November 15, 2024
Continuing rarities in the ABA Area include the Mottled Owl (ABA Code 5) and Brown Jays (4) in south Texas, exptending their year-long residency, and the recently discovered Bananaquit (4) in Florida.
With all of the Song Thrushes seen this fall in Alaska, perhaps it was inevitable that one would eventually make it’s way down the coast. And of all the places that such a bird could show up, perhaps the most predictable spot would be SE Farallon Island off of San Francisco. And lo and behold, that’s precisely what happened this week, as California’s 1st Song Thrush was not only spotted, but captured and banded by researchers on the island, this week. This is the second record of this Eurasian species in the Lower 48, following a bird from earlier this year in Washington that, in retrospect, should have been seen as a bellwether.
It was a great week for state 1sts, as a Wyoming 1st record Gray Hawk seen in Laramie is the farthest north record of this neotropical raptor.
Oklahoma’s 1st record of King Eider was seen at a pond in Blaine.
And truly spectacular discovery of in Wisconsin this week came in the form of an apparent Short-tailed Shearwater seen on Lake Superior from Ashland. This 1st record comes almost exactly one year after a similar record on Lake Ontario in New York, and following sustained south winds from Hudson Bay.
And in Delaware, a Spotted Towhee is a 1st record from Cape Henlopen, leaving only West Virginia and District of Columbia as jurisdictions without a record in the Lower 48.
Connecticut’s 4th record of Gray Kingbird was seen this week at Milford Point.
Quebec’s 2nd record of Taiga Bean-Goose (3) was seen in Matane this week, and the province’s 2nd Sage Thrasher in Rimouski.
Washington boasts a trio of good birds this week in the form of the state’s 11th Summer Tanager in Deer Park, its 5th Black-throated Green Warbler in Seattle, and its 3rd Winter Wren in Grant Co.
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.
