Continuing rarities in the ABA Area include the Steller’s Sea-Eagle (ABA Code 4), still present in Newfoundland along with the European Robin (5) in Quebec. Texas is still hosting a Cattle Tyrant (5), plus Brown Jay (4), Mottled Owl (5), and Crimson-collared Grosbeak (4) in the Lower Valley, and the Red-flanked Bluetail (4) is still being seen in Virginia.
March has provided a good number of surprising firsts throughout the ABA Area. One of the most surprising comes from Maryland, where a Yellow-billed Loon seen in the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert Co will represent a state 1st. This species is noteworthy away from Alaska, though in recent years the Salish Sea region in Washington and British Columbia has become a fairly reliable spot for them. In the eastern half of the continent, however, they are quite rare. The last Atlantic record of Yellow-billed Loon came from Massachusetts in 2022.
In Ohio, a Sage Thrasher in Coshocton Co is a somewhat more expected 1st record. This species has become a regular vagrant to the east, and there are several accounts of the species around the Great Lakes, including an Ontario record from an island in Lake Erie that was extremely close to Ohio.
Once considered a specialty of the extreme southern tier of the ABA Area, Neotropic Cormorant has, in the last decade, exploded across the continent with records from North Dakota, Ontario, and New Hampshire, among others. In recent years it has become regular in northern Utah, so a record in Haney Co, in eastern Oregon, seemed inevitable. Even so, it is the state’s 1st.
One of the wilder records of the year thus far comes from Alabama, where a state 1st Red-footed Booby (3) was found perched on a fire tower near Lake Martin, well inland. Red-footed Booby has come very close to Alabama in the past, with coastal records from both Mississippi and Florida. One would reasonably expect that Alabama’s eventual first would be one of these birds on the Gulf coast, but boobies, in particular, have a strange history with regard to where they end up.
Elsewhere in the ABA Area, New Hampshire’s 7th record of Barnacle Goose (3) was seen in a goose flock in Walpole.
Notable for Nova Scotia, a Redwing (4) put in with a wandering flock of American Robins in Halifax.
And British Columbia’s 4th record of Whooper Swan (3) was seen near Quesnel.
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.
