A small but dramatically colored bird called a Siberian Accentor, is creating quite a stir in the bird world. This rare bird should be in northern Siberia! Kit and Janet Durnil found the bird in dense alders and small spruce in town on January 22nd. I documented the bird  and emailed the photos to Buzz Scher  who identified it quicker than a bird book. It is so rare in North America that in fact, it is not in all the bird books. The Sibley and Kaufman field guides do not have it, but the National Geographic Field Guide does. It’s the first bird in the index, “Accentor, Siberian.” It’s also the first bird in the app iBird Plus.

The owner of the house where it was found, thought she caught a brief glimpse of it in December. Kit is wondering too, if he might have seen it during the Christmas Bird Count. It’s very secretive and hard to spot despite its tawny orange coloration and distinctive black mask. Hopefully, the birders planning to converge on Seward this weekend will be able to find it.

The other rare birds in Seward, the Bramblings, have apparently moved to town from Lowell Point. They too have been spotted in the neighborhood feeding on Mt Ash berries.

For more information and photos, please visit my Sporadic Bird Blog at http://sporadicbird.blogspot.com/

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold