As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday 18 November 2012

Rare bird spotted at Ft. Getty


Just a month removed from the discovery of a wood sandpiper in Marsh Meadows, another rare bird has appeared to have gotten lost and found its way onto Conanicut Island.

A mountain bluebird was spotted and confirmed at Fort Getty Saturday, 2,000 miles east of its normal rage. The bird, which is about 6 inches long and weighs an ounce, is typically found in the western United States and Canada. It can be found as far south as Mexico and as far north as Alaska, but it usually doesn’t wander east of Colorado.

Last month’s discovery of the wood sandpiper was the first confirmed sighting ever in New England. The bluebird confirmation Saturday is just the second time it has ever been seen in Rhode Island, according to Rachel Farrell, the state’s unofficial record keeper of birds. In 1994, a speciman was found dead in the state.

The mountain bluebird at Fort Getty was first spotted by Jamestown resident Marci Lindsay on Oct. 28. Typically found in the western United States, it is the state bird of both Idaho and Nevada. The bird was first sighted by Jamestowner Marci Lindsay on Oct. 28. She called Chris Powell, an avid birder on the island, but Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent nor’easter made it difficult to make a confirmation.

Saturday, Powell received another phone call from Lindsay saying that she again spotted the bird. Powell, along with his wife Candy, who is also a birder, immediately drove to the park. He spotted it and confirmed it as a mountain bluebird.

Continued:  




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