May 27, 2021. Horseneck Beach State Reservation, Westport. Photograph by Joel Eckerson.
1 records
| MARC number | Decision | Species | # | Location | County | Arrival | Departure | Observers | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-013 | A | Heermann's Gull | 1 | Horseneck Beach State Reservation, Westport and Richmond Pond, Acoaxet | Bristol | 5/27/2021 | 5/27/2021 | Nicole Kirkos* (ph), Tyler Tomassone*, Joel Eckerson (ph) | 25 |
First found on Horseneck Beach, it was later relocated first at Richmond Pond and then at Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island, providing state firsts for two states in a single day. From its second-cycle plumage and specific tattered wing coverts, this remarkable bird was identifiable as the same bird that was found in Florida as a first-winter bird on 8/31/2019; it then ranged up and down Florida’s east coast until it went missing on 1/27/2021. This bird visited Georgia from 2/15 through at least 3/2, and was successively seen in Virginia on 5/12, in Massachusetts and Rhode Island on 5/27, and then in Cape May, New Jersey, from 5/30 to 6/4, before it returned to Georgia on 6/18 and appeared in South Carolina on 6/21. By August, the bird had returned to Florida, where it remains as of this writing. Quite the tour for a single rarity, which now has established state firsts in at least four states.