Once again, the list of continuing ABA rarities is far longer than the list of new notables. Both Little Stint (ABA Code 4) and Oriental Turtle Dove (4) continuing in California, as are the Texas trio of Golden-crowned Warbler (4), Social Flycatcher (5), and the ABA 1st Bat Falcon (5). Both Thick-billed Vireo (4) and Black-faced Grassquit (5) were seen in Florida this week. And both the Arizona Nutting’s Flycatcher (4) and the Northern Lapwing (4) in Maryland are also hanging around.
We don’t have a lot of birds to report this week but at least one of them is a state 1st. Georgia may have one of the smallest pelagic boundaries on the east coast, but a wandering Gulf Stream pushed cold water right up along the shore, and with it the state’s 1st and 2nd Atlantic Puffins, seen on a trip offshore in Chatham. Impressive numbers of Atlantic Puffin and Thick-billed Murre have been noted down the eastern seaboard this year, with many hundred noted in North Carolina in recent weeks.
And in Pennsylvania, a Tufted Duck (3) was discovered in Lebanon, one of very few eastern records of the species south of New England.
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.
