New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, October 1, 2010:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 1, 2010
* NYNY1010.01

- Birds mentioned

AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN+

(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Common Eider
CORY'S SHEARWATER
Great Cormorant
Cattle Egret
Peregrine Falcon
American Golden-Plover
Willet (subspecies "Western Willet")
Whimbrel
MARBLED GODWIT
Western Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Royal Tern
PARASITIC JAEGER
Philadelphia Vireo
American Pipit
Cape May Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
LARK SPARROW
Nelson's Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
Purple Finch

- Transcript

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

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

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

Compiler: Tom Burke, Tony Lauro
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County

Transcriber: Ben Cacace

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, October 1st 2010 at 8pm. The highlights of today's tape are AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, MARBLED GODWIT, CORY'S SHEARWATER, PARASITIC JAEGER, an influx of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, BLUE GROSBEAK, CONNECTICUT WARBLER, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW and LARK SPARROW.

Another week provided good regional variety perhaps the rarest bird was the AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN that continues to inhabit the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Some good shorebirds, despite continuing high water levels on the East Pond, were also present recently including MARBLED GODWIT and BAIRD'S SANDPIPER as well as some LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, STILT SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER and WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER.

Another exciting find was a PARASITIC JAEGER seen Thursday morning off Coney Island in Brooklyn the bird moving off quickly. This is a good time to find Parasitics along the south shore of Long Island with 5 seen harassing gulls and terns off Robert Moses State Park last Sunday and another off Hither Hills State Park in Montauk Thursday.

In the city parks the diminishing numbers of warblers were highlighted by single CONNECTICUT WARBLER and CAPE MAY WARBLER reported Sunday from Alley Pond Park where PHILADELPHIA VIREO also remains.

Sparrows are slowly taking over including 5 NELSON'S SPARROWS spotted Wednesday at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn. A LARK SPARROW was seen briefly last Saturday at Point Lookout Town Park and a few CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS have occurred recently including 1 at Jones Beach West End by the Coast Guard Station Saturday another through Sunday by the volleyball courts on the east end of Robert Moses State Park parking field 2 and a 3rd appearing Sunday to Tuesday at Sunken Meadow State Park where a surprise on Tuesday was a male BLUE GROSBEAK. LINCOLN'S SPARROWS also continue to be seen including 1 lingering in Bryant Park this Sunday.

The shorebirds locally this week featured 7 WHIMBRELS with a "Western" WILLET in a channel off Island Park last Monday afternoon and at Floyd Bennett Field 11 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS and 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS on Tuesday one of the Goldens joined by a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL on Thursday.

Migrants noted at Robert Moses State Park last Sunday, while the jaegers were cruising offshore, featured AMERICAN PIPIT and PURPLE FINCH onshore and COMMON EIDER and ROYAL TERN on the ocean and another juvenile AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was also present. On Thursday at Robert Moses State Park a survey from the parking lots produced 5 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS including 3 juveniles.

Out east the influx of Lesser Black-backs was even more pronounced Friday morning with 8 seen at Mecox, 10 on Sagg Pond in Bridgehampton and 3 more on Maidstone Golf Course in East Hampton these including 12 juveniles. Today in the Robert Moses-Captree-Heckscher State Park area 5 more LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were noted with an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER also at Heckscher State Park. A CATTLE EGRET was also noted at Robert Moses State Park field 5 today.

On Thursday out east other birds of interest included a CORY'S SHEARWATER off Hither Hills State Park, 2 CASPIAN TERNS at Mecox and a GREAT CORMORANT at Montauk Point where a congregation of 4,000 COMMON TERNS included 4 BLACK TERNS and a late ROSEATE TERN. Seven PEREGRINE FALCONS were also noted moving by East Hampton on Thursday.

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