Hudson–Delaware: Summer 2025

Waterfowl through Cranes

Volatile Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks visited multiple ponds in Delaware in Summer 2025, with a maximum of 25 at their most-favored site, the Amalfi Drive pond near Clayton, Kent Co, on 4 Jun (Michael Mayer). Ten ducklings were reported there at the end of July (Andrew Ednie, Birdline Delaware, 1 Aug 2025). Twelve exploring Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks on the Hudson River at the Red Hook Boat Club, Barrytown, constituted a first Dutchess Co record (Mary Ann Ginsberg). A single Black-bellied Whistling-Duck settled at the New Creek Watershed on Staten Island, New York City from 28 Jun to 8 Jul (New York City Rare Bird Alert, hereafter NYC RBA).

A pair of Trumpeter Swans raised a cygnet at Hunter Lake, Bethel twp, Sullivan Co, NY, ( ph. John Haas), about three hundred miles south of the Jefferson Co wetlands where this recovering species has bred since 1993. A second cygnet did not survive. The family was last seen on 19 Oct.

Up to three female or eclipse King Eiders, far less common among mid-summer lingerers than Common Eiders, were off Great Gull Island, at the eastern tip of Long Island, to at least 14 Jul (NYC RBA). Only a single Surf Scoter summered at the Lewes, DE ferry dock. A more normal count of 15–21 Black Scoters summered there. Three Ruddy Ducks were present at the Thousand Acre Marsh, New Castle Co, DE on 21 Jun (James White) and one was there on 29 Jun (Christopher Hinkle et al.); the most recent breeding record in Delaware is from 2011 at Prime Hook NWR, Sussex Co.

The only Eurasian Collared-dove during the period was at Cape Henlopen, DE, on 10–11 Jun (Gregory Gough), A single White-winged Dove at the South Cape May Meadows, Cape May Co, NJ on 28 Jun (Jim Schickenrieder, Dan and Maria Ceravolo) was the only one reported.

The urban rooftop populations of Common Nighthawks that flourished fifty years ago in so many eastern towns and cities seem to have vanished totally. The species persists nevertheless where ground breeding is possible, such as the Lake Erie coast of western New York, the New Jersey pine barrens, and undisturbed coastal dune area at Cape Henlopen SP and Delaware Seashore SP in Delaware. Notable counts included 52 at 8:32 p.m. on 4 Jun at the Hamburg Hawk Watch, Erie Co, NY (ph. Sue Barth), and 22 at 7:45 p.m. at Whitesbog, Burlington Co, NJ (Jim Schill). A count of 200 over the General William C. Doyle National Cemetery in Arneytown, Burlington Co, NJ, at 6:22 p.m. on 28 Jul (Jim Schill) probably represents an early migratory assemblage. Although a few Chuck-will’s-widows reached New England in summer 2025, the northernmost in this region got no further north than Long Island, NY: Fire Island on 2 Jun (Deborah Swambeck) and Napeague on 28 Jun (Shai Mitra, Pat Lindsay), both Suffolk Co. A Chuck-will’s-widow that called near the Mannino Dog Park, Old Bridge, on 11 Jun was the second Middlesex Co, NJ, record and the first there since 1994 (Stephen Greenwood).

A Purple Gallinule, a less than annual straggler from the south, visited Sharrott’s Pond, in Clay Pit Ponds SP, Staten Island, NY for several weeks after 29 Jun (ph. Anthony V. Ciancimino). Up to 16 Sandhill Cranes that summered at the Ashton Tract of the Augustine Wildlife Area, New Castle Co, DE appear to have all been immatures (Edward Patten at al., ph. Amy McNutt); the same is true of two Sandhill Cranes that summered at Bombay Hook (ph. Patty Masten et al.). We have no evidence that any Sandhill Cranes nested in upstate New York in summer 2025.

Shorebirds

An American Golden-Plover was exceptionally late on 2 Jun at Hechscher SP, Suffolk Co, LI, NY (Ken Thompson), carefully distinguished from Pacific Golden-Plover by “longest tertial equal to 7th primary and with primaries 8–10 projecting well beyond” (Shai Mitra, Pat Lindsay). The season’s maximum ground count of northbound Red Knots in Delaware Bay was 25,667 on 23 May, of which 25,614 were in New Jersey and 53 in Delaware. This count was very close to those of the previous two springs but far below the three-year running average of just under 60,000 in 1961–1963 (William Pitts, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish and Wildlife).

