Another busy news day for birds! A European heron turning up in Maine is the biggest story.
A Gray Heron in Maine: It's the first one ever recorded in the state. A local birder found it at Jordan's Farm in Cape Elizabeth on Oct. 18, and hundreds of birders have traveled there to see it, some from as far as Michigan. The species lives in Europe, Asia and Africa. The U.S. didn't record one until 2020. There is a photo of a Gray Heron on my Botswana’s Camp Era Dinare page if you want to see what one looks like.
A Pallid Harrier in the UK: This bird of prey breeds mainly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, so a sighting in Britain is called “extraordinary". Up to a dozen juveniles were spotted this October.
Closer to Colorado: A Piratic Flycatcher spotted in September at the Stalker Lake State Wildlife Area in northeast Colorado, near Kansas, was a first for the state. It's also the farthest north this tropical species has ever been recorded. It is probably too late for me to make a drive over there to see the flycatcher, but I haven’t been to Stalker Lake so I may go check it out anyway.
New science
Birds flee women sooner than men: The British Ecological Society reports that 37 species were tested in city parks in Czechia, France, Germany, Poland and Spain. On average, men could get about a meter closer than women before birds flew off. Nobody knows why yet, but if you’re a women bird photographers considering which lens to buy, might opt for the longer one!
This is one for conservation - keeping seabirds out of fishing nets: a group of researchers, including the University of Exeter, found that kites on gillnets cut the odds of catching diving seabirds like guillemots by 71%. Buoys with "googly eyes" cut them by 59%.
Threats and bird flu
Window strikes in Chicago: Fox 32 Chicago reports that, on October 16 & 17, more than 1,000 birds were hurt or killed hitting buildings over one weekend. This is an immense, long-term happening. Chicago’s McCormick Place Lakeside Center, after a tragic 2023, placed polka-dot film over its windows, switched off exterior lights, and closes blinds and curtains at night to combat the problem, resulting is a 90% reduction in bird collision deaths in 2024 and hopefully onward.
Dead seabirds in Orkney: Dozens of seabirds have washed up dead or dying in Scotland's Orkney Islands. They were probably young guillemots caught out by bad weather.
Global checklist update
AviList's 2026 update: The first global list of every bird species got its first yearly update. One change splits the Willet into two species, the Saltmarsh Willet and the Prairie Willet.