Birders found the First Provincial Record Great-tailed Grackle in Nokomis, Saskatchewan, located roughly between the cities of Saskatoon and Regina.

Last week Saskatchewan topped the Rare Birds list when birders found the First Provincial Record Great-tailed Grackle in Saskatchewan. The other record sighting was a Ninth State Record Black-chinned Hummingbird, which was observed visiting a feeder in Tennessee. There were many other interesting rare bird sightings to report, including a triad of waterfowl that most probably crossed the Atlantic, including a Pink-footed Goose in Massachusetts, a Greylag Goose in Nova Scotia, and a Tufted Duck in New York. What, no Tropical Kingbirds last week?

STATE & PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First Provincial Record Great-tailed Grackle – Nokomis, Saskatchewan

Ninth State Record Black-chinned Hummingbird – southeast Tennessee

REALLY RARE SIGHTINGS

Nazca Booby – San Pedro, California

Greylag Goose – Groves Point, Nova Scotia

Pink-footed Goose – Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Tufted Duck – Buffalo, New York

Yellow-billed Loon – Cherry Creek State Park, Colorado

Wood Stork – Cape May, New Jersey

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (2) – Lake Yankton, South Dakota

Varied Thrush – Laurentides, Quebec

Glaucous Gulls (2) – near Casper, Wyoming

Brant (2) – Roper Lake, Arizona

Brant – Boise, Idaho

Golden-crowned Sparrow – Cape May, New Jersey

Golden-crowned Sparrow – Long Island, New York

Ash-throated Flycatcher – Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina

Ash-throated Flycatcher – Breinigsville, Pennsylvania

CONTINUING RARE BIRDS

A few rare birds are being monitored by birders from coast to coast, with the Antillean Palm Swift being seen regularly on Marathon Key in Florida, while a number of Red-footed Boobys are being monitored along the California coast and a Blue-footed Booby continues in Arizona. Late fall yields exciting wayward migrants – almost every day – across the continent; be vigilant as you enjoy all your birding endeavors.

For more information, see the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at http://blog.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/