ML594465121

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

MEGA***. Potentially the first ABA record. First seen as I accidentally flushed it out of the Johnson grass and into a mesquite in the small clearing here: (32.8239026, -109.8440726) Initial impression was of a small, extremely dark bunting-like bird, INBU was considered briefly but was quickly ruled out due to the extremely dark plumage this bird showed. Small (not much larger than nearby LEGO), dark bluish-black bunting type passerine with brownish edged primaries, gray upper mandible, horn-colored/grayish lower mandible, and grayish-flesh colored legs. Small patches of white on the lesser underwing coverts were also visible in flight. Gave two types of calls that I observed (at least one recorded). The first was a high-pitched more smacking call, while the second was a two-part, thinner, high pitched call. This species moves seasonally in the northern extent of its range especially during the monsoon season (also when the males transition to their blue-black plumage), and so this time of year would be the most expected for a possible overshoot. Didn’t have my camera on me when I first found it so I tried to get a few decent digibins (didn’t turn out so well, I was shaking pretty bad lol) before I ran back for it. At one point the bird flew a decent ways west into another clearing, but subsequently returned to the original pin, and was observed there by myself and Adam Stein at about 6:15pm. Photos and audio.

Technical information

Model

ILCE-7RM4

Lens

FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS

ISO

2500

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/250 sec

Dimensions

4820 pixels x 2930 pixels

Original file size

12.35 MB