New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending March 19, 2010:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* March 19, 2010
* NYNY1003.19

- Birds Mentioned:

MEW GULL+ (European Species 'Common Gull')
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Redhead
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Red-necked Grebe
Great Egret
Osprey
American Oystercatcher
ICELAND GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL
PARASITIC JAEGER
DOVEKIE
Razorbill
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Brown Creeper
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Orange-crowned Warbler
Eastern Meadowlark
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 (during the day 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 19th, at 8:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are MEW GULL, DOVEKIE, PARASITIC JAEGER, GLAUCOUS and ICELAND GULLS, and Spring arrivals.

Early last Sunday afternoon, and adult MEW GULL was found roosting among a few hundred Ring-Billed Gulls on a field just before the entrance to the Read Sanctuary at Playland Park in Rye, Westchester County. The timing was a little after high tide, but the tide was very high that day. The gulls soon resettled along the Long Island Sound on the falling tide, and the MEW GULL could not be relocated. On Monday just before noon it did put in a brief high tide appearance on the same field, but has not been seen since. Field marks indicate that this was apparently the European subspecies known as 'Common Gull', but was probably not the same individual present along the Gravesend Bay waterfront in Brooklyn this winter. Among the good selection of water birds off Read Sanctuary this week have been two REDHEAD on Wednesday and a RED-NECKED GREBE on Thursday.

Out on the South Fork Saturday during the storm, the best gulls were found on fields, with an adult GLAUCOUS GULL on Bridge Land in Sagaponack, and an immature GLAUCOUS and an adult ICELAND GULL along Further Lane in East Hampton. The Further Lane GLAUCOUS was present again on Sunday.

On Sunday at Montauk Point a DOVEKIE flew into Turtle Cove just south of the Lighthouse before continuing on, and also at the Point were three RAZORBILLS, two adult ICELAND GULLS, and a subadult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.

Four TUNDRA SWANS were present Sunday in Sagaponack on fields between Sagg Main Street and Highland Terrace.

An interesting report from Sunday mentioned an adult PARASITIC JAEGER around the ferry dock at Orient Point.

A couple of ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS have shown up recently: one Thursday at Prospect Park around the Lullwater above the Terrace Bridge, and one Friday at Hempstead Lake State Park.

On Wednesday six HARLEQUIN DUCKS were still around the Point Lookout jetties, and 93 COMMON EIDER continued in Jones Inlet.

An arriving OSPREY was noted on eastern Long Island Monday, and being noted in an increasing number of locations have been some WOOD DUCKS, GREAT EGRETS, and AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS.

Passerines being seen in city parks in low numbers as well as along the coast have included EASTERN PHOEBE, TREE SWALLOW, BROWN CREEPER, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, EASTERN MEADOWLARK, and RUSTY BLACKBIRD.

To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or during the day 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 ~