New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, December 24, 2021:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Dec. 24, 2021
* NYNY2112.24


NORTHERN LAPWING+
SHORT-BILLED GULL+
ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER+
WESTERN TANAGER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Greater White-fronted Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
Harlequin Duck
SANDHILL CRANE
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Black-headed Gull
Laughing Gull
FRANKLIN'S GULL (extralimital)
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Bald Eagle
Rough-legged Hawk
Snowy Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
WESTERN KINGBIRD
NORTHERN SHRIKE
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
LECONTE’S SPARROW
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
LARK SPARROW
Yellow-breasted Chat
Orange-crowned Warbler
DICKCISSEL

If followed by (+) please submit documentation of your report electronically and use the NYSARC online submission form found at http://www.nybirds.org/NYSARC/goodreport.htm

You can also send reports and digital image files via email to nysarc44nybirdsorg

If electronic submission is not possible, hardcopy reports and photos or sketches are welcome. Hardcopy documentation should be mailed to:

Gary Chapin - Secretary
NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC)
125 Pine Springs Drive
Ticonderoga, NY 12883

Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert
Number: (212) 979-3070

Compiler: Tom Burke
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County

Transcriber: Gail Benson

[~BEGIN RBA TAPE~]

Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, December 24, 2021 at 11:00 pm.

The highlights of today's tape are NORTHERN LAPWING, SHORT-BILLED GULL, SANDHILL CRANE, NORTHERN SHRIKE, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER and WESTERN KINGBIRD, WESTERN TANAGER, LECONTE'S, CLAY-COLORED and LARK SPARROWS, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, DICKCISSEL, Christmas Count results, an extralimital FRANKLIN’S GULL and more.

Exceptional was the discovery last Saturday of a NORTHERN LAPWING at Santapogue Creek in West Babylon - the bird soon relocated to adjacent Bergen Point Golf Course, where seen with difficulty into the afternoon. After disappearing later in the afternoon, the bird was not seen thereafter, though subsequently single LAPWINGS did appear in both New Jersey and Maryland.

Also very noteworthy was a SHORT-BILLED GULL photographed Tuesday off Bush Terminal Piers Park in Brooklyn, this the first sighting of this western gull in our area since the American Ornithological Society recently split this bird from the Mew Gull complex. It has not been relocated since Tuesday, but a BLACK-HEADED GULL has been there.

Three SANDHILL CRANES were reported flying west over White Plains Monday.

A NORTHERN SHRIKE, found Tuesday at the Norman J. Levy Preserve just east of the Meadowbrook Parkway in Merrick, was still present today along the trails on the west side of the landfill. Yesterday YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER were also seen there.

Previously found ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHERS were still present today in Brooklyn's Owl’s Head Park and at the Rockwood Hall section of Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Mount Pleasant, Westchester County, and a WESTERN KINGBIRD was seen last weekend along North Fernwood Drive in Montauk.

WESTERN TANAGERS in Manhattan remain at Carl Schurz Park off East End Avenue around East 86th Street and near private Clinton Community Garden viewed from West 48th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues.

A LECONTE’S SPARROW continues on top of the landfill at Croton Point Park, single CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS were seen Sunday along Seven Ponds Road in Watermill and in Mattituck, and a LARK SPARROW was found at Brooklyn's Hendrix Creek Saturday. A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was spotted at Robert Moses State Park Field 2 yesterday, and a DICKCISSEL was still at Inwood Hill Park Monday.

Single GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were reported Tuesday at Dix Hills High School and today at Tung Ting Pond off Route 25A in Centerport.

For this week's Christmas counts, Brooklyn tops the list with 129 species last Saturday, their top highlights including EURASIAN WIGEON at Jamaica Bay, 1 ICELAND and 6 LESSER BLACK-BLACKED GULLS, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER and their first LARK SPARROW.

Among Captree’s 128 species Sunday were HARLEQUIN DUCK, LONG- and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 5 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

Montauk’s 125 species on Saturday included BLACK-HEADED GULL and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK on Gardiner’s Island, 37 BALD EAGLES, 9 NORTHERN SAW-WHET and 7 SNOWY OWLS, WESTERN KINGBIRD, 2 YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS and 4 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS.

Greenwich-Stamford on Sunday netted 109 species including the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE in Rye Brook and DICKCISSEL.

Northern Nassau Saturday recorded 104 species including the EURASIAN WIGEON on Mill Pond in Oyster Bay, NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, while the Rockland Count’s 84 species Sunday featured the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on Rockland Lake and 78 BALD EAGLES.

An accommodating immature FRANKLIN'S GULL has been present recently in Orange County at the Newburgh Sewage Treatment Plant.

To phone in reports call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922.

This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.

--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm

ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/