesser Sand-Plover. This plover remained in location for over a week. A bird of the same species, if not the same individual, spent a few days in southeastern Rhode Island in late July. Andy Sanford took the photograph. See the full story on page 328 of this issue.

Fourth Report of the Rhode Island Avian Records Committee: Review of Recent Reports Through 2020

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:13 GMT

Common Cuckoo. November 1, 2020. Snake Den State Park, Johnston. Photograph by Jeremiah Trimble.

This report describes the Rhode Island Avian Records Committee’s (RIARC) evaluation of 72 records from 2019–2020. These records are grouped by species, with each species entry followed by four numbers in parentheses (a, b, c, d), defined as follows:

a the number of records cited by Howe and Sturtevant (1899).

b the number of records accepted from 1900–2002. This number is derived principally from the Checklist of Rhode Island Birds (Rhode Island Ornithological Club 2002), which represents a synthesis of information from Ferren (in press), Conway (1992), and records accepted by a pre-RIARC committee of reviewers for Field Notes of Rhode Island Birds through 2002 (Raithel 2001, 2002). The symbol “++” represents relatively frequent historical occurrence of the species, which could be replaced with a number pending ongoing research.

c the number of accepted records from 2003–2018, including those published in RIARC’s three previous reports (Mitra et al. 2010, 2021, 2022).

d the number of accepted records from 2019–2020 published in the present report.

The sum of a, b, c, and d represents the total number of verified records in Rhode Island through December 2020.

The present report features numerous highlights, including the first Rhode Island records of Common Cuckoo, Red-necked Stint, Terek Sandpiper, and Gray Kingbird; second state records for Eurasian Collared-Dove and Wood Stork; and second and third state records for Little Stint. Rates of occurrence continue to increase for some species, such as Cackling Goose and Sandhill Crane (which we removed from the Review List, see below), or to remain higher than historical levels, such as Mississippi Kite. In contrast, other species have occurred less frequently in recent years than in the late twentieth century, for example Eared Grebe, Gull-billed Tern, and Western Kingbird.

For each record below, we list the RIARC report number; the vote of the Committee (accept–not accept); the number of individuals; the location; the date(s) of occurrence; and the observer(s), with the following codes: I = initial finder, R = provided a written report, and P = provided photo(s).

About Books: The Poet, The Joker, and “The Ex”

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:09 GMT

George: A Magpie Memoir. Frieda Hughes. 2023. Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster. New York, New York.

“…I had the idea that they were the jokers and we humans were their fools.” (p. 14)

To be honest, when I first read the title George: A Magpie Memoir, I immediately flashed upon one of those heartwarming stories of a person or family who adopts a wild animal or bird and the antics that ensue. Something along the line of Arnie, the Darling Starling, one of those books you always see in the natural history section of your bookstore, but you never buy. To be honest, I have never read Arnie, the Darling Starling.

George: A Magpie Memoir is something else entirely. Yes, it is a story of the labor-intensive rehabbing of a wild bird. Yes, there are plenty of bird antics recounted. But this story is set amid a larger, more complicated memoir of the author trying to construct a new life for herself while dealing with serious health issues and a slowly disintegrating marriage. The author, Frieda Hughes, is a professional writer, poet, and visual artist. She is the product of a unique childhood during which she was constantly on the move.

I felt as if the ground on which I stood was constantly changing and shifting, and that if I looked away for just a minute, then looked back, the landscape would have altered, and I’d have a whole other universe to acclimatize to because, following the suicide of my mother Sylvia Plath, on 11 February 1963, my father, Ted Hughes, found it difficult to settle. His peripatetic lifestyle meant that I never had my few clothes all in one place, or my books (I did not have toys), or make friends (I did not have any real friends). Wherever he went my younger brother, Nick, and I followed like two trailing limbs. (p. 4)

Peter Vale (May 31, 1946–May 13, 2023)

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:08 GMT

Fay and Peter Vale. Photograph by Laura de la Flor.

Peter Vale contributed much to Massachusetts birding and bird conservation. He began birding in the 1970s with Fay, his wife of over 50 years. Active members of the Brookline Bird Club, Peter and Fay were a common sight on Plum Island in a series of Subaru Outbacks over the decades. They rarely missed a BBC Newburyport New Year’s Day trip, and often detoured beforehand into Boston to see a Lesser Black-backed Gull for their first bird of the year. The Vales were among the first BBC trip leaders to use Family Radio Service (FRS) radios, sharing sightings when splitting large groups in Mount Auburn Cemetery and Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary. As Fay’s mobility waned, they perfected “Big Sit” trips at the base of Washington Tower in Mount Auburn Cemetery or at Point of Pines in Revere.

Neil Hayward Retires as Bird Sightings Editor and Returns to England

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:05 GMT

I first learned about Neil Hayward and his accidental Big Year in the summer of 2013 when a colleague got me hooked on his blog accidentalbigyear2013 An accidental Big Year—how audacious and impulsive. What stamina it took to travel so much, so far, and to sleep in so many rental cars. There was the suspense: would Neil beat Sandy Komito’s Big Year record (he did). And how could one not help cheer on a Cambridge, Massachusetts, resident—albeit a transplanted Brit. But best of all, Neil’s blog entries were a joy to read: humorous, personal, articulate.

Bird Observer Has Been Sent to You by Renée LaFontaine for almost 20 years; We Thank Her Upon Her Retirement

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:04 GMT

Renée described getting the June 2023 issue of Bird Observer to the USPS distribution center: “Luckily, we fit everything in and didn’t need to make two trips (or buy a bigger car).” Photograph by David Cooper.

There are three components—editorial, production, and distribution—in publishing a hard-copy issue of Bird Observer. The editorial staff includes more than a dozen people. Two production staffers work with the printer’s crew. Mailing 700 copies of each issue of the journal, with data supplied by the subscription manager, has been the job of one indispensable person—Renée LaFontaine. When I would receive her email stating that the latest issue had gone to the post office, only then could I relax and consider it finished. Since I have been editor, she has never missed or been late with an issue.

At a Glance: October 2023

Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:02 GMT

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Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:01 GMT