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.
Peter Crosson was driving home from viewing the Lesser Sand-Plover near Mashpee when a Swallow-tailed Kite flew over the road. Hans Holbrook spotted it the next day, a few miles to the east. A few sightings were reported in June to the north around Sandwich; these may have involved the same bird, though if so, it managed to go undetected for almost two months. Peter Crosson took the photograph.
Stephen Sweeney found an Ash-throated Flycatcher on September 10 at Sunny Meadow Farm in Chelmsford. It was still being reported at press time. This western cousin of the Great Crested Flycatcher is more often encountered in Massachusetts as a late-fall vagrant. This is the second-earliest record for the state, behind one from August 30, 2001. Jon Skinner took the photograph.
The BBC overnight pelagic almost never disappoints (except when it is canceled). This year, in addition to four species of storm-petrel, five of shearwater, five of tern, and four of warbler—including a Prothonotary—the trip encountered one state review-list species: a South Polar Skua. It landed on the water by the boat and flew around at very close range, allowing many great looks and photos. Sam Zhang took the photograph.