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May–June 1980
A breeding plumaged Eared Grebe was at Wachusett Reservoir, May 19-24. June was a remarkable month for stints: the state recorded its first Little Stint on Monomoy on June 19 and its first Red-necked Stint five days later at the same location. (The state’s second Red-necked Stint would be found the following month at Scituate.) A Wilson’s Phalarope nest with eggs was discovered on Monomoy, the second documented East Coast breeding record after the previous year’s record from Plum Island. At Revere, an adult Common Gull was found on May 9, and an adult Sabine's Gull was at Monomoy in May. An Ash-throated Flycatcher was in Rowley, May 18-24. A Western Wood-Pewee, seen and heard singing at Morris Island, Chatham, on May 23, was the fourth state record. A Northern Wheatear was at Newbury on June 6. The week of May 11–18, 1980, was considered by many to be the best spring migration in many, many years; Mount Auburn Cemetery recorded 24 species on May 13. Despite that, Golden-winged Warblers were “hard to find with just ten reported.” Painted Buntings were in Hull and on Nantucket.
Best sighting: Burrowing Owl on Plymouth Beach, May 13. This was the first record since a bird collected in Newburyport on May 15, 1875. Presumably the same bird was later reported from Monomoy and then Martha’s Vineyard.
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