New York City Rare Bird Alert

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

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* March 12, 2010
* NYNY1003.12

Birds Mentioned:

THICK-BILLED MURRE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (Sullivan County)
CACKLING GOOSE
Wood Duck
Green-winged Teal ('Eurasian' type)
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE
Northern Bobwhite
American Bittern
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle (Sullivan County)
Red-shouldered Hawk
Golden Eagle (Sullivan County)
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
American Woodcock
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Razorbill
SNOWY OWL
Eastern Phoebe
Common Raven
Winter Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
Red-winged Blackbird
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle


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 (days except Sunday)
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, March 12th, at 9:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are THICK-BILLED MURRE, SNOWY OWLS, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, and CACKLING GOOSE.

With Spring finally showing some signs of actually arriving, northbound movement of migrants has also been noted. A sea watch off Montauk Point Sunday produced the most unusual of this week's birds when a THICK-BILLED MURRE was spotted moving east, joining 46 RAZORBILLS also flying by. An immature BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE also appeared, and at Montauk Harbor Inlet, an ICELAND GULL was still present, and five more RAZORBILLS were noted. At Fort Pond Bay a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL continued, and a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK flew past.

Rather unexpected, due to their notable absence this winter, were two SNOWY OWLS spotted recently. The first, a dark immature, was found last Saturday in the dunes near Tiana Beach, off Dune Road west of Shinnecock Inlet, a typical location, whereas the second, a lighter bird, appeared Tuesday in a farm field along Manor Lane in Southport on the North Fork. Both owls were searched for on subsequent days and not relocated.

Lingering waterfowl included two BARROW'S GOLDENEYES. The drake in Bayville was noted Sunday, still off the entrance to Centre Island, which is east of Bayville along Bayville Avenue, while the drake at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge continues in the Bay west of the West Pond or, especially in the later afternoon, on the West Pond. The numbers of GREEN-WINGED TEAL on the West Pond seem to be dropping, with the 'Common' type Teal pulling out, but another 'Eurasian' type GREEN-WINGED TEAL was found Sunday at Nissequogue River State Park, which is southeast of Sunken Meadow State Park, off Sunken Meadow Road.

A CACKLING GOOSE was found at Caumsett State Park, north of Lloyd Harbor, on Monday.

In conjunction with the continued sightings of COMMON RAVENS in Roslyn and occasional occurrences in New York City, it is quite interesting that a pair has been found nesting in Kew Gardens, Queens, at a site they apparently also used last year.

Various spring migrants now appearing in Central, Prospect and other city parks lately have included WOOD DUCK and other waterfowl on the move; TURKEY VULTURES and some hawks, including a few RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS; KILLDEER and some AMERICAN WOODCOCK; EASTERN PHOEBE as of Wednesday; and some RUSTY BLACKBIRDS, along with many flocks of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS and COMMON GRACKLES. AMERICAN WOODCOCK are now displaying in most appropriate locations.

Along the coast, GREAT EGRET and AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER have also been noted, so a decent variety is now available. For example, the collection of birds at Shu Swamp in Mill Neck on Wednesday featured WOOD DUCK, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, WINTER WREN, HERMIT THRUSH and RUSTY BLACKBIRD.

Out east at Shinnecock, two immature male HARLEQUIN DUCKS were still present along the inlet jetty Sunday, and Sunday afternoon several hundred COMMON EIDER flew out of Shinnecock Inlet to feed on the ocean. Birds along Dune Road west of the inlet included an AMERICAN BITTERN Saturday and EASTERN BLUEBIRD Sunday.

A flock of NORTHERN BOBWHITE appeared Saturday near the old Grumman Airport in Calverton, where WOODCOCK were displaying on Sunday.

Two nice birds up at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area in upstate New York (Sullivan County) recently were a GOLDEN EAGLE joining up with some BALD EAGLES on the ice from about the 6th up to Wednesday, and a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE visited Bashakill on Thursday.

To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or days except Sunday 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 TAPE~]

~ End Transcript ~