MEGA: Great Birds

A Wood Sandpiper photographed in Delaware is, if rightly I remember, a second record for the eastern United States. I wouldn’t want to live in the mid-Atlantic again, but every once in a while something like this happens….

What a day in the history of Arizona birding. An American Swallow-tailed Kite was seen moving north over Tucson this morning, and this afternoon brought news of a Yellow Grosbeak and a TUFTED FLYCATCHER in the Chiricahuas.

A male Scott’s Oriole is visiting a feeder in Iowa (Iowa!).
Just a year ago this would have been a mega-mega, but with scattered records throughout the east in recent months, this way-out bird may be part of an emerging pattern of “regular” vagrancy. What was once a southwestern specialty may be turning into a low-density [...]

An Ivory Gull, potentially a first for South Dakota, is being seen even as I write at Oahe Dam on the Missouri River.
Historically a very rare visitor anywhere south of Canada, this species is said to be in severe decline throughout its holarctic range, making this one even more “mega” than it would have been [...]

An adult Ross’s Gull was seen yesterday and today below Niagara Falls. For birders of my generation, this species will always be mega no matter where it shows up!