Two Brown Pelicans figured into last week’s rare birds list: A Fifth State Record Brown Pelican was observed in northern Utah, while the species was a rare northern sighting in East Jeddore, Nova Scotia.

Birders in seven states and one province found new record rare birds last week, including a First State Record Limpkin for Illinois. Originating from Asia, a Second State Record Little Stint was located on the northwest point of Washington, while another Second State Record was found on the Atlantic shore of Florida – a first fall Heermann’s Gull – normally a Pacific Coast species. Birders in southern California found another Asian migrant, a Common Ringed Plover, which is a Third State Record, and there were more state record reports from Tennessee, Utah, Texas, and Newfoundland – not to mention more Asian species sighted on Bering Sea islands in western Alaska.

STATE AND PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First State Record Limpkin – near Olney, Illinois

Second State Record Little Stint – near Neah Bay, Washington

Second State Record Heermann’s Gull – Indiatlantic Beach, Florida

Third State Record Common Ringed Plover – Irvine, California

Third State Record Brown Booby – Duck River Bottoms, Tennessee

Third Provincial Record Roseate Tern – Trepassey, Newfoundland

Fifth State Record Brown Pelican – Bear River Refuge, Utah

Fifth State Record White-crowned Pigeon – Galveston, Texas

REALLY RARE ALASKA BERING SEA ISLANDS SIGHTINGS

Gray-streaked Flycatcher – St. Paul Island, Alaska

Jack Snipe – St. Paul Island, Alaska

Lesser Sand Plovers (2) – St. Paul Island, Alaska

Dark-sided Flycatcher – Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska

Pallas’s Bunting – Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska

REALLY RARE SIGHTINGS

Common Ringed Plover – Trepassey, Newfoundland

Long-tailed Jaeger – Cheyenne Bottoms Refuge, Kansas

Sabine’s Gull – West Point Dam, Georgia

Roseate Spoonbill – Ash Meadows Refuge, Nevada

Little Blue Heron – near Franktown, Colorado

Prothonotary Warbler – Chateauguay, Quebec

Brown Pelican – East Jeddore, Nova Scotia

CONTINUING RARE BIRDS

Birders continue to enjoy views of the vibrant Berylline Hummingbird, along with a host of other hummers in Southeast Arizona, while the Common Crane continues in north-central Arizona. Beyond Arizona, the Black-faced Grassquit has been relocated in Florida, while the Yellow-billed Loon is still being monitored in Iowa. We’ve already seen an uptick in rare bird sightings in September with the advent of fall migration. Who will find the next rare birds?

For more information, see the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at http://blog.aba.org/2019/09/rare-bird-alert-september-6-2019.html

Special Thanks to the ABA, and Nate Swick, who does such a great job of compiling the ABA’s Rare Bird Alert, which we use to prepare this weekly replay.

You can often find more information about individual rare bird sightings from the state rare bird alert listserves that you can access at http://birding.aba.org/ or at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ABArare/