August 2022

Hot Birds August 2022

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:18 GMT

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.

Fall Hawkwatching in Massachusetts

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:15 GMT

In Massachusetts, September is considered the kickoff month for hawkwatching, which is the organized identification and counting of migrating raptors at designated watch sites. Hawkwatchers from all over New England set their eyes to the skies as raptors funnel out of our region and head toward wintering grounds to the south. Massachusetts hawkwatchers regularly see 12 diurnal raptor species every fall season, with several other species possible.

Third Report of the Rhode Island Avian Records Committee: Summary of Historical Records of Rare Birds in Rhode Island and Review of Recent Reports Through 2018

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:14 GMT

Snowy Plover. April 17, 2017. Goosewing Beach, Little Compton. Photograph by Geoff Dennis.

This report describes the Rhode Island Avian Records Committee’s (RIARC) evaluation of 94 records, primarily from 2016–2018, but with nine from earlier years (1998–2015). These records are summarized below within a comprehensive list of all the species and distinctive subspecies on the Rhode Island Review List, as well as several species reported in Rhode Island for the first time. Following the name of each species or subspecies on the Review List, four numbers are presented in parentheses (a, b, c, d), defined as follows:

a	the number of records cited by Howe and Sturtevant (1899).
b	the number of records accepted from 1900–2002. This number is derived principally from the Checklist of Rhode Island Birds (Rhode Island Ornithological Club 2002), which represents a synthesis of information from Ferren (in litt.), Conway (1992), and records accepted by a pre-RIARC committee of reviewers for Field Notes of Rhode Island Birds through 2002 (Raithel 2001, 2002). A “++” represents relatively frequent historical occurrence of the species, which could be replaced with a number pending ongoing research.
c	the number of accepted records from 2003–2015, including those published in RIARC’s two previous reports (Mitra et al. 2010, 2021), plus additional records from this period published here.
d	the number of accepted records from 2016–2018 published in the present report. Note: the sum of a, b, c, and d represents the total number of verified records in Rhode Island through December 2018.

To accommodate the full Review List, as well as three years’ worth of records, discussion of individual records has been kept to a minimum in this report. The Committee intends to publish its fourth report in 2023 to cover records from 2019–2022, then annual reports thereafter, with fuller discussions of each year’s individual records.

The current report features numerous highlights, including the first Rhode Island records of Graylag Goose, Snowy Plover, and Black-whiskered Vireo; second state records for Pink-footed Goose, Trumpeter Swan, Little Egret, and Townsend’s Warbler; and third state records for Mountain Bluebird and Varied Thrush. Rates of occurrence continue to increase for some species, such as Ross’s Goose, or to remain at higher than historical levels for others, such as Sandhill Crane. In contrast, other species have occurred less frequently in recent years than in the past, notably Eared Grebe, King Rail, Little Gull, and Gull-billed Tern.

For each record below, we list the RIARC Committee report number; the vote of the Committee (accept–not accept, or when three numbers then accept–not accept–accept identification but natural status uncertain); the number of individuals; the location of record; the date(s) of occurrence; and the observer(s), with the following codes: I = initial finder, R = provided a written report, and P = provided photo(s).

About Books: Small and Focused

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:07 GMT

The Real James Bond: A True Story of Identity Theft, Avian Intrigue, and Ian Fleming.
Jim Wright. 2020. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing LTD.

A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird.
Written and illustrated by Rosemary Mosco. 2021. New York, New York: Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

Birders always want more. A longer life list. More time in the field. More identification field marks. More information on where to see birds. And, of course, more birds and books about birds. It is no surprise that many books about birds tend to be large. The recent Birds of Maine by Peter D. Vickery clocks in at 642 large-format pages. Steve Hilty’s Birds of Colombia, ostensibly a field guide, runs a close second at 604 pages. Both of these books are excellent and their size—and weight—testify to the amount of knowledge we now have about bird distribution, bird records, and bird life. Mention must be made of Lynx Edicions’s mind-blowing 16 large-format volumes of Handbook of the Birds of the World, which illustrates every species of bird on this planet, contains thousands of state-of-the-art photographs, and has an encyclopedia’s worth of text. The Handbook of the Birds of the World is the penultimate bird publishing venture. My one caveat about these mammoth tomes is that they are difficult to read, in the way an unabridged dictionary is physically awkward to read.

Below are two very small books about birds that are narrowly focused and fun to read.

At a Glance: August 2022

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:03 GMT

Bird Observer's Fiftieth Anniversary Photo, Video, and Writing Contest

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:02 GMT

Bird Observer is celebrating our fiftieth anniversary in 2022 with the publication of Volume 50 of our journal. We invite our subscribers to join the celebration by entering the Bird Observer Fiftieth Anniversary Photo, Video, and Writing Contest. We welcome submissions from photographers, videographers, and writers of all skill levels, except for Bird Observer staff, board members, and their immediate family members.

The contest is open only to Bird Observer’s current subscribers. Subscribe now and be eligible to enter.

Contest Dates

The Bird Observer Fiftieth Anniversary contest runs from April 1, 2022, to October 1, 2022. Winners will be announced in our December 2022 issue.

Prizes for Entering

There will be one grand prize winner in each of three categories: photo, video, and writing. Each grand prize winner will receive a $100 gift card to Bird Watcher’s General Store, Orleans, MA; a $100 gift card to Bird Watcher’s Supply and Gift, Newburyport, MA; a $100 gift card to Birds and Beans Coffee; and a two-year extension of his or her subscription to Bird Observer, in addition to being featured in the December 2022 issue of Bird Observer in print and on our website, www.birdobserver.org.

At least 12 honorable mentions will win a one-year extension of his or her subscription to Bird Observer. Additional honorable mentions may be awarded at the discretion of the judges.

In addition to the winners, all contest entries have a chance to appear on our website.

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Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:01 GMT

August 2022

Hot Birds August 2022

Fall Hawkwatching in Massachusetts

Third Report of the Rhode Island Avian Records Committee: Summary of Historical Records of Rare Birds in Rhode Island and Review of Recent Reports Through 2018

About Books: Small and Focused

The Real James Bond: A True Story of Identity Theft, Avian Intrigue, and Ian Fleming.
Jim Wright. 2020. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing LTD.

A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird.
Written and illustrated by Rosemary Mosco. 2021. New York, New York: Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

At a Glance: August 2022

Bird Observer's Fiftieth Anniversary Photo, Video, and Writing Contest

Contest Dates

Prizes for Entering

Advertisers 50-4

August 2022

Hot Birds August 2022

Fall Hawkwatching in Massachusetts

Third Report of the Rhode Island Avian Records Committee: Summary of Historical Records of Rare Birds in Rhode Island and Review of Recent Reports Through 2018

About Books: Small and Focused

The Real James Bond: A True Story of Identity Theft, Avian Intrigue, and Ian Fleming. Jim Wright. 2020. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing LTD.

A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird. Written and illustrated by Rosemary Mosco. 2021. New York, New York: Workman Publishing Co., Inc.

At a Glance: August 2022

Bird Observer's Fiftieth Anniversary Photo, Video, and Writing Contest

Contest Dates

Prizes for Entering

Advertisers 50-4

The Real James Bond: A True Story of Identity Theft, Avian Intrigue, and Ian Fleming.
Jim Wright. 2020. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing LTD.

A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching: Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird.
Written and illustrated by Rosemary Mosco. 2021. New York, New York: Workman Publishing Co., Inc.