New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, March 4, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* March 4, 2011
* NYNY1103.04

- Birds Mentioned:
THICK-BILLED MURRE+
VARIED THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

ROSS'S GOOSE
"Eurasian" Green-winged Teal
King Eider
Harlequin Duck
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE
Red-necked Grebe
EARED GREBE
Rough-legged Hawk
Piping Plover
American Woodcock
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Razorbill
Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl
Red-headed Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll

- Not Reported This Week:
Western Tanager+


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, hard copy reports and photos or sketches are welcome. Hard copy 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 (during the day except Sunday)
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, March 4th, at 9:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are THICK-BILLED MURRE, EARED GREBES, VARIED THRUSH, ROSS'S GOOSE, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, BLACK-HEADED GULL, NORTHERN SHRIKE, and more.

The signs of Spring keep appearing; winter birds remain the highlights locally. Out east, two EARED GREBES were found last weekend. The first appeared Sunday off Ditch Plains, east of Montauk. The bird was with 40 or so Horned Grebes just east of the easternmost of the three beach parking lots and just in front of the trailer park. Also in that area, a dead THICK-BILLED MURRE was found along that stretch of beach on Saturday. On Wednesday another EARED GREBE was spotted off Amagansett where it may have wintered. It was seen off Atlantic Avenue on Wednesday and off Indian Wells Highway on Thursday.

The Montauk WESTERN TANAGER has not been seen for a while, but the NORTHERN SHRIKE at Napeague was spotted several times over the weekend. Saturday evening it went to roost at Lazy Point, and on Sunday was seen both out on Hicks Island across from the boat ramp, and later back at Lazy Point. The LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL also remains there.

At Montauk Point at least seven KING EIDERS continue off the Camp Hero overlook, and about a dozen RAZORBILLS were seen around the Point on Sunday, with a RED-NECKED GREBE off the Montauk Town Beach. Another RED-NECKED GREBE was off Montauk Harbor Inlet on Wednesday, when a PIPING PLOVER also appeared at Napeague. Watch for the two immature ICELAND GULLS, west of the Montauk Harbor Inlet.

On Sunday the ROSS'S GOOSE was reported only in flight west of Scuttle Hole Road, but many of the geese present there disappear easily in the field dips along Cook's Lane north of Water Mill.

Along Dune Road west of Shinnecock Inlet Sunday there were two flocks of over 30 COMMON REDPOLLS, with other scattered about the East End.

The drake BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was still in Noyack Bay recently. Look for it around the southwestern corner of the bay, off the Long Beach parking lot.

Two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were on Agawam Lake in Southampton Sunday.

An ICELAND GULL continues at Iron Pier Beach in Northville, and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS remain at the Grumman Grasslands in Calverton.

The drake BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was present at least to Tuesday morning at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where it has been seen on the West Pond or in the bay west of there. A drake Eurasian GREEN-WINGED TEAL, found on the West Pond last Sunday, was still on the West Pond along with other Green-winged Teal on Thursday. On Tuesday Jamaica Bay also produced SHORT-EARED OWL and TREE SWALLOW, along with three displaying AMERICAN WOODCOCK.

Another Eurasian GREEN-WINGED TEAL was seen Sunday on Hendrix Creek in Brooklyn.

An adult BLACK-HEADED GULL was moving east, past Fort Tilden on Tuesday, the same day that immature ICELAND GULLS were spotted at Breezy Point and Jones Beach West End, parking field #2.

Last Saturday, winter finches in the Jones Beach area featured a WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL at Point Lookout and around 50 COMMON REDPOLLS at the Jones Beach West End Coast Guard Station. Eight HARLEQUIN DUCKS were also along the Point Lookout jetties.

An EASTERN PHOEBE appeared at Robert Moses State Park on Tuesday, and another TREE SWALLOW visited McDonald's Pond [aka Orowoc Lake in Islip, viewable from the McDonald's parking lot] off Route 27A, east of Bay Shore Thursday.

The Central Park VARIED THRUSH, wandering fairly extensively now, is now best caught up with on the maintenance area slope on the east side of the Ramble shed, just south of the 79th Street Transverse. The immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER continues south of the Sheep Meadow, around the 66th Street Transverse.

COMMON RAVENS are again utilizing their Forest Hills nesting tower, but to correct last week's tape, the ravens in Roslyn have returned to their suspected nesting area, but they have not been confirmed breeding there as yet.

In a very sensitive nesting situation, the BARN OWLS at Jamaica Bay Refuge should be viewed *only* from the bird blind at the south end of Big John's Pond.

To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or during the day except Sunday 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 ~