I agree with Frank Gallo on this one. In voting, I considered not only past records, but also the likelihood of seeing a particular species in the future within Connecticut. Northern Lapwing has occurred on multiple occasions in the northeast - as close to Connecticut as Long Island. It was only a matter of time before we had one confirmed here. It was a great find to be sure (nice work Phil and we know you really worked to be sure of the ID), but one that was not completely unexpected. Wasn't there a poll asking participants to choose bird species which had never been seen before in Connecticut and were most likely to make a confirmed appearance at some point? I would bet that most who voted in that poll included Northern Lapwing and did not include White-tailed Kite. I was also surprised that the banded Barnacle Goose which was first seen in New York and then reappeared in Stratford and Westport did not show up in the Top 10 on this poll. Yes, we have seen many Barnacle Geese, relatively speaking, over the last 20 years. However, their origin was never known with certainty. About the best the COA could do was to accept a sighting as being of a truly wild bird based upon it's association with Canada Geese or White-fronted Geese which were known, by bands, to have come from Greenland. Never was there a Barnacle Goose which itself carried a band - or at least a band that could be read. This bird did however, and thus became the first of it's species within Connecticut whose history could be traced and whose origin left no doubt. I think that made it a noteworthy bird. This whole thing was fun and of course there were no "right or wrong" choices. A lot of it was subjective. I look forward to seeing the full article about the results in the future. Thanks to Frank Mantlik and Joe Zeranski for this idea. Charlie Barnard Jr. Stratford,Ct