Bullock's Oriole - Not

As of 10:45 a.m. the male Bullock's Oriole has not been refound, despite searching. It would seem, therefore, that a chase for the bird might not be worthwhile. Or it might - if you don't find the Oriole, maybe an Ash-throated Flycatcher will put in an appearance for example (there is one in Cape May, as has been posted earlier.)

Speaking of which, I was talking to poor Scott Barnes (of Sandy Hook Bird Observatory) on the phone yesterday. I had called him about the Lesser Nighthawk. It turns out Scott's in Nevada, which doesn't sound so bad except when there's a Lesser Nighthawk here, or worse, for Scott, a gaggle of rarities up at Sandy Hook including, he told me, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Townsend's Solitaire and Great Crested Flycatcher . . .to which latter I said, "Hmmmmm." And Scott replied, "Hmmmmm, indeed."

I didn't know any details about Sandy Hook Great Crested at the time (I've recently heard it was well-photographed) but boy oh boy if anyone sees a late November Myiarchus that's not an Ash-throated, please be open to all possibilities, i.e. Brown-crested Flycatcher. Especially if it looks kind of like our familiar Great-crested but seems washed out and big billed. There is a December 16 record in Cape May of Great-crested, but any Great-crested in NJ after mid-October is very unusual.