Two broods of Black-necked Stilts were photographed at Bombay Hook NWR, Kent Co, DE: two chicks on 1 Jul (Bert Filemyr), and two smaller ones on 19 Jul (John Manger). Although suitable nesting habitats have disappeared from Prime Hook NWR, a few pairs (6–10 birds) still nest in salt marsh habitats near Slaughter Beach and Lewes, both Sussex Co. Outside of central Delaware, Black-necked Stilts are only visitors in this region. Several Long Island reports involved only a single bird, but five were noteworthy at a dune pool at the Jones Beach Nature Center, Suffolk Co, Long Islandon 2 Jul (Robert Proniewych, Douglas Futuyma). The only report from New Jersey was a single Stilt at South Cape May Meadows 13–14 Jun (Karen Thompson, Daniel Weeks, Charlie Roberto, Jonathan Klizas). American Avocets do not breed in this region, but a substantial assemblage of avocets presumed to have bred in the western United States gathers each fall at Bombay Hook NWR. By 22 Jul 60 had arrived there (ph. Kevin Munro Smith). A northerly straggler was photographed on the bay side of Smith County Park, Suffolk Co, Long Islandon 20 Jun (ph. anonymous eBirder).

The American Oystercatcher Working Group reported at its 25th anniversary meeting that this species’ population has increased nearly 40% range-wide in two decades (Todd Pover, 27 Oct 2025). The Piping Plover population on Long Island reached 555 pairs at 44 sites that fledged a record 773 chicks in 2024, the latest figures available (NYSDEC, LICWS). Piping Plover conservation conflicts with human desire for beach recreation. New York City has closed a beach area at Arverne, Queens, to protect an important beach-nesting colony, a highly unpopular move in the neighborhood. In 2025 Arverne beach contained 32 adult Piping Plovers with chicks (Olivia Milaway, Wildlife Society). In New Jersey, some improved beach habitat at Barnegat Light, home to one pair of Piping Plovers before, had six pairs in 2025 that fledged 17 chicks, a remarkable productivity rate of 2.83 chicks per pair. Delaware’s tiny Piping Plover population consisted of 15+ pairs at Fowler Beach and 4–5 pairs at Cape Henlopen. Great Horned Owl predation was a problem at Fowler Beach.

Upland Sandpipers still nest at their isolated southern outpost, Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station, Ocean Co, NJ, where three birds were present on 8 Jun (Alex Tongas). Otherwise, this sadly diminished species breeds in this region only in extensive grasslands in far northern New York State. The region’s most reliable observation point now is NY 3A/County Route 36 that passes through the restricted lands of Fort Drum, Jefferson Co, where three birds were present on 27 Jun (Mickey Scilingo, Matthew Brown, ph. Martin Mau). Upland Sandpipers depart early. The latest observation at the Fort Drum site was 13 Jul (Harold Ellinger). Any observation after early July, such as one on 10 Jul at Westwood, Bergen Co, NJ on 10 Jul (Douglas Morel) should be considered a southbound migrant and not as evidence of breeding.

The largest of a half dozen Whimbrel reports from this region in the period was 24 southbound at Cape Henlopen SP, DE on 16 Jul (BGP). The first post-breeding Marbled Godwit arrived on schedule from the species’ western nesting grounds at Jones Beach SP, LI, on 8 Jul. The number increased to three on 13 Jul (NYC RBA). A juvenile had already reached Bombay Hook NWR, Kent Co, DE on 6 Jul (Rod Murray). The first of Delaware’s two Ruffs arrived at Bombay Hook on 26 Jun (Michael Moore, m.ob.), followed on 13 Jul by another at the nearby Thousand Acre Marsh (Kim Steininger, m.ob.), well below the numbers of some past summers. A Curlew Sandpiper in bright plumage arrived at Bombay Hook on 17 Jul (ph. Kees Moy). As usual, White-rumped Sandpipers lingered later than most other northbound waders; nine were at Bombay Hook on 15 Jun (Kim Steininger, ph. David Brown) and eight were still there on 16 Jun (Frank Rohrbacher). The first returning Pectoral Sandpiper was early on 10 Jul at the Thousand Acre Marsh (ph. Kim Steininger, Holly Merker).

The last 35 northbound Semipalmated Sandpipers were late at South Cape May Meadows on 14 Jun, diminishing to 18 on 18 Jun (Christina Marks). The first 100 southbound birds of this species were already at the Thousand Acre Marsh, New Castle Co, DE a short three weeks later, on 10 Jul, along with 750 Short-billed Dowitchers and 250 Lesser Yellowlegs (Holly Merker, Kim Steininger). Single Western Sandpipers, far scarcer in spring than in fall, were at the Port Mahon Road, Kent Co, DE on 2 Jun (Michael Moore) and at Bombay Hook on 12 Jun (Carolyn Holland). Wilson’s Snipe are not known to breed in Delaware, so a single at Bombay Hook on 1 Jul (ph. Bert Filemyr) and again on 5 Jul (Kees de Moy) and 6 Jul (Kim Steininger, David Brown) was noteworthy. A Lesser Yellowlegs at Cape May on 28 Jun (Bill Boyle et al.) was either extremely early or a holdover from spring migration. Three there on 2 Jul (Christina Marks) and eight on 5 Jul (Bill Boyle) could have been very early fall migrants. Also within the brief gap between the last spring and the first fall migrants were a Greater Yellowlegs at Cape May on 25 Jun (Cape May Bird Observatory) and two there on 28 Jun (Bill Boyle). The same applies to the Red-necked Phalarope on the West Pond of Jamaica Bay W.R. on 28 Jun (Jim Schiavone).

