The First North American Record Bat Falcon continues to be seen and photographed at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge south of McAllen, Texas (photo by Willie Sekula).

Sightings of Slaty-backed Gulls created a First State Record and a First Provincial Record last week in South Carolina and New Brunswick respectively. North Carolina birders also found a Third State Record White Wagtail. An Ivory Gull was documented on the lakeshore in Duluth, Minnesota, and a Purple Sandpiper on the lakeshore in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It’s also noteworthy that some exciting record birds continue to be seen, including the First North American Record Bat Falcon and Inca Tern, the Steller’s Sea Eagle, and more.

STATE & PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First State Record Slaty-backed Gull – near Red Hill, South Carolina

First Provincial Record Slaty-backed Gull – Saint John, New Brunswick

Third State Record White Wagtail – Eagle Island, North Carolina

REALLY RARE SIGHTINGS

Ivory Gull – Duluth, Minnesota

Purple Sandpiper – Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Dickcissel – Jamestown, Washington

Hoary Redpoll – Seattle, Washington

CONTINUING RARE BIRDS

Bat Falcon – Texas

Steller’s Sea Eagle – Maine

Inca Tern – Hawaii

Curlew Sandpiper – California

Social Flycatcher – Texas

Blue Mockingbird – New Mexico

Crimson-collared Grosbeak – Texas

Golden-crowned Warbler – Texas

Northern Lapwing – Maryland

Northern Lapwing – New Jersey

For more information, refer to the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at Rare Bird Alert: January 7, 2022 - American Birding Association (aba.org) 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/