New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, October 8, 2010:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct 8, 2010
* NYNY1010.08

- Birds Mentioned:

BROWN BOOBY+
BICKNELL'S THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

CORY'S SHEARWATER
CATTLE EGRET
American Golden-Plover
White-rumped Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Royal Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
SHORT-EARED OWL
Western Kingbird
Common Raven
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
SUMMER TANAGER
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
LARK SPARROW
Grasshopper Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
Indigo Bunting
DICKCISSEL
Bobolink


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
Tony Lauro (631) 734-4126

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, October 8th, at 8:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are BROWN BOOBY, CORY'S SHEARWATER, CATTLE EGRET, SHORT-EARED OWL, BICKNELL'S THRUSH, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL, LARK SPARROW, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, and CONNECTICUT WARBLER.

In another week of enjoyable variety, we first have the saga of the Brown Booby. Last Friday an immature BROWN BOOBY was found in distress in Lynbrook, Long Island, and taken to a nearby rehabilitator. The booby was judged well enough to be released, and on Saturday was set free off the Jones Beach fishing piers, though perhaps an ocean release might have been more appropriate. Later on Saturday the booby was recaptured in Freeport, having struck some sailboat guy-wire and sustaining a broken wing. Now the booby is back at the rehabilitator's for evaluation and treatment.

Despite not a lot of migratory movement, the parks around the city produced some nice finds. In Central Park a BICKNELL'S THRUSH was identified at Azalea Pond last Saturday, that same day finding an immature BLUE GROSBEAK at the Great Hill, plus BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (present also on Sunday), and other warblers including TENNESSEE WARBLER and HOODED WARBLER.

In Prospect Park Tuesday, a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was among nine species of sparrows that included LINCOLN'S SPARROW and some WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, and a HOODED WARBLER was among the most unusual of that family.

Brooklyn highlights Wednesday included two ROYAL TERNS at Dead Horse Bay, and a BLUE GROSBEAK in the Community Gardens at Floyd Bennett Field. Earlier an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER had been reported at Floyd Bennett on Monday, this followed by an ORANGE-CROWNED at Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island on Wednesday.

In Fort Tilden a SUMMER TANAGER, seen Saturday and Sunday just north of the ball fields, was a nice surprise, and a CONNECTICUT WARBLER was glimpsed in the same area on Sunday. A DICKCISSEL also flew over Fort Tilden on Saturday, and then today, in that area, a nice flight at Riis Park included a WESTERN KINGBIRD along the fence at the southwest corner of the golf course.

In the Jones Beach area, a one-eyed CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was still around the fence line at the West End Coast Guard Station through Sunday, and a LARK SPARROW was reported there Wednesday.

Some very interesting West End sightings were a COMMON RAVEN east of the Roosevelt Nature Center on Saturday, and a good high count of 55 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS in the swale between the West End 2 bath house and the ocean on Tuesday.

A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was among a good variety of birds Saturday in the rock pile at Point Lookout Town Park.

Robert Moses State Park also provided a good variety of birds. Last Saturday a BLUE GROSBEAK and a DICKCISSEL were just west of the field 2 volleyball courts, with a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO nearby. A pelagic watch off Moses field 2 Tuesday morning noted three CORY'S SHEARWATERS and some unidentified shearwaters, a PARASITIC JAEGER, and three ROYAL TERNS, while on shore were a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL in lot 2, and a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. A MOURNING WARBLER was spotted in field 2 Wednesday, while a CATTLE EGRET stayed around field 5 at Moses Park to Sunday.

A SHORT-EARED OWL flushed last Sunday at Heckscher State Park was the first for this fall.

At Smith Point Park in Shirley last Saturday, a good flight there included DICKCISSEL and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, as well as an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER with some Black-bellieds, and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.

Some GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS were still present at the former Grumman Airport in Calverton recently.

Another BLUE GROSBEAK was reported at Leeds Pond Preserve in Plandome on Thursday.

Out at Montauk Point Saturday, besides the distant jaeger off the Point, most of the excitement was on shore. Warblers included CAPE MAY WARBLER and BLACKPOLL WARBLER, and a YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO appeared, while the Seal Haulout Trail contributed TENNESEE and BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS. And at the Roosevelt Third House County Park a BLUE GROSBEAK was in company with about 10 INDIGO BUNTINGS and 30 BOBOLINKS.

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 ~