A birding group led by David Clapp discovered a Curlew Sandpiper on Monomoy May 19. Birders giving chase were able to relocate it in the area through at least May 30. Bob Stymeist took the photo above.
Ted Gilliland perfectly timed his trip to Martha’s Vineyard, spotting a Swallow-tailed Kite from Gay Head on May 21 (his photo above), then no fewer than *three* Mississippi Kites the following day, and that was not all!
As if he hadn’t already had a great enough birding trip to Martha’s Vineyard, Ted Gilliland followed up his Swallow-tailed Kite and Mississippi Kites with a Loggerhead Shrike on May 24 (his photo above). Massachusetts had not had a documented Loggerhead Shrike record since 2012, until this spring. Then it had a second one just 10 days later, half the state away! Peter Gagarin discovered the latter bird at the Turners Falls Airport.
While conducting seabird surveys far offshore, Allison Black photographed a falcon that landed on the boat while they were roughly 65 miles offshore from Nomans Land (near Martha’s Vineyard). She posted her photos on FaceBook, where it was recognized as a Eurasian Hobby! Apparently the second record for Massachusetts, but possibly only the fourth ever in the Lower 48; it was clearly the rarest bird in our state for this period, but was never detected on-shore, so Allison was the only one lucky enough to see it. That’s her photo above.
In an unbelievable flycatcher double feature, Nancy Maciolek Blake found a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher AND a Tropical Kingbird, both on June 14, both at Mass Audubon’s Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, and at one time both in the same tree! The Scissor-tail only remained in location for one day after its discovery, but word about Nancy’s eBird report spread quickly enough that many birders saw it before it left. The Kingbird was far more cooperative, continuing to be seen through at least July 4. Sean Williams took the photos above.