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