Jaegers, Alcids, Terns, Gulls

A Parasitic Jaeger, regular offshore but difficult to see from land, was at the ocean side of Dewey Beach, Sussex Co, DE on 9 Jun (ph. Gregory Schiff). A totally unseasonal Dovekie was well-described at Shinnecock Inlet, Suffolk Co, Long Island NY on 30 Jun (Jay Rand).

Long Island’s Least Tern population reached 3337 pairs in 2024, with this year’s stats still unavailable (LICWS)—a total surpassed in this century only in 2005, 2008, and 2018. New Jersey had their lowest total in 20 years, with 786 adult Least Terns; 13 colonies (11 in 2024, 23 in 2023) that fledged 172 young. Only the colony on Horseshoe Island, a new sand island just south of Little Egg Harbor, Cape May Co, NJ, produced young at the replacement rate of 0.50 young per pair (Christina Davis, Emily Heiser, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish and Wildlife). In Delaware, the Fowler Beach colony of Least Terns was unsuccessful because of Great Horned Owl predation, but many young were fledged at Cape Henlopen. No Gull-billed Terns bred on Long Island in 2025 (LICWS), and breeding was not expected elsewhere in the region.

Caspian Terns began nesting in New York State in 1986 on Little Galloo Island, in Lake Ontario, off Watertown, Jefferson Co. After peaking at 2700 nests in 2018, this colony has fluctuated since then between 1715 and 2458 nesting birds (NYSDEC). This colony was not censused in 2025, but it was hard hit by avian flu, according to the NYSDEC. In 2004 a much smaller colony formed in Lake Champlain on Four Brothers Island, off Willsboro Point, Essex Co, NY. It reached 309 pairs in 2024. The region’s third Caspian Tern colony, in Buffalo Harbor since 2017 (190 pairs in 2024), was devastated by avian flu in 2025 and produced no chicks (Mike Morgante). Individual Caspian Terns, including parents pursued by a begging chick, turn up widely in late summer, such as five on 28 Jul at Sagaponack Pond, Suffolk Co, Long Island on 28 Jul (Elia Marke-Ratner).

The next survey of Black Terns breeding in upstate New York is scheduled for 2026. A few stragglers summered in DE, as is normal. Roseate Terns nesting on Great Gull Island, off the eastern tip of Long Island, increased in 2024 by 8% to 2223 pairs (LICWS). The hatching rate was high—95.1% for nest boxes, 92.3% for among the rocks (Kristin Ellington, Linnaean Society of New York Newsletter, Winter 2025). The only other Roseate Tern colony known in the region in 2024 was 45 pairs on Cartwright Point, Gardiner’s Island, also near the tip of Long Island (LICWS). A few Roseate Terns summered as usual further south, some around Stone Harbor, NJ and one to three at Cape Henlopen, DE (m.ob.). One of the latter was in first-cycle plumage; the others were in definitive (adult) plumage but were probably too young to breed. The vast Common Tern colony on Great Gull Island had a high fledging rate of 1.9 chicks per nest, but the total number of nesting pairs was not counted this summer. A few individual Arctic Terns visited Long Island beaches in June, as usual, and three lingered at Cape Henlopen on 15 Jun (Michael Moore). On Long Island, their northernmost regular breeding area, 608 pairs of marsh-nesting Forster’s Terns were tallied in 2024, the latest year available (LICWS).

The first of the usual post-breeding Royal Terns in New York appeared early with four at Nickerson Beach, eastern Nassau Co, on 4 Jun (Kevin Rogers). Four were at Cape Henlopen on 18 Jun (ph. Mike Murphy). Royal Terns now breed north to Horseshoe Island, Cape May Co, NJ, where there were 935 breeding adults of which 433 incubated eggs and fledged about 317 chicks in 2024, the latest year available (Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey). Individual Sandwich Terns were reported often through June on Delaware beaches, mostly at Cape Henlopen where there were two on 28 Jun (Gregory Gough), but none known to us in New Jersey and only one in New York, at Cupsogue Beach County Park, in Westhampton Beach, Suffolk Co, Long Island (Robin Shea, ph. Thomas Moran). Sandwich Terns are an obligate co-nester with Royal Terns, and do not nest north of Maryland (see Steven Emslie et al, “Population Trends in Royal Terns and Sandwich Terns Along the Mid-Atlantic Seaboard, USA, 1975–2005,” Waterbirds 32:1 March 2009 pp. 51–63).

Black Skimmers reached a record high of 1700 pairs in six colonies on Long Island, some of which, such as the megacolony of 1037 on Lido Beach in the town of Atlantic Beach, Nassau Co, exist in well-managed proximity to a popular bathing beach. In New Jersey three megacolonies containing 2294 adults fledged only 337 chicks due to predation and tropical storm Erin (Christina Davis, Emily Heiser, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish and Wildlife).

