Date: 6/13/26 3:33 am From: Dennis Forsythe (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: Garganey and the Demise of the Listserve
All
Ed Blitch and I drove up from Charleston to see the Mango. We saw it as
soon as we arrived and after more viewing we drove home arriving at 6PM. A
great bird and a spectacular day with my late friend Ed. Blitch 3 .
Dennis
On Fri, Jun 12, 2026 at 11:55 PM Steve Shultz <carolinabirds...>
wrote:
> The mango was amazing. After this record there was a pattern of vagrancy
> even up to the Midwest. It has not been repeated however. This was probably
> the most incredible bird ever seen in NC. Honored
> to have seen it.
>
> Steve Shultz
>
>
> On Jun 12, 2026, at 8:42 PM, Rob G <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
>
> re: the Green-breasted Mango: Yeah, that was a spectacular find, but (and
> merely my speculation) I never believed it got here under its own power --
> I once worked for a company that dealt with large cargo trucks hauling
> tropical plants from south to north -- birds flew into and out of those
> trucks pretty regularly... I imagine the Mango entered such a hauler way
> south somewhere (and got trapped) and when the truck arrived in say
> Charlotte(?), and the back gate opened, out it flew! FWIW.
>
> -- Rob Gluck.... Carrboro, NC.
>
>
> On Friday, June 12, 2026 at 08:22:51 PM EDT, Sandy Cash (via carolinabirds
> Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> wrote:
>
>
> I’m late to this discussion, but the Green-breasted Mango we had over 25
> years ago in Concord is my favorite nationally rare species we’ve had in
> NC. At least one of the major field guides makes a passing reference to
> that specific bird.
>
> -Sandy
>
> Sandy Cash
> Carrboro, NC, USA
>
> On Wed, Jun 10, 2026 at 1:58 PM Steve Shultz <carolinabirds...>
> wrote:
>
> The booby was an amazing inland bird!
>
> From an ABA perspective, they are fairly easy since they breed in Hawaii.
> I choose not to count Hawaii birds on my ABA list, but others do, and the
> rules allow. Otherwise, there have been about a hundred accepted
> continental records for that species.
>
> The bluetail is an amazing record too! … but my post was about nationally
> rare birds found in NC 😉
>
> Steve Shultz
>
>
> > On Jun 10, 2026, at 1:06 PM, Robert Lewis <rfermat...> wrote:
> >
> > Steve Shultz wrote:
> >
> >> But back to the Garganey. There is one being seen at Pea Island in Dare
> County (found by Audrey Whitlock.) It’s an amazing find. This is perhaps
> the rarest chasable bird to grace North Carolina in a decade. Most “rare
> birds” aren’t. They are locally rare, slightly late, slightly early, or
> uncommon. This duck is rare. It is continentally rare. Virtually no one in
> NC has seen one in NC, and few have seen one in the United States,
> especially an alternate plumaged drake. It’s a big deal*.
> >
> > No doubt it's a great record. But I don't think it is quite as rare as
> Steve suggests. There are about 100 records in North America outside of
> Alaska, and 80 in Alaska. Furthermore, a pattern is beginning to appear of
> the bird appearing in the East in late May - early June. Now, Red-flanked
> Bluetail -- that's RARE!
> >
> > Personally, I still think the Red-footed Booby of a few years ago in
> Wake County is truly amazing. There are only two inland records in North
> America. (The other was in Alabama.) And yes, it was chaseable. I chased
> it! So did dozens of others.
> >
> > Bob Lewis
> > Durham NC
>
>
--
Dennis M Forsythe PhD
Emeritus Professor of Biology
The Citadel
Charleston, SC
843-708-1605 cell
