New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, June 11, 2010:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* June 11, 2010
* NYNY1006.11

- Birds Mentioned:

MISSISSIPPI KITE+ (Montgomery County, NY)
ARCTIC TERN+
SANDWICH TERN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

KING EIDER
Common Eider
CORY'S SHEARWATER
GREATER SHEARWATER
Sooty Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
White-rumped Sandpiper
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Roseate Tern
Black Skimmer
Parasitic Jaeger
Chuck-will's-widow
Common Raven
Vesper Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Blue Grosbeak

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 nysarc3 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, June 11th, at 9:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are MISSISSIPPI KITE, SANDWICH TERN, ARCTIC TERN, MANX SHEARWATER, GREATER SHEARWATER, CORY'S SHEARWATER, KING EIDER, and locally breeding birds.

Late last Sunday afternoon, an adult MISSISSIPPI KITE was seen moving west, over the end of Michigan Road at the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in northern Westchester County. Though sightings of this kite continue to increase in the northeast, we should be aware that other nesting sites than the few currently known could exist, and be on the lookout for supporting evidence. The adult MISSISSIPPI KITE has been seen a few times lately at year's site in Root, Montgomery County, and an immature was reported from central New York recently, so some are certainly moving around through the area.

A nice variety of terns occurred at Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes last weekend, the highlights being an adult SANDWICH TERN and two ARCTIC TERNS, one a First Summer 'portlandica' and the other a Second Summer, these on Sunday. On Saturday the flats north of the Cupsogue parking lot contained an adult CASPIAN TERN, plus three ROSEATE TERNS and six BLACK SKIMMERS. The reduced number of shorebirds in that area did include two WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS at nearby Pike's Beach on Sunday.

Sea watching from Cupsogue and at Shinnecock Inlet was also rewarding. Saturday afternoon at Shinnecock produced one MANX SHEARWATER, one or two GREATER SHEARWATERS, and two SOOTY SHEARWATERS and a WILSON'S STORM-PETREL. The constant flow of NORTHERN GANNETS all day Saturday was measured at about 150/hour, all moving west. On Sunday single GREATER and CORY'S SHEARWATERS were spotted off Cupsogue, with SOOTY SHEARWATER at Shinnecock.

The best times for sea watches along the coast seem to be early morning up to 9am and later afternoon, starting around 4pm. Many sites along the south shore of Long Island offer good vantage points for pelagics. Some of the more productive ones include Robert Moses parking field 2, Cupsogue County Park, Shinnecock Inlet, Amagansett, and Montauk Point. Robert Moses State Park did produce a PARASITIC JAEGER last Saturday morning and two or three CORY'S SHEARWATERS on Thursday. Five SOOTY SHEARWATERS were noted off Shinnecock Thursday. A couple of COMMON EIDER also continue at Shinnecock.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Sunday two GULL-BILLED TERNS were seen at the south end of the West Pond, and another on the East Pond. Shorebirds gathered at high tide at the south end of the West Pond included eight or more WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS.

A CASPIAN TERN was reported from the Staten Island Ferry as it headed towards NYC last Saturday.

A fledgling COMMON RAVEN was noted Sunday in Roslyn, where ravens have been frequenting the tower by the Nassau County Art Museum for a while now. The Queens pair in Kew Gardens has also produced a couple of young.

With nesting season now in full swing, please remember that such rare and restricted breeders in our region as the BLUE GROSBEAKS in Calverton and Eastport, and VESPER SPARROWS, GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS, and CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOWS on eastern Long Island should be enjoyed, but not at all disturbed, as this is a very crucial time for them as well as for all locally breeding species.

An unexpected possible bonus for the Greenwich Stamford Summer Bird Count to be held this weekend, the count also including a good portion of eastern Westchester County, is a young male KING EIDER spotted Tuesday off Read Sanctuary in Playland Park in Rye, and present there daily since. The KING is usually near the off shore rocks which are submerged at high tide, or near the red and green buoys just south of there. And if that weren't enough, today a female COMMON EIDER was found on Playland Lake in the back of the lake with single drake Greater and Lesser Scaup.

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 TAPE~]

~ End Transcript ~