June 2022https://www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2022/June-2022Hot Birds: June 2022https://www.birdobserver.org/Issues/2022/June-2022/hot-birds-june-2022Hot BirdsWed, 01 Jun 2022 00:00:17 GMT<p class="caption"><img alt="Willow Ptarmigan by Meaghan Keefe" src="/Portals/0/Assets/bo50-3/HB_Willow_Ptarmigan_Keefe.png?ver=sjs55zoYY0Ta0MoSfX7daA%3d%3d" style="width: 366px; height: 239px;" /><br /> A <strong>Willow Ptarmigan</strong> that appeared in southern Worcester County in late April was by far the most astonishing bird of the season. Meaghan Keefe posted an eBird record with photos from Charlton on April 30. (Meaghan’s photo is above.) Photos of presumably the same bird, taken in West Boylston two days before the Charlton sighting, later surfaced on FaceBook. This would be the second record of the species for Massachusetts, following a specimen collected on May 10, 1859.</p> <p class="caption"><img alt="Swainson’s Warbler by Justin Lawson" src="/Portals/0/Assets/bo50-3/HB_Swainsons_Warbler_Lawson.png?ver=rhuL6GbczBSoRxeOKHgeyg%3d%3d" style="width: 366px; height: 255px;" /><br /> In a more normal spring, a <strong>Swainson’s Warbler</strong> would have been the best bird of the season. It was seen by more birders than the ptarmigan was, even though it was a one-day wonder. Jonah Levy found it early in the morning on May 6; by the end of that day, dozens of birders had gathered to admire the state’s seventh record of this species. Justin Lawson took the photo above.</p> <p class="caption"><img alt="Swallow-tailed Kite by Liam Waters" src="/Portals/0/Assets/bo50-3/HB_Swallow-tailed_Kite_Waters.png?ver=GxwRHlnAk2WQM8HmEG8KDg%3d%3d" style="width: 366px; height: 287px;" /><br /> <strong>Swallow-tailed Kites</strong> appeared in Massachusetts in three different months this spring. Hans Holbrook spotted the first one over his yard in Barnstable on March 28. In April, Liam Waters found a kite flying past Pilgrim Heights. Carrie Almeida caught the third on video over Swansea on May 12. Liam Waters took the photo above.</p> To view the rest of the article you'll need to subscribe. Bird Observer publishes original articles on birding locations, on avian populations and natural history, on regional rarities, field notes, field records, photographs, and art work.