Observed near Dover, Arkansas, far from its normal western range, the First State Record Lewis’s Woodpecker was documented by birders – what a find!

The most famous eagle continues to set new rare bird records from New England through eastern Canada, and after flying farther north along the coast it was sighted and photographed on the Avalon Peninsula north of St. Johns where it established a First Provincial Record for a Steller’s Sea Eagle in Newfoundland and Labrador. Where to next? Two First State Records were also established last week by birders who confirmed a Lewis’s Woodpecker in Arkansas and a Great-tailed Grackle in Florida. A “bizarre” sighting was a Second State Record Rock Ptarmigan in southern Minnesota! And there’s many more interesting sightings:

STATE & PROVINCIAL RECORDS

First Provincial Record Steller’s Sea Eagle – near St. Johns, Newfoundland

First State Record Lewis’s Woodpecker – Dover, Arkansas

First State Record Great-tailed Grackle – Key Biscayne, Florida

Second State Record Rock Ptarmigan – Wabasha, Minnesota

Second State Record Brown Booby – Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri

Third State Record Limpkin – Red Slough, Oklahoma

Third State Record Garganey – Lake Mills, Wisconsin

Third State Record Long-billed Curlew – near Highbridge, Wisconsin

Fifth State Record Lesser Goldfinch – Stanley, North Dakota

Sixth State Record Pacific Golden Plover – Halifax, Nova Scotia

REALLY RARE BIRDS

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper – near Plain, Wisconsin

Black-throated Gray Warbler – Brooklyn, New York

Black-necked Stilt – St. Pierre et Miquelon

CONTINUING RARE BIRDS

Common Crane –Oregon

European Golden Plovers – Newfoundland

Brambling – Newfoundland

Bahama Mockingbird – Florida

Flame-colored Tanager – Arizona

Tufted Flycatchers – Arizona

For more information, refer to the American Birding Association’s Rare Bird Alert at Rare Bird Alert: April 29, 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 info 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/