Massachusetts’s most exciting bird this Fall had to be the Roseate Spoonbill, only the second state record. First noticed October 15 in Marshfield, it spent the next day there, then traveled a few miles to Duxbury beach on October 17 for its final appearance. Brian Vigorito took the photograph.
After the BBC’s August overnight pelagic was canceled due to rough seas, a replacement trip was scheduled for September. It was memorable, featuring a migration fallout that included 17 warbler species, as well as eight species of cetacean. The single rarest bird sighting was a Barolo Shearwater, the eighth Massachusetts record if accepted by the MARC. Max Chalfin-Jacobs took the photograph.
Jason Barcus found a Western Tanager at Mount Auburn Cemetery on October 2. Many other birders were able to enjoy it until its final appearance on October 6. Jason took the photograph.
Liam Norton photographed a Harris’s Sparrow at Mass Audubon’s Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary on October 6. It was associated with a flock of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. Unfortunately for local birders, it was a ten-minute wonder, evading relocation even by those who showed up less than an hour after it was first noticed. Liam’s photograph is shown above.
Eric Labato and Jeff Offermann photographed a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at the Wardens in Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on October 25. Harry Wales, who missed seeing it there by moments, relocated it later that day at the Plum Island Airport. The bird went undetected the next day, then was seen by a few more birders on October 27 before leaving the area. Andy Sanford took the photograph.
Steven van der Veen found not one, not two, but three Bar-tailed Godwits on Plymouth Beach on October 2. They stuck around for about three weeks. Earlier in May, Richard Veit photographed one on Tuckernuck Island. Previously, none had been found in the state since 2017. Steven van der Veen took the photograph.