A Sabine’s Gull in first-summer plumage was widely admired at various Cape May, NJ locations during 19–22 Jun (m.ob.). What may have been the same bird was found again at Cape May on 18–19 Jul, and then again seventeen miles away at Herring Pt., Cape Henlopen, DE on 23 Jul (Michael Moore et al.). Only one Bonaparte’s Gull was reported lingering into summer in New Jersey, a first-cycle bird, at Villas, Cape May Co, 14 Jun (Scott Barnes, Jonathan Kliz, Debra Stewart). At least four immature Little Gulls appeared, above normal for recent years, but below some historic highs: Jamaica Bay W. R., New York City 5–13 Jun (Jonathan Green, m.ob.); Breezy Point, Queens, NYC 13–22 Jul (Nelson Pascuzzi et al.); Villas, Cape May Co, NJ 11 Jul (ph. Andrew Ednie, Alison Ellicott), and Port Mahon, DE 1 Jun (ph. Kevin Bronson).

Two adult Franklin’s Gulls appeared in June. One that turned up at Villas, Cape May Co, NJ on 9 Jun (Jim Dowdell) was observed almost every day through 30 Jun (Doug Gochfeld), and again on 19–20 Jul (Jim Dowdell, Bill Hewitt, Chris Brown); another was photographed at the west end of Jones Beach SP, Long Island on 12 Jun (ph. Jeanne Cimorelli). Late summer and fall are more normal seasons for Franklin’s Gulls here. An Iceland Gull at Heckscher S.P., Long Island, 9–12 Jun (Shai Mitra, Pat Lindsay) was there again on 14 Jun for a first record on the annual Southern Nassau Co June count (m.ob.), doubly unusual away from the outer beach. The biggest assemblages of summering sub-adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls known to us were modest: 75 at the Fire Island Old Inlet on Bellport Bay, Long Island, on 8 Jul (Aidan Perkins) and 105 at Cape Henlopen, DE on 25 Jul (BGP). We no longer see reports of hundreds in the Delaware River opposite the great Tullytown dump north of Philadelphia; that dump has been covered and closed. A subadult Glaucous Gull present 8–29 Jun was a regional rarity at the Cape May ferry terminal (Matthew Sacul, Tyler Connell, m.ob.).

Loons to Pelicans

According to a census of Common Loons by the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation on 20 Jul 2024 (the latest available), a total of 842 loons were found on 198 (78%) of the 255 lakes visited. Of these, 711 (84%) were adults, 99 (12%) were chicks, and 32 (3%) were immatures. Adults without young were found on 127 (50%), and chicks or immatures on 71 (28%) of the lakes visited. There were no loons on 22% of the lakes visited (Dr. Nina Schoch). These numbers were below those for 2023 (a total of 976 loons and 129 chicks). Despite much human good will, human disturbance must be taking its toll.

An overnight pelagic trip out of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn aboard the American Princess that arrived at Hudson Canyon at dawn on 23 Jun found one Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, six Leach’s Storm-Petrels, and 2,186 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels. The shearwater list included 24 Cory’s, eight Scopoli’s, 63 Cory’s/Scopoli’s, 555 Great, seven Sooty, and two Manx Shearwaters. (trip leaders– Paul Guris, Jay McGowan, Jason Denesvich, Brendan Fogarty, Jeff Ellerbusch). A CRESLI whale-watch outing just off Montauk Point on 16 Jul yielded 50 Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, and shearwaters of five species: three Manx, two Sooty, 130 Great, 25 Cory’s, and two Scopoli’s (Steve Biasetti, Doug Dittko, Eileen Schwinn). In Delaware, for the second summer in a row, shearwaters were observed from shore throughout the season, peaking at 22 Cory’s Shearwaters on 17 Jun and six Great Shearwaters on 18 Jul (BGP). We do not know what factors might bring these pelagic species closer than usual to shore.

A Wood Stork high overhead near Red Mill Pond, between Lewes and Milton, Sussex Co, DE on 25 Jun (Edward Sigda) would, if approved, be Delaware’s sixth record and the first in eight years (Andrew Ednie, Birdline Delaware, 27 Jun). A Brown Booby rode a fishing boat into Montauk harbor, at the tip of Long Island, on 11 Jun, and then flew out (ph. Anita De Stefano). Another, an immature, was observed near Cape May flying out of the bay in the rain on 19 Jun (Jack McDonough, Savanna Berg). Once accidental here, this southern coastal species has become annual in the Hudson–Delaware Region and was removed from the New Jersey Review List earlier this year.

Double-crested Cormorant nests on Little Galloo Island in eastern Lake Ontario rose 22% to 2497. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation continues to destroy Double-crested Cormorant nests there and up the St. Lawrence River Valley in order to lessen competition with Common Terns, Caspian Terns, and Black-crowned Night-Herons. (NY DEC Region 6). The Newburgh, Orange Co, NY Neotropic Cormorant returned for a fourth summer in early May 2025 but departed at an unknown date during the summer.

