Wednesday, March 4, 2020

The ABA Rare Bird Alert’s Weekly Highlights

A First State Record Burrowing Owl has been observed regularly at a burrow near Allensville, Kentucky.

 

 

 

Two First State Records take top billing among last week’s rare bird sightings: A First State Record Burrowing Owl has been observed regularly at a burrow near Allensville, Kentucky, and a First State Record Scott’s Oriole is visiting a feeder in Tallahassee, Florida. Birders have also been observing a Fifth State Record Harris’s Sparrow in Hammonasset Beach State Park in coastal Connecticut. A colorful male Vermillion Flycatcher was observed in Arkansas, and the third Garganey of the winter, a colorful male of this Old World duck species, has been sighted near Harrington in the Central Valley.

STATE RECORDS

First State Record Burrowing Owl – near Allensville, Kentucky

First State Record Scott’s Oriole – Tallahassee, Florida

Fifth State Record Harris’s Sparrow – Hammonasset Beach State Park, Connecticut

REALLY RARE SIGHTINGS

Garganey – near Harrington, California

Vermillion Flycatcher – near Marianna, Arkansas

Glaucous-winged Gull – Fort Collins, Colorado

Rose-throated Becard – near Brownsville, Texas

CONTINUING RARE BIRDS

The continuing trio of rare birds reported in earlier Rare Birds articles included a:

Siberian Accentor – Woodland, Washington

Thick-billed Vireo – Long Key, Florida

La Sagra’s Flycatcher – Everglades National Park, Florida

Garganey – Salton Sea, California

Tundra Bean Goose – Regina, Saskatchewan

Winter rare bird sighting have been even rarer than usual, but the off-course birds being reported have been spectacular - all the more reason to expect the unexpected.

For more information, see the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at https://www.aba.org/rare-bird-alert-february-28-2020/ 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/