ML620587627

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***mega; extraordinary rarity, found previous day by Josh Davidson and continuing through 21 July. Now accepted by MARC as first for Massachusetts and possibly the same individual seen at Pte Mouille SGA, near Detroit, MI on 4 July 2022 for a first US record. Photos are consistent between both birds but probably don’t show any individually diagnostic features. We also pondered the subspecies of this bird and the Michigan bird, both of which seemed largeish, long-legged, and well marked which could indicate the Asian ssp., but that also probably cannot be established with any certainty. We were very lucky to hear about this bird, since the same Ohio friend got in touch with DDG, TBJ, and MJI yesterday after helping confirm the ID. Unfortunately the FWS staff forbade sharing this bird publicly, since previous bad behavior by birders on the refuge (e.g., crossing into closed areas) has caused refuge staff to not trust birders. This is a shame, and hopefully relations can be improved through outreach and better behavior from any birders that make the substantial effort to reach Monomoy. If birder behavior does not improve, the refuge may be more completely closed to access instead of just having rarer sightings not be shared. We do feel lucky to have been invited by the finder to visit and this experience will forever be a special, and somber, memory.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS R5

Lens

RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM + EXTENDER RF1.4x

ISO

800

Focal length

700 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/10.0

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

2582 pixels x 1724 pixels

Original file size

451.55 KB