White Ibis have recently enjoyed great success in this region. The great heronry at the Ocean City, NJ Welcome Center, Atlantic Co, NJ included 200 White Ibis (Adrian Binns); the species began breeding there only in 2020. In contrast, Glossy Ibis, a species that expanded dramatically up the eastern seaboard in the mid-20th century, is now slipping. Although the New York Harbor Heronry had 115 in 2024 (15-year average 185), the Ocean City Welcome Center, NJ colony contained only 30, and only 32 were counted going in and out of the Pea Patch, DE colony on 25 Jun, compared to an average of 306.8 (Christopher Bennett). One White-faced Ibis was reported at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on 9–10 Jun (Ant Tab, Randy Maharaj), but, surprisingly, none bred in the Ocean City colony this year.

Roseate Spoonbills mounted a major incursion northward in summer 2025 extending as far north as Maine and Wisconsin. In the Hudson-Delaware Region the northernmost was one at Delaware Lake, in Columbia W.M.A., Warren Co, NJ 17–24 Jul (Sandy McPhail, m.ob.). What must have been a different bird was on the Delaware Bay shore near the appropriately named Spoonbill Court at Forked River, Ocean Co, NJ, on 21 Jul (ph. Owen Barton). In Delaware a Roseate Spoonbill readily identified by a damaged bill appeared at Bombay Hook on 9–11 Jun (ph. Chuck Babbitt, m.ob.), and then moved to the Thousand Acre Marsh and the nearby Reedy Point 12–15 Jun (Wendy Cesario, Edward Patten), and was back at Bombay Hook with its deformed bill from 5 Jul into September. Another whose bill was normal was at Little Creek Wildlife Area, Kent Co 16 and 20 Jun (Andrew Dunn). A spoonbill at Gordon’s Pond, Sussex Co, 20 Jun (ph. Andrew Ednie) was far enough from the others to be a different bird. A spoonbill at Woodland Beach, in n. Kent Co, 1 Jul (ph. Cole Tiemann) and another that flew over Bombay Hook on 19 Jul could well be birds we have listed already. A total of three Roseate Spoonbills for Delaware in summer 2025 would be reasonable.

As American White Pelicans prosper in the American West, they turn up more regularly in this region. What was surely more than one bird and perhaps as many as three visited New York: one at Jamaica Bay from 6 Jul into September (ph. Nelson Pascuzzi 16 Jun); another at Piermont, Rockland Co, on 9 Jul; and a third at Mecox Bay, Suffolk Co, Long Island4–13 and 22 Jun and 2 and 4 Jul (Peter Polshek et al.). One reported at Bellport Bay on 19 Jun (NYC RBA) could have been the Mecox bird. They visited Delaware in groups: 4–5 at the Augustine Wildlife Area’s Ashton Tract on 20 Jun that moved to Bombay Hook on 21 Jun (Mike Philips, Alex Sredenschek, Braydon Luikart); 11 flying north at Broadkill Beach at dawn on 22 Jun (Andrew Ednie, Birdline Delaware); two at Prime Hook NWR, Sussex Co, on 17 Jul (ph. Benjamin Turman); a single at Augustine WA 12-15 Jun (Rod Murray, Jamews White, Frank Rohrbacher) and another Pea Patch Island on 15 Jun (Martin Selzer) that moved to the Thousand Acre Marsh later that day (James White). Single Brown Pelicans were encountered frequently off the south shore of Long Island, with larger counts of 19 at Breezy Point (Queens/Brooklyn) on 14 Jul (Peter Paul) and three at Jones Beach West End on 19 Jul (Nicholas Boshue). Two went truly astray inland: one passed the Braddock Bay hawk watch on the Lake Ontario shore in Monroe Co, NY on 30 Jun (Mike Tetlow), and another —conceivably the same bird, it’s only 31 miles away—lingered at the north end of Conesus Lake, Livingstone Co from 11 Jul (Jim Kimball) until at least 29 Aug (Andrew Consler, NYC RBA).

Herons

This region’s three great heronries persist, though the long-term trend is downward. The New York Harbor heronry, censused annually by the New York Bird Alliance (formerly New York City Audubon), contained 1483 pairs of eight species in 2025, numbers comparable to those of recent years but well below those of the 1990s when the total was usually over 2000. Nine species bred regularly in New York Harbor in the 1990s. Since then, two species have disappeared—Western Cattle Egret and Tricolored Heron—while Great Blue Heron, a species that usually breeds inland in New York State, has been added.

In NY Harbor, in addition to the record five Great Blue Heron nests, seven Little Blue Herons were notable. [Note that these totals include Ibises, which the taxonomists have now separated from true herons and are detailed above between cormorants and spoonbills].

