New York City Rare Bird Alert

RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* January 7, 2005
* 05.01.07

- Transcript
hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert
number: 212-979-3070

to report sightings call:
- Tom Burke (212) 297-4804 on weekdays
- Tony Lauro (631) 734-4126 for Long Island

compiler: Tom Burke
coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County

transcriber: Andrew Guthrie

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings! This is the New York RBA for Friday, January 7th at 4 p.m.

The highlights of today's tape are BOREAL OWL, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, HARRIS'S SPARROW, COMMON MURRE and DOVEKIE, CACKLING and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, BLACK-HEADED GULL, and more.

The BOREAL OWL continues in Central Park in the vicinity of Tavern on the Green Restaurant, though it has shifted locations a couple of times recently and was actually undetected for a while following the New Year's Eve fireworks. The restaurant is located just inside the park from the West 67th Street and Central Park West intersection. Please do nothing to disturb the roosting bird. Also Central there was a PINE WARBLER in the Pinetum Wednesday and PINE SISKIN at the Ramble feeders Thursday.

The Southern Nassau CBC last Sunday recorded 129 species; highlights included a CACKLING GOOSE at Point Lookout, two WOOD DUCKS, a EURASIAN WIGEON, three HARLEQUIN DUCKS at Point Lookout, AMERICAN BITTERN, a NORTHERN GOSHAWK and five PEREGRINE FALCONS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, 22 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, two WILLETS, a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER at Massapequa Preserve, a BLACK-HEADED GULL in Jones Inlet, two ICELAND GULLS at Jones Beach, two GLAUCOUS GULLS in Hempstead, 24 RAZORBILLS, a COMMON MURRE well inside Jones Inlet just west of the Meadowbrook Bridge, a SHORT-EARED OWL, three TREE SWALLOWS, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, SEASIDE SPARROW, an immature GAMBEL'S form of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, and an immature HARRIS'S SPARROW in the same sparrow flock at Baldwin Town Park, and two LAPLAND LONGSPURS at Jones Beach West End.

The HARRIS'S SPARROW was still present at Baldwin Town Park today, travelling in a large flock of mostly WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS. To reach the site from the Southern State Park or 27A/Merrick Road, about 2 miles west of the Meadowbrook Parkway, take Grand Avenue south to its end at the park. Continue into the park and look for a parking lot on the right bordering a field that has two soccer cages lying side by side in its southwestern corner. A path through the brushy area along the shore begins by the soccer cages and winds back to the parking lot. The flock has been roaming through the area but can be difficult to locate, and it takes patience to get a glimpse of the HARRIS'S.

Recently split by the AOU from CANADA GOOSE, the CACKLING GOOSE, a RICHARDSON'S form, has been seen with CANADAS on lawns at the beach parks along the south side of Lido Boulevard, just west of the Loop Causeway. It was seen at both the Hempstead Town Park and Nickerson Beach recently.

The TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE was still at Maidstone Park in Springs north of East Hampton at least to Sunday. [Transcriber's note: the SOLITAIRE was seen here again on Friday, Jan. 7th.] To reach this site, follow Three Mile Harbor road north for about four miles to Flaggy Hole Road (hard to see). Go left on Flaggy Hole and then left on Maidstone Park Road. This one-way park road runs along the beach at Gardiners Bay, makes a U-turn in a wide parking area when you get to the inlet to Three Mile Harbor, and continues around to the entrance. The SOLITAIRE favors the junipers near the two parking lots along the bay or the stretch after the big parking area at the inlet up to the first brown house. Three RAZORBILLS have been offshore in the sound there, with a RED-NECKED GREBE Sunday.

At Hook Pond in East Hampton, a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was present last Saturday and Sunday, on the pond or on adjacent lawns.

A SNOWY OWL has been present recently at Shinnecock Inlet, where it has been viewed from the west side of the inlet as it sits along the inner jetty and rocks on the east side across the inlet.

The drake BARROW'S GOLDENEYE continues off Ransom Beach west of Bayville, and a drake HARLEQUIN DUCK has once again also been present there. To reach this site, from Bayville go west on Bayville Avenue just over a mile to the beach parking lot and scan the offshore GOLDENEYE flocks for the BARROW'S. In that area a RAZORBILL was off Fox Point in Lattingtown on Monday and a RED-NECKED GREBE back on the 30th.

A Christmas Count pelagic trip from Belmar, NJ December 31st, partially into New York waters, recorded many BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES and RAZORBILL plus a NORTHERN FULMAR, an ICELAND GULL, and nine DOVEKIES.

The Orient CBC on the 1st recorded 111 species, including three RED-NECKED GREBES, HARLEQUIN DUCK, BALD EAGLE, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, 20+ RAZORBILLS, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, EASTERN PHOEBE, and MARSH WREN.

At Montauk Point there were BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE and KING EIDER last Saturday, and up to 100 RAZORBILLS and 2000 COMMON EIDER have been estimated there. RED-NECKED GREBES were at Fort Pond Bay and the Montauk Harbor mouth on Sunday. Three HARLEQUIN DUCKS continue at Ditch Plains Saturday, and five RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS continue at Barcelona Neck in Sag Harbor.

Reports from Riis Park and the Rockaways Thursday afternoon mentioned a RAZORBILL, ICELAND and LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, RED-NECKED GREBE, SHORT-EARED OWL, a TREE SWALLOW, and a COMMON REDPOLL.

To phone in reports, on Long Island call Tony Lauro at 631-734-4126, or on weekdays call Tom Burke at 212-297-4804.

This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York, www.linnaeansociety.org, and the National Audubon Society.