Continuing rarities in the ABA Area include the ever-present Steller’s Sea-Eagle (ABA Code 4) in Newfoundland, Tufted Flycatcher (4) in Arizona, and Brown Jay (4) in Texas.
It’s being called the best North Carolina pelagic of all time, which is really saying something given the species that have been documented off the continental shelf in Dare Co. But the cup truly runneth over this week as a single Seabirding trip out of Oregon Inlet recorded the ABA Area’s 2nd record of Cape Verde Shearwater (5) – the last was also in North Carolina in 2004 – which would be phenomenal enough on its own if it wasn’t joined on the same trip by North Carolina’s 2nd Wedge-tailed Shearwater, a Pacific Ocean species that nonetheless has been documented in the Atlantic a few times over the last several years.
The same trip also boasted a White-faced Storm-Petrel (3), incredibly the fourth of the season, and the somewhat regular Trindade Petrel (3). It’s not often that Trindade Petrel is the fourth best bird on an east coast Pelagic.
Further, the Common Ringed Plover show made its way to North Carolina. The state’s 2nd record was also seen this week in Dare Co.
It is certainly the season for Common Ringed Plovers, though one in Goshen Co, Wyoming, which represents an unexpected 1st record for the state, was on nobody’s bingo card. This is the second record for the interior west following Arizona’s bird, which was only last week.
Michigan got into the weird shorebird story, with the discovery of a Wandering Tattler on the shores of Lake Michigan in Ottawa Co. This is a Michigan 1st, but not the first for *Lake* Michigan, as both Indiana and Illinois have also hosted wayward tattlers, making for an odd little cluster of records around southern Lake Micghan.
What appears to be Georgia’s 1st record of Cassin’s Kingbird (identified in the eBird link as Western Kingbird) was photographed in Taylor Co this week. While this is the rarest of the western yellow-bellied kingbirds in the east, there are several records in the southeast and many from Florida.
Up to Alaska, where the ABA’s 4th record of Chinese Pond-Heron (5) was photographed at Utqiagvik. This is a first record for mainland Alaska (and North America, for that matter) as the previous three records have come from Attu, St Paul Island, and Gambell.
In British Columbia, Short-tailed Albatross has been seen twice this week on two different pelagic out of of Tofino.
It was a great week for southern Sulids in Washington, as the state’s 7th Nazca Booby was photographed in Island Co and its 6th Red-footed Booby in Grays Harbor Co.
Notable for California, a young Purple Gallinule has been seen by many in Orange Co.
In Utah, a stunning adult Long-tailed Jaeger was seen in Summit Co.
And Quebec becomes the most extreme point for this summer’s impressive Swallow-tailed Kite phenomenon, with a bird seen in Laval.
Omissions and errors are not intended, but if you find any, please message blog AT aba.org and we will try to fix them as soon as possible. This post is meant to be an account of the most recently reported birds. Continuing birds not mentioned are likely included in previous installments of the ABA Rare Bird Alert. Readers should note that most of these reports have not yet been vetted by a records committee. All birders are urged to submit documentation of rare sightings to the appropriate state or provincial records committees. For full analysis of these and other bird observations, subscribe to North American Birds, the richly illustrated journal of ornithological record published by the ABA.