The second great regional heronry, at the Welcome Center at the northern end of the Ocean City bridge, at the border between Atlantic and Cape May Cos, NJ, has a much shorter history, having developed only since 2012. It replaces a historic heronry at Stone Harbor, Cape May Co, which declined in the 1990s and disappeared in 1996. The region’s third great heronry is situated on Pea Patch Island, in the Delaware River off Delaware City, New Castle Co, DE. It has declined significantly since its historic peak of 12,000 birds in 1993; the total counted on 25 Jun 2025 from the nearby shore in the late afternoon of herons flying in to the colony and flying out of it was 1017, compared to an average of 1718 since the counts began in 1993 (Christopher Bennett).

Turning to individual heron species, Western Cattle Egrets do not appear to have bred at all in this region in 2024 or 2025, though a single bird was reported at Bombay Hook at the end of Jul (Andew Ednie, Birdline Delaware, 1 Aug). The northernmost nesting Tricolored Herons in 2025 were two at the Ocean City Welcome Center, Atlantic/Cape May Cos (Adrian Binns); they are nesting in coastal southern Delaware where counts of feeding adults are increasing (BGP), but we have no exact count of nesting pairs. Green Herons normally nest individually outside of colonies. Central Park, New York City, which often has one Green Heron nest, had multiple nests this year (Thomas Fiore).

Vultures and Raptors

In June, Turkey Vultures frequently accompanied raptors passing by the Great Lakes hawk watches, long after their migration was supposed to be over. At Braddock Bay, on Lake Ontario, where hawkwatchers continued counting through June, the biggest Turkey Vulture counts were 263 on 4 Jun (Daenne Ford, Mike Tetlow), 94 on 11 Jun (Mike Tetlow), and a surprising late push of 74 on 28 Jun and 180 on 30 Jun (Mike and Joann Tetlow). Mike Tetlow believes that these are not migrants en route to a breeding area but young birds dispersing from breeding areas. They reach the Lake Ontario shore on south or southwest winds and follow the shoreline east to other hawk watches like Derby Hill, near Mexico, Oswego Co, at the s.e. corner of Lake Ontario, where 121 Turkey Vultures passed by on 3 Jun and 95 on 4 Jun (David Brown, Bill Purcell, Dave Wheeler).

Ospreys were removed from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection from the state Endangered Species list, along with Bald Eagles. However Ospreys had a poor breeding season in New Jersey because of scarcity of their primary food fish, Atlantic Menhaden. Starvation of chicks was reported, leading to low numbers of chicks fledged.

Bald Eagles are also no longer counted by state agencies, but they still interest hawk counters. Immature Bald Eagles dispersing northwards made up an important part of the curious phenomenon of June raptor passage eastbound along the Lake Ontario shore. At Braddock Bay, Monroe Co, NY 44 Bald Eagles were counted on 4 Jun, 55 on 11 Jun, 26 on 19 Jun, and, after some smaller counts, an astonishing 30 on 30 Jun. Most of these were juveniles; only 5 on 30 Jun were adults (Mike Tetlow).

It was a good early summer for Swallow-tailed Kites, a less than annual visitor. One overflew the Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Sleepy Hollow, Westchester Co on 10 Jun (ph. TomWarren, Bobbie Elbert, Sandy Morrissey). At Cape May, after “an epic spring” with multiple spring sightings, one Swallow-tailed Kite was observed on 6 Jun headed south (Michael Lanzone).

Northern Harriers continue to be reported in Delaware in June, though there is no evidence that they still breed in that state and most are immatures. Observations came from Little Creek on 1 Jun (Steve Santer), an adult female at Slaughter Beach on 28 Jun (BGP), Bombay Hook on 4 Jun (Michael Mayer et al.), 11 Jun (Eric Beck, Carrie Wren), 13 Jun (Derk Ritzman) and 25 Jun (David Brown, Kim Steininger). One was at Cheswold, Kent Co, on 19 Jul.

Although 2025 was a hatch year for 17-year locusts, no Mississippi Kites are known to have attempted to nest in this region. Numerous individuals visited, however. Furthest north were three that passed the Braddock Bay Bird observatory, Monroe Co, NY, on Lake Ontario, on SW-SWS winds, as the season began: one on 2 Jun and two on 4 Jun (Daena Ford, Mike Tetlow et al.). Others were reported at Great Kills S. P., Staten Island, New York City on 11 Jun (m.ob.) and Rockefeller S.P. in Westchester Co on 15 Jun (ph. Christopher Eliot). Still another moved s.e. over Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York City, on 1 Jul (anonymous eBirder “MCHL”). In New Jersey, a Mississippi Kite was present at Atsion, Burlington Co, in the Wharton State Forest, on 1 Jun (ph. Jim Schill). As usual, Cape May had multiple sightings: one on 2 Jun (Bill Boyle et al.), four on 3 Jun (Jo Hoffmann et al.), and another on 13 Jun (Michael O’Brien). Another Mississippi Kite was at Forsythe NWR. (formerly Brigantine) on 11 Jun (Drew Thompson, Joshua Grant). In Delaware one was at Long Neck, Sussex Co, on 12 Jun (Gregory Gough).

