RARITY FOCUS

It can get complicated!

For this regular feature on the rarity of the month, your two editors try to give the E-bulletin readership a short profile for a single outstanding birding rarity that appeared in North America in the previous month. Generally excluded are one-day wonders, pelagic species that are not necessarily re-findable for others, and species that may have occurred at the absolute geographical edges of North America.

So, when a cooperative Gray Heron appeared last month on Prince Edward Island, it was going to be “simple.” After all, the Gray Heron – a species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia - has only appeared a small number of times in North America, including records for elsewhere in Atlantic Canada, Massachusetts, and in western Alaska. (There have also been some interesting records on the islands of the southeast Caribbean.)

This PEI individual stuck around last month from 6 August through 24 August, a real treat for many local and traveling observers. (Note: it reappeared in the first week of September.)

But then another Eurasian bird appeared the very next day in August, to bump the Gray Heron off our prime rarity list. It was a Eurasian Marsh-Harrier, found and photographed by Byron Swift on the early morning of 25 August, on the island of North Haven in Maine. Although it could have been a one-day-wonder rarity, fortuitously the next day it appeared about 16 miles away, on the western side of Penobscot Bay in the area of well-known Weskeag Marsh, near Thomaston, Maine. The harrier was wonderfully seen and photographed in this locality by intrepid birders into the late afternoon of 27 August.

This would be the first verified – i.e., photographed – record of the species in North America, although there is also a convincing sight record from the Virginia coast from 1994. There are close to a dozen records from Iceland and a good smattering of intriguing records from the Caribbean and Bermuda: Guadeloupe 2002 and 2015, Puerto Rico 2004 and 2006, Barbados 2015, and Bermuda from December 2015 to April 2016.

You can access a fine report and photos of this remarkable Eurasian Marsh-Harrier from Doug Hitchcox, staff naturalist at Maine Audubon:

https://maineaudubon.org/news/rare-bird-alert-eurasian-marsh-harrier/

ATLANTIC PELAGIC EYE-OPENERS

As indicated above, we don’t normally focus on pelagic rarities, spectacular though they may be, if only because birders simply can’t plan to “chase” after them at sea! But a cluster of seabird rarities off of Massachusetts last month clearly deserves some mention.

First, there was a Cape Verde Shearwater, picked out among large numbers of Cory’s and Great Shearwaters on 12 August off Chatham, Massachusetts, east of Monomoy Island. This shearwater, off by itself and looking a bit smaller than a normal Cory’s and with a faded bill, first caught the attention of Jeremiah Trimble among a gang of five skilled birders. This is a species that breeds in the Cape Verde Islands, and normally ranges to coastal waters off West Africa and south to Brazil. The first reliable North American record of this species occurred in 2004 off North Carolina, with other potential reports since, from North Carolina (2013) and Florida and Massachusetts (2021).

For a report and photos, see here:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S116858836?view=photos

Additionally, there was a Brookline Bird Club weekend pelagic trip on 27-28 August to the vicinity of Veatch Canyon located south of Nantucket at the edge of the continental shelf which encountered remarkably warm (80-degree) surface-water temperatures along with expected numbers of Audubon’s Shearwaters, much desired Band-rumped Storm-Petrels, and a distant Black-capped Petrel, in addition to the usual Leach’s Storm-Petrels and Long-tailed Jaegers. The real shocker of the trip however was the number of White-faced Storm-Petrels. Sometimes this difficult-to-reach region may produce one or two of this much sought species at this season… rarely up to a dozen or two, but this year there was an estimate of 600! 

According to birders on the trip, at times the boat was surrounded by “the little black-and-white bouncers,” with double digit counts at times in a single binocular field. It was simply astounding.

You can view some trip photos – including some of the White-faced Storm-Petrels - by Dave Larson here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/142067850@N05/albums/72177720301827056

ACCESS MATTERS: TWO KINDS IN MICHIGAN

Readers may remember our “rarity conundrum” last month in our coverage of the tantalizing Southern Lapwing in Michigan. See here:

https://conta.cc/3Jy4YiJ

  and recent NPR coverage (WCMU in Northern Michigan):

https://radio.wcmu.org/local-regional-news/2022-08-08/south-american-bird-makes-an-unexpected-appearance-in-michigan

We will not step into the fray over whether this bird is “countable” or not, but simply visit the “access issue.”

Since our first report, birders have determined that the continuing Southern Lapwing typically starts its morning at the Wurtsmith Airport before flying to nearby Cedar Lake or the Au Sable River for much of the day before returning to the airport in the late afternoon or evening.

