New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, December 31, 2010:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* December 31, 2010
* NYNY1012.31

- Birds Mentioned:

AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN+
VARIED THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Eurasian Wigeon
Harlequin Duck
Red-necked Grebe
Northern Gannet
American Bittern
Great Egret
Black Vulture
Red-shouldered Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Virginia Rail
Wilson's Snipe
American Woodcock
Black-headed Gull
Razorbill
Red-headed Woodpecker
Common Raven
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nelson's Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin

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, December 31st, at 10:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are VARIED THRUSH, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, BLACK-HEADED GULLS, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, and arriving COMMON REDPOLLS.

The snow-shortened Bronx-Westchester Christmas Count, held last Sunday, recorded an as-yet-undetermined number of species, but some count highlights included GREAT EGRET, RED-NECKED GREBE, NORTHERN GANNET, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, HOUSE WREN, NELSON'S SPARROW, PINE SISKIN, and a few COMMON REDPOLLS.

The Smithtown Count, conducted on Wednesday, tallied 106 species. Highlights included an EURASIAN WIGEON at Scott's Cove in Setauket Harbor; a HARLEQUIN DUCK; an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN found off Shore Road in East Setauket, but shortly thereafter flying off to the west; 4 RAZORBILLS; VIRGINIA RAIL; 4 MARSH WRENS, and 3 COMMON REDPOLLS.

As part of the Central Suffolk Count held Thursday, at Smith Point County Park in Shirley were 14 RAZORBILLS, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, 3 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, COMMON REDPOLL, and 74 BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE.

The Central Park VARIED THRUSH was still recently around the maintenance area on the south side of the 79th Street Transverse, though it has also been noted at other surrounding locations. The immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER also continues around the southeastern corner of the Sheep Meadow, just north of the 66th Street Transverse.

Two BLACK-HEADED GULLS, adult and immature, were seen Sunday in Brooklyn on Veterans Memorial Pier at the foot of Bay Ridge Avenue in Bay Ridge. This is near Owls Head Park, where the water treatment plant has been another recent location for these birds.

Last Sunday three RAZORBILLS were seen off Fort Tilden, and a HARLEQUIN DUCK was around the Fort Tilden jetty.

Two COMMON RAVENS were seen again in Forest Hills near last summer's nest site.

A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was spotted Thursday over Captree Island, off the eastern end of Ocean Parkway. And on Tuesday, an AMERICAN BITTERN and two BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES were at Jones Beach West End, and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR was with Horned Larks and Snow Buntings at Robert Moses State Park, parking field 5.

Two more AMERICAN BITTERNS and a WILSON'S SNIPE were along Dune Road, west of Shinnecock Inlet, today.

A COMMON RAVEN was seen again at the Calverton Grasslands on Tuesday, but there was was no sign of the Lark Sparrow.

In Montauk, a BLACK VULTURE was seen again Tuesday and Wednesday near the Point.

Indicating recent southbound movement, 65 COMMON REDPOLLS appeared Wednesday at Playland Park in Rye. Many more have been present further north of the city.

A tagged Trumpeter Swan has been present recently on Lake Agawam in Southampton, the tag indicating it is from the extensive reintroduction of this species in Ontario, Canada. A few midwestern states have also been part of this project. Now that winter feeding programs in Ontario have ended, swans have of necessity been moving farther afield. Hopefully these birds are the beginnings of what will become a sustained and viable northeastern population. NYSARC continues to monitor the wanderings of these reintroduced birds and the success of the populations from which they come, for the purpose of adding the species to the New York list at the appropriate time. Current data have indicated that, per established guidelines, the time of acceptance is still in the future. NYSARC is of course not bound by the decisions of other jurisdictions. The guidelines for acceptance in situations such as this are similar to those of the ABA, and look at the population as a whole, and not just the occurrences within the state. With this in mind, please do continue to provide information on regional sightings of trumpeters.

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. Happy New Year!

[~END TAPE~]

~ End Transcript ~