A Red-shouldered Hawk nest was closely followed at Cape May Court House, NJ, where it is a rare breeder. A single nestling fledged on 12 Jun (Molly Richard) and continued in the area until early August. Broad-winged Hawks continued to pass the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory well into June, long after most migration has ceased, as noted each summer in this column. These birds are believed to be non-breeding immatures that disperse northward in early summer (Mike Tetlow).

Woodpeckers through Flycatchers

Red-headed Woodpeckers are widely but spottily present throughout this region in ways that defy generalization, mainly in lowlands near water. Evidence of breeding was reported to eBird in three New York counties located along the Great Lakes (Erie, Niagara, and Ontario), three in the Finger Lakes area (Oneida, Seneca, and Tompkins) and one in the Catskills (Ulster). Red-headed Woodpeckers were active without proof of breeding in two New York City localities in 2025: Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn and Manorville Hills County Park, Suffolk Co, LI. Dutchess Co, NY birders were surprised by their total absence from that county in 2025 (Wings Over Dutchess, Sept.- Oct. 2025, p. 9). Red-headed Woodpeckers were present in June 2025 in 12 of New Jersey’s 21 counties, mainly along both coasts and in the northern hills. Red-headed Woodpeckers are not a rare bird in Delaware if you know where to look. Inland they nest at Redden SF and Trap Pond SP, both Sussex Co. Coastally they are rather widely distributed near the coastal marshes of Suffolk Co where rising water levels are killing trees that provide nesting habitat, habitats that are infrequently visited by birders (BGP).

Merlins have expanded dramatically as breeders southward into central and western New York State since the first nest in 1991. In 2025, although Merlins did not pioneer further south, they affirmed their displacement of Kestrels as the state’s most abundant small falcon. About twelve nesting pairs were reported to eBird in the single Finger Lakes county of Tompkins, a measure of the abundance around Ithaca of both Merlins and Cornell ornithology students.

A seriously displaced Western Kingbird fed nestlings at a nest attended also by an Eastern Kingbird at the Niagara Frontier Golf Club, Youngstown, Niagara Co, NY on 14 Jul (Vicki Rothman). Willie D’Anna notes that such pairing has been documented multiple times in the east, but not in that area. Western Kingbirds now breed regularly east to Ohio. A Fork-tailed Flycatcher was photographed at Davidson’s Mill Pond Park, Middlesex Co, NJ on 12 Jun (ph. Harry Shi). There are over twenty New Jersey records of this South American migrant, but most of them occur in fall as overshoots when this species migrates north from temperate South America to winter in the tropics.

Vireos through Wrens

The region’s northernmost White-eyed Vireo appeared at the new Bontecou Wildlife Conservation Area in northern Dutchess Co, NY, on 6 Jun (Sean Carroll, Janet Allison). The nearly vanished Loggerhead Shrike made two fleeting appearances in New York: Heckscher SP, Suffolk Co, Long Islandon 2 Jun (Brian Moldeshel et al.) and Croton Point, Westchester Co on 20 Jun (David Medd), both one-day wonders.

Once again a mysterious Blue Jay migration was apparent along the south shore of Lake Ontario in early June, at a date when most birds of this species are attending nests: 400 at Derby Hill, near Mexico, Oswego Co, at the southeastern corner of Lake Ontario on 3 Jun and 250 there the next day (David Brown, Bill Purcell, Dave Wheeler). Common Ravens have now fully recolonized the coastal parts of the region from which they disappeared entirely in the nineteenth century. We learn of “multiple successful nestings” in Manhattan (Thomas Fiore). In Delaware, they nested for the second time in the modern era in May 2025 on the water tower of the University of Delaware STAR campus (Science, Technology, and Advanced Research) in Newark, New Castle Co.

Cliff Swallow colonies continue at the southern tip of their breeding range in eastern North America on Route 9 bridges across the Appoquinimink and Smyrna Rivers in coastal New Castle Co, DE. Twenty birds were counted at the Appoquinimink bridge in mid-Jul (Andrew Ednie, Birdline Delaware, 11 Jul 2025). Sedge Wrens were scarce and easily overlooked. In New York they were reported in single digits from the Finger Lakes across to the St. Lawrence Valley. The sole Finger Lakes location known to us was on Sutherland Road, Penn Yann, Yates Co from 12 May (Michael Gullo) into June (Brad Carlson, Kyle Gage, Jeremy Collison). Further north Sedge Wrens were in Monroe Co, at Hamlin on 6, 7, and 29 Jun (Andy Guthrie) and at Ballantyne Road, Chili (a suburb of Rochester) on 4 Jul (Chris Wood). Within the expansive wet meadows of the Northern Montezuma WMA Sedge Wrens were found at the Martens Tract, Savannah, Wayne Co, after 14 Jun (Jane Graves, Alison Van Keuren, m.ob) and at Howland Island, Cayuga Co 11 Jul (Brad Carlson). A classic location, though closed to the public, is Fort Drum, in Jefferson Co, where two Sedge Wrens were reported on 12 Jun (Jeff Bolsinger). Further east, in St. Lawrence Co, Sedge Wren observations centered around Richville and Dekalb Junction. Only one active Sedge Wren site was known to us in New Jersey: Billie Johnson Mountain Lakes Park, Mercer Co from 27 Jul to about 6 Aug when the field was mowed (Susan Matson, Gretchen Buxton, m.ob.). Delaware had only one breeding Sedge Wren this season, as usual, in Bombay Hook NWR, Kent Co, on 24 Jul (Rod Murray). The late arrival on territory of many of these birds has led to suggestions that they rear a first brood in early summer and then move elsewhere in mid-summer for a second.