As we originally reported, public access to the edges of the Wurtsmith Airport has been satisfying, with on-site workers sometimes generously facilitating entry onto parts of the airstrip. This has been helpful, especially for photographers.

The Cedar Lake access, about two miles to the northeast of the airport location, is more troublesome. The Southern Lapwing tends to spend much of the day among the shallow water, mudflats, and areas of lily-pads on the western side of that lake. But access may only be by kayak, since the area is surrounded by houses and private property. Additionally, the local and summer residents have been reportedly less than thrilled with unfamiliar visitors around their properties.

Birding is all about getting to see and hear the bird in question. In this case, there are two different kinds of access involved for two locations for the same bird - one location that makes for easy access and the other that makes it more complicated. There’s a potential lesson involved here: making access easier and friendlier for everyone should actually be our birding community’s goal.

IBA NEWS: NEW WHSRN FEATURE

One compliment to the Important Bird Area (IBA) program in this hemisphere has been the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Program (WHSRP). In fact, the overlap is sometimes very obvious.

There is now a new and useful interactive WHSRN map created to help stakeholders identify gaps in knowledge, facilitate information sharing, and determine if a site may meet WHSRN criteria.

According to the most recent data, all of the shorebird locations on this new map qualify as WHSRN sites. The good news is that once it has been determined that a site meets criteria, an actual WHSRN nomination can be pursued to protect the sites by engaging stakeholders that will ultimately improve conservation action.

You can explore multiple sites using this new feature. In fact, you can see if your favorite shorebird site is missing. If so, you can use the survey form to suggest inclusion. You can also provide updates to existing site coverage.

Start here:

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/bb389a6c909145269f3bb1c52992eefc

For additional information about worldwide IBA programs, including those in the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important Bird Area program web site at:

https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas

SOLAR POWER AND HABITAT MANAGEMENT

If you have ever studied a solar-farm situation, you may quickly realize that solar development sometimes potentially conflicts with wildlife habitat and natural resources. The question arises: How can we possibly let ourselves become “green” and “anti-green” at the same time?

Like most new land use and development schemes, if solar is not thoughtfully sited and operated, it can displace wildlife habitat and otherwise unduly impact the locality’s natural resources. Still, there are often ways to help mitigate and resolve this trade-off.

Last month, Maine Audubon released its latest addition in their “solar toolkit.” It’s a publication called “Habitat Restoration and Native Planting for Maine Solar Development,” developed by Maine Audubon and partners. It’s a guide aimed at maximizing the benefits to wildlife and wildlife habitat from ground-mounted solar development. The idea is to encourage the planting of native plants and providing wildlife support, particularly for birds and insect species.

This 26- page booklet includes creative ideas to help with butterfly propagation, natural bird-feeding, nest-site locating, and even the incorporation of occasional nest boxes. While the booklet clearly has a northeastern regional emphasis, it may serve as a model for other regions.

It’s well worth some consideration. See here:

https://simplebooklet.com/habitatrestorationnativeplantingforsolardevelopment#page=1

FLAP UPDATE AND REPRINT

Last month, the innovative folks at the Fatal Light Awareness (FLAP) program, based in Toronto, announced their new and improved “Homes Safe for Birds” brochure.

It is their 3rd printing, featuring updated information and a new design (also available in French). While thousands have already been packed up and mailed out across Canada to wildlife rehabilitation centers, you can print your own using this link:

https://flap.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/FLAP_HouseBro_2022_E.pdf

For more information, see here:

https://birdsafe.ca/homes-safe-for-birds/

RECOVERING AMERICA’S WILDLIFE ACT: AN UPDATE

Recovering America’s Wildlife Act remains close to the finish line, waiting for final Congressional action. The legislation would provide $1.4 billion yearly to states and tribes to prevent birds and other wildlife from becoming endangered in every corner of the country.

When the bill passed the House in mid-June – with a vote of 231 to 190 – we followed up with a report in July:

https://conta.cc/3urOqme

What still remains is Senate passage.

Here’s a supportive and informative opinion-piece by Kylie Mohr that appeared at the end of last month in High Country News. 

https://www.hcn.org/articles/north-wildlife-is-the-recovering-americas-wildlife-act-ready-for-climate-action

In support of this bill, you may want to check out this handy social media guide with suggested messaging for actions to keep the passage campaign going:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n4gton_Q7hDF8QiRL_8VxDzpo1S5kuMFkc-xxvCOcUI/edit

LAST WORD

Finally, if you have any friends or co-workers who wish to be included in the monthly Birding Community E-bulletin mailing list, you can simply refer them to this link:

https://bit.ly/35Xd3hO

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You can access all the past E-bulletins on the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) website:

https://www.refugeassociation.org/birding-community-e-bulletin