New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, February 12, 2010:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Feb 12, 2010
* NYNY1002.12

-Birds Mentioned:

MEW GULL+
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cackling Goose
Trumpeter Swan
EURASIAN WIGEON
King Eider
COMMON EIDER
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Black Vulture
Bald Eagle
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Razorbill
Orange-crowned Warbler
Savannah Sparrow ('Ipswich' subspecies)
Lapland Longspur
Rusty Blackbird

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 nysarc1 AT nybirds.org .

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

Jeanne Skelly - Secretary
NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC)
420 Chili-Scottsville Rd.
Churchville, NY 14428

~ Transcript ~

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

To report sightings call:
Tom Burke (212) 372-1483 (weekdays)
Tony Lauro (631) 734-4126 (Long Island)

Compilers: Tom Burke, Tony Lauro
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
Transcriber: Karen Fung

[~BEGIN RBA TAPE~]

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, February 12th, at 7:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are MEW GULL, BLACK-HEADED GULL, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, EURASIAN WIGEON, HARLEQUIN DUCK, and KING EIDER.

The MEW GULL along the Brooklyn waterfront at Gravesend Bay was seen again last Sunday and presumably continues in that area, though it is not commanding the attention it had earlier. The gull is generally seen along the promenade between the pedestrian bridge over the Belt Parkway adjacent to Bay 16th Street, south to the parking area off the eastbound Belt Parkway near the Kohl shopping center. Parking is usually available around Bay 16th Street, making it a quick walk over the pedestrian bridge to the area along the promenade that the gull favors. An ICELAND GULL was also present in this area last Sunday.

A BLACK VULTURE was spotted high over Prospect Park on Sunday, the same day one was seen again from the Staten Island end of the Verrazano Bridge at Fort Wadsworth where we have been reminded this species did nest last year.

LAPLAND LONGSPUR continues to appear on the lawn at the Jones Beach West End Coast Guard Station, but with the snow cover, watch the cleared grassy areas along the roadway that the snow plows have exposed.

Some RUSTY BLACKBIRDS continue at Shu Swamp in Mill Neck, and a CACKLING GOOSE was on the lake at Belmont Lake State Park on Tuesday.

The drake EURASIAN WIGEON was still present Monday in Lindenhurst at the mouth of Santapogue Creek. The wigeon, scaup and other waterfowl gathered there can be scanned from Venetian Shores Park on the west side of the creek as it enters Great South Bay. The wigeon had in December also been seen farther up Santapogue Creek towards Montauk Highway.

The adult BLACK-HEADED GULL was still around Shinnecock Inlet Saturday and Sunday afternoons and again today. On Sunday it stayed east of the east jetty most of the time before flying into the inlet for a while, and subsequently moving west along the beach. Four HARLEQUIN DUCKS were also along the inlet jetty Sunday with five there Thursday and today, and a few hundred COMMON EIDER remain in that area. Watch for 'Ipswich' SAVANNAH SPARROWS in the sandy areas around the inlet parking lots.

The two TRUMPETER SWANS, non-countable in New York, were still on Upper Lake in Yaphank today.

In the Montauk area two drake KING EIDER continue off the Point, but the only RAZORBILLS noted, 20+, were farther west off Ditch Plains, where another drake KING EIDER also continues. An ICELAND GULL was at the Point Saturday, with the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL still around Fort Pond Bay, and a few BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES were noted.

Two GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were with the Canadas on Further Lane in East Hampton Saturday.

In Westchester County the male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD was present for much of Saturday afternoon and again on Wednesday afternoon at the Pryn Audubon Sanctuary in Chappaqua. The sanctuary's address is 275 Millwood Road (Rte 133) in Chappaqua.

BALD EAGLE numbers on the Hudson River remain high, though the numbers visible depend on the ice accumulation on the river. Sites from Croton Point through Georges Island Park in Montrose and up to the Bear Mountain Bridge are usually productive, as is a visit to the Croton Reservoir Dam, where eagles often gather on the reservoir ice.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was still at Croton Point Park Sunday, often with a kinglet flock in the pines around the first camp ground.

To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or weekdays call Tom Burke at (212) 372-1483. This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.

~ End Transcript ~