Thrushes through Dickcissel

Bicknell’s Thrushes still inhabit islands of spruce-fir forest at the highest summits of New York’s Catskill Mountains, at the southern edge of their range. The best count was six on 8 Jun on Slide Mountain, Ulster Co, the species’ type locality (Lily Morello, Sky Kandell, Will Schenk). Small numbers were also found on Mount Wittenberg (Duncan Woolston et al.) and Table Mountain (Donald Slick), both in Ulster Co, and on Hunter Mountain in Greene Co (Bobby Figarotte et al., ph. Steve Decker). Increasingly hot summers are expected to eliminate these islands of boreal forest by the middle of this century. Numbers of Bicknell’s Thrushes are generally declining further north in the Adirondacks also.

A few pairs of Golden-winged Warblers, now officially endangered in New Jersey, held on at several powerline cuts near Newfoundland in Passaic County: Van Orden Road, Paradise Valley Road, and Union Valley Road. At the latter powerline cut, Golden-winged Warblers were feeding young on 26 Jun (Chris Payne). In New York State, Golden-winged Warblers persist at a few sites in the St. Lawrence River Valley (Jefferson, St. Lawrence, and Clinton Cos). A small outlying population remained around Chirocusco, Washington Co, east of Lake George (Gary Chapin). Brewster’s Warblers, the more frequent Golden-winged X Blue-winged Warbler hybrid form, were reported from about a dozen locations concentrated in two zones of hybridization, the St. Lawrence River Valley and the uplands of northwestern New Jersey. The less frequent hybrid form, Lawrence’s Warbler, was reported from about five locations in the same zones of hybridization. A Lawrence’s Warbler was feeding young at the West Milford Open Space, Passaic Co, NJ on 4 Jun (Jon Febre).

A pair of Swainson’s Warblers settled at Worthington State Forest campground, Old Mine Road., Warren Co, NJ from 3 May into June (Paul Murray et multi aliis). At Cape May, however, unlike many recent springs, the male that sang at Villas in early May (Noah Brinkman, Sam Galick) did not remain into June. A Magnolia Warbler on 22 Jul Central Park (fide Thomas Fiore) was a very early southbound migrant.

A male Yellow-throated Warbler returned to its northeasterly outpost at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Great River, Suffolk Co, Long Island, NY on schedule on 30 April (Shai Mitra) and was singing on 2 Jun (Reuben Stoltzfus), but we have no proof of nesting there in summer 2025. This species’ other northerly outpost in New York State, in Allegany State Park, Allegany Co seems to have remained unoccupied in 2025, but a pair was at Letchworth S.P.., Wyoming Co, NY on 28–29 Jun (Matt Nustein, Andy Guthrie, Brad Carlson). Summer Tanagers were not reported north of Long Island. The northernmost Blue Grosbeak known to us was noted at Wurtsboro, Sullivan Co, NY from 4 to 11 Jun (John Haas).

Dickcissels, common breeders in this region in the 19th century, nest here now only spasmodically. From New York we have only one intriguing but isolated report of a singing male at the new landfill-based Great Kills Park on Staten Island, New York City on 30 Jun–1 Jul (Anthony Ciancimino). The region’s only fairly consistent breeding site, at the Charles E. Price Memorial Park in Middletown, New Castle Co, DE was occupied in 2024 after a three-year absence, and again in 2025. A singing male was not found there in 2025 until 21 Jun (Carolyn Holland, Michael Moore). Thereafter up to four birds were followed closely at that site by numerous observers until the field was mowed on 29 Jul, to the evident distress of the one bird seen there that day (Andrew Ednie). No definite proof of nesting success was obtained this year.

Exotics

A Bar-headed Goose frequented Dutchess Co NY in summer 2025 (m.ob.). Eurasian Collared-Doves appeared in this region only as individual transients in summer 2025, at Cape Henlopen, DE on 9 Jun (Gregory Gough) and at Stone Harbor, Cape May Co, NJ on 19 Jun (Jim McConnell).

Report edited by Andrew Keaveney, 22 Dec 2025.