Continuing rarities in the ABA Area include both Brown Jay (ABA Code 4) and Mottled Owl (5) in south Texas. The Steller’s Sea-Eagle (4) in Newfoundland also continues into late May and shows no signs of leaving.
Late May is generally a very productive time of year when it comes to continental rarities as migrating birds overshoot their breeding grounds. That seems to be the case in Oregon, where the state’s 1st record of Yellow-crowned Night Heron was seen at Summer Lake WMA in Lake Co. This record leaves Idaho, Hawaii, and British Columbia as the only ABA Area states and provinces without a record of this species.
The heron wasn’t the only southern visitor to Oregon this week, as a White-eyed Vireo in Multnomah Co represents a 4th record.
It was a great week for vagrant terns in the Midwest. Missouri hosted its 1st Gull-billed Tern in Vernon Co , in the western part of the state. The species has come close before, including a record on the Tennessee side of the Mississippi River two decades ago.
And in Indiana, a Sandwich Tern at Lake Michigan’s Miller Beach in Lake Co represents a 1st record and the second record for the Chicago-area. The first one, however, is widely assumed to be a nominate Eurasian Sandwich Tern subspecies, while this one is definitely a North American bird. In fact, the band it’s wearing shows that it was hatched near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in 2022.
The Ruff (3) invasion in eastern North America continues with a bird found recently in Schoolcraft Co, Michigan.
Intensive birding in Wyoming this week turned up a number of exciting finds including the state’s 2nd Bell’s Vireo in Niobrara Co, 7th White-eyed Vireo in Goshem Co, 2nd Eastern Meadowlark at Table Mountain, and Eastern Wood-Pewee near the town of Albin.
Likewise, Montana boasts a number of eastern strays this week including a state 4th Yellow-throated Warbler in Silver Bow Co, a 6th Painted Bunting in Choteau Co, and a Little Blue Heron, the state’s 13th or so, in Big Horn Co.
Always nice in south Texas, a Golden-crowned Warbler (3) was seen at the Edinburg Wetlands in Hidalgo Co this week.
British Columbia’s 3rd Spotted Redshank (4) was seen well inland near Cranbrook.
And birding at the island outposts of Alaska is starting to get exciting, with recent finds like Falcated Duck (4), Common Greenshank (3), and Eurasian Sparrowhawk (5) on Adak.
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.
