New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, April 15, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Apr. 15, 2011
* NYNY1104.15

- Birds mentioned

VARIED THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

KING EIDER
Red-necked Grebe
Northern Gannet
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Broad-winged Hawk
BLACK RAIL
Clapper Rail
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Pectoral Sandpiper
Iceland Gull
Forster's Tern
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
House Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Hermit Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Northern Parula
Black-throated Green Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Chipping Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Rusty Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL

- 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, April 15th 2011 at 10pm. The highlights of today's tape are VARIED THRUSH, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, BLACK RAIL report, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, KING EIDER, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER and Spring migrants.

The Central Park VARIED THRUSH, still present today, has birders wondering how long it will stay though it is still being enjoyed as it spends more time now just north of the 79th Street transverse and south of the museum than it does around the maintenance area on the south side of the transverse. The RED-HEADED WOODPECKER also remains around the 66th Street park transverse south of the Sheep Meadow. But Central Park, like other city parks, is also producing an increasing number of Spring migrants. Species appearing now include GREEN HERON, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, BARN SWALLOW, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, HERMIT THRUSH, BROWN THRASHER, HOUSE WREN, both kinglets with the RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET replacing GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, PALM WARBLER, PINE WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, CHIPPING SPARROW and SWAMP SPARROW. But the surprise in Central Park was a male BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE, photographed last Saturday in the north end of the park at the Meer. SPOTTED SANDPIPER was also noted in Central Park and some LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHES are being found in the area.

Certainly the warbler of note however this past week was YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER appearing in 4 different New York City area parks. First, a Yellow-throated was spotted last Sunday and Monday in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. This was followed by a Yellow-throated Tuesday at Wolfe's Pond Park on Staten Island and another at Alley Pond Park in Queens on Wednesday. Hempstead Lake State Park produced a fourth Yellow-throated on Thursday near the lower parking lot and also on Thursday the same, or another individual in Prospect Park, was found near the Maryland Monument. Neither of Thursday's Yellow-throateds were seen today.

Other Prospect Park arrivals have featured PRAIRIE WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER and INDIGO BUNTING.

A NORTHERN PARULA was in Kissena Park in Queens Tuesday and Hempstead Lake State Park has also produced WHITE-EYED VIREO and BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. In Forest Park Queens a LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH at the waterhole last Sunday joined 5 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS hanging out there.

Recent arrivals at the Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area featured YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, CLAPPER RAIL, LESSER YELLOWLEGS and SEASIDE SPARROW.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge herons have included a small number of TRICOLORED HERON and LITTLE BLUE HERON as well as YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and some FORSTER'S TERNS were back as of Sunday. On Saturday 2 NORTHERN GANNETS were in the bay south of the West Pond and it's worth noting that this species is not included on the refuge checklist. Two PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were reported at the bay Wednesday.

A couple of nice surprises out on the Jones Beach strip Sunday featured a drake KING EIDER with about 10 Common Eider east of the West End jetty and 4 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS present in pines at the east end of Gilgo. Other Sunday West End birds included a SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and about 12 PIPING PLOVERS along the beach, an immature ICELAND GULL seen heading east and a few FORSTER'S TERNS.

A VESPER SPARROW was reported from Uplands Farm Sanctuary in Cold Spring Harbor on Wednesday.

This season's first BROAD-WINGED HAWK passed by Hook Mountain in Rockland County on Thursday.

Thirty-three NORTHERN GANNETS and 3 RED-NECKED GREBES were off Playland Park in Rye this morning.

But the week's most unusual report certainly involved a BLACK RAIL, not terribly well seen before flying off into adjoining marsh from a dried phragmites patch near the Hommocks School in Larchmont Westchester County last Sunday. The bird could not be relocated.

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