Rare Bird Alert

I was in Texas last week for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival and thus, not able to put together a roundup. I appreciate your patience and hope you enjoy this week’s edition, full to bursting with two weeks worth of notable birds.

The number of state and provincial 1sts to document today is quite long, but none are as unlikely as the ABA Area’s 2nd record of Eurasian Marsh-Harrier (5) in Morris, New Jersey. One might be justifiably inclined to think that this bird is the same individual as the bird seen in Maine earlier this year, but a close accounting of photographs from both locations strongly suggests that this is a second bird. Incredible stuff.

The season for vagrant geese begins in earnest with a Pink-footed Goose (4) in Shelby, Kentucky. In the past such reports were routinely written off as likely escapees, but with the increasing precense of this species in the northeast  and accepted records from as far away as Colorado, there’s a fair argument to be made that this is a naturally occurring bird and thus Kentucky’s 1st.

Limpkins in summer are passé, now we’ve got Limpkins in fall. A bird seen in Niagara, New York, is that state’s 1st and tantalizingly close to Ontario where this species has been yet to be recorded in the whole of Canada.

More expected, to the extent that these things can be, is New Hampshire’s 1st record of Tropical Kingbird in Rockingham. 

Up to Yukon, where a Bobolink at Haines Junction is a territorial 1st, the fourth new bird for Yukon this year.

Wyoming has also had an exceptional run lately, and a pair of female-type King Eiders in Albany, represent yet another state 1st.

In Saskatchewan, a Costa’s Hummingbird visiting a feeder in Saskatoon is a provincial 1st record.

Texas’s 1st record of Smooth-billed Ani was seen associating with a Groove-billed Ani during the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in Cameron. 

Ohio’s long-awaited 1st record of Ash-throated Flycatcher turned up in Cuyahoga earlier this month.

And in South Carolina, a Lesser Nighthawk was photographed in Charleston representing a 1st for that state.

Massachusetts was jammed with noteworthy birds in the last couple weeks including the state’s 2nd Bullock’s Oriole in Middlesex, a Brown Booby (3) off Cape Cod, a Bell’s Vireo in Bristol, a Black-chinned Hummingbird at a feeder in Barnstable, and a Cassin’s Kingbird on Nantucket.

Rhode Island’s 2nd record of Gray Kingbird was seen in Westerly.

Nova Scotia’s 10th Ash-throated Flycatcher was well-photographed at Hartlen Point.

A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (3) at Bombay Hook NWR is the 4th for Delaware.

Tennessee’s 3rd record of Lark Bunting was seen in Montgomery, and a Ferruginous Hawk turned up in Gibson. 

Indiana’s 3rd Black-chinned Hummingbird was at a feeder in Bloomington this month.

A Northern Wheatear in Jasper, Illinois, represents that state’s 2nd record.

In Wisconsin, a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (3) in Manitowoc is the state’s 3rd.

South Dakota becomes the latest state to host a Brambling (3). A bird at a feeder in Britton is the state’s 2nd.

Oklahoma had a female Broad-billed Hummingbird in Oklahoma City.

Not one, but two different Fan-tailed Warblers (4) were seen in Arizona this week, one in Maricopa followed closely by a bird in Pima. 

In California, a Snowy Owl in Los Angeles  is the first in the southern part of the state in many years.

And in British Columbia, a Bell’s Vireo in Victoria is the province’s 2nd.

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.