Rare Bird Alert

If you’ve been following this report all year, you’ll be familiar with the continuing ABA Area rarities, none of which seem to show any inclination to move on. The Oriental Turtle-Dove (ABA Code 4) and Little Stint (4) continue in California. The ABA Area 1st Bat Falcon (5) is still in south Texas along with Social Flycatcher (5) and Golden-crowned Warbler (4). A Black-faced Grassquit (4) is still being seen in Florida, as is the Northern Lapwing (4) in Maryland. 

The long-staying Maryland lapwing is now no longer the sole option for would-be twitchers, as another Northern Lapwing (4) was seen this week in Rockingham. There was some suggestion that these two sightings might represent the same individual, but there was at least one day where the two sightings overlapped. 

There were two 1st records to report this week, including one from Texas. It’s always a big deal when one of the states with the largest bird lists adds a species and they tend to do so in dramatic fashion. That was certainly the case this time, where a birder observing the state’s 3rd record of Harlequin Ducks in Nueces, reported last week in this spot, turned his camera to the Gulf and photographed a light morph Trindade Petrel (3). This is not only a 1st for the state, but a 1st for the Gulf of Mexico for this Gulf Stream gadfly petrel. 

Slightly less dramatic, but a 1st record none the less, a Lesser Goldfinch visiting a feeding station at a nature center in Cook, Illinois, is a 1st for that state. It is somewhat surprising that this finch is so uncommon in the east despite being wide-ranging and common across its western North American range. One wonders if female type birds, like this one, frequently go unnoticed. Most eastern records of Lesser Goldfinch are represented by the flashy males. 

In New York, a Tundra Bean-Goose (3) in Saratoga is that state’s 2nd record, coming only one year after the 1st. 

Good for Washington, was a continuing Dickcissel in Clallam. 

And in British Columbia, a Nazca Booby (4) off Vancouver Island represents a northerly outlier of this species that has been recorded in southern California with some regularity in recent years. 

Omissions and errors are not intended, but if you find any please message blog AT aba.org and I 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 editions listed here. Place names written in italics refer to counties/parishes.

Readers should note that none of these reports has yet been vetted by a records committee. All birders are urged to submit documentation of rare sightings to the appropriate state or provincial 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.