New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the NEw ork City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 5, 2010:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov 05, 2010
* NYNY1011.05

- Birds Mentioned:

WHITE-WINGED DOVE+
COMMON GROUND-DOVE+
CAVE SWALLOW+
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Harlequin Duck
Northern Gannet
Cattle Egret
American Golden-Plover
Red Knot
Laughing Gull
LITTLE GULL
Bonaparte's Gull
Common Tern
Royal Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Short-eared Owl
Red-headed Woodpecker
WESTERN KINGBIRD
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Common Raven
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Vesper Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
DICKCISSEL
Rusty Blackbird
RED CROSSBILL

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, November 5th, at 9:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are COMMON GROUND-DOVE, BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, WHITE-WINGED DOVE, CAVE SWALLOW, LITTLE GULL, WESTERN KINGBIRD, NORTHERN SHRIKE, RED CROSSBILLS and DICKCISSEL, plus much more.

Last Sunday a COMMON GROUND-DOVE, New York's first pending NYSARC approval, was found at Captree State Park, located at the eastern terminus of Ocean Parkway, and the western terminus of which is Jones Beach West End. Initially the ground -dove frequented the northern edge of the eastern parking lot at Captree, but has relocated, perhaps due to the illegally maintained feral cat colony, denizens of which caused the ground-dove to panic several times. Recently the ground-dove has become more elusive, frequenting the grassy areas or sheltering in adjacent bushes near the boat launch ramp area off the western parking lot at Captree, or along the parkway near the parking lot exit. It has also been seen along the road to the south parking lot. A DICKCISSEL has also been in the area around the boat launch parking lot, and a WESTERN KINGBIRD, first seen on Monday at the original ground-dove location, has since been seen in the swale south of the traffic circle near the park entrance, or up closer to Ocean Parkway. Today the ground-dove was seen at several sites including the road to the south parking lot, where the WESTERN KINGBIRD was also noted. Please be patient in your search for the ground-dove so as not to stress it.

Also on Sunday a WHITE-WINGED DOVE was reported flying east past the hawk watch site, east of field 5 at Robert Moses State Park, and among the migrants noted from the hawk platform last Saturday were four CAVE SWALLOWS, a SHORT-EARED OWL, and a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.

At the west end of Ocean Parkway last Saturday a NORTHERN SHRIKE was found at the Roosevelt Nature Center at Jones Beach West End. The shrike, still present at least to Thursday, favors the dunes east of the boardwalk, moving around a bit but often prominently perching there.

On Saturday four more CAVE SWALLOWS were spotted from the old hawk watch site at Fort Tilden, and birders there early last Saturday were greeted by a calling small flock of RED CROSSBILLS moving by.

Another notable rarity appeared out in Montauk when a female-type BREWER'S BLACKBIRD was photographed Sunday afternoon at the Deep Hollow Ranch, the bird around the cattle pens on the south side of Route 27. The ranch is about a mile west of Montauk Point, but the blackbird has not been reported since. A CATTLE EGRET was also at the ranch on Sunday, and at the Roosevelt Third House County Park just west of Deep Hollow, a NORTHERN SHRIKE was also present Sunday.

Off Montauk Point Sunday among some 6000 LAUGHING GULLS were also two PARASITIC JAEGERS, nine COMMON TERNS, 66 BONAPARTE'S GULLS, and an immature LITTLE GULL. Land birds there featured BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER and VESPER SPARROW. Six more PARASITIC JAEGERS and 258 NORTHERN GANNETS were counted off Hither Hills State Park in Montauk Sunday morning.

A RED CROSSBILL and two HARLEQUIN DUCKS were spotted at Smith Point County Park in Shirley on Wednesday, and five CATTLE EGRETS were at Mecox on Monday.

Other sightings around the Captree area have featured an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER at Gilgo Sunday; some continuing ROYAL TERNS, two AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS sitting on the Point Lookout Town Park parking lot with lots of Black-bellied Plovers and Dunlins and two RED KNOTS last Saturday; a SHORT-EARED OWL at West End on Monday; VESPER SPARROW at Cedar Beach the same day; and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR also at Cedar Beach last Sunday.

A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was near the boathouse in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, last Saturday and Sunday. Other Prospect highlights lately have included EASTERN BLUEBIRD, FOX SPARROW, and RUSTY BLACKBIRD.

Recent COMMON RAVENS on Long Island have featured one Saturday over Yaphank and two Monday at Rocky Point.

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 ~