New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 20, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May 20, 2011
* NYNY1105.20

- Birds Mentioned:

WHITE IBIS+
WHITE-WINGED DOVE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Common Eider
Sooty Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
American Bittern
Whimbrel
Red Knot
White-rumped Sandpiper
Bonaparte's Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Black Skimmer
PARASITIC JAEGER
Black-billed Cuckoo
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Cape May Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Bay-breasted Warbler
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
SUMMER TANAGER
Grasshopper Sparrow
Boat-tailed Grackle

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 (weekdays)
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, May 20th, at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are WHITE-WINGED DOVE, WHITE IBIS, MANX SHEARWATER, PARASITIC JAEGER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, KENTUCKY WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER TANAGER, and spring migrants.

A horrendous week for weather and migration locally did however produce a surprise or two. Certainly exciting was the WHITE-WINGED DOVE that was found Sunday afternoon at Jones Beach West End. The dove was initially spotted near the rest rooms at the Coast Guard Station parking lot but later moved into the dune scrub near the main roadway, becoming more difficult to see. The dove was not relocated on subsequent days.

Noted again Saturday and Monday after more than a week of no reports was the adult WHITE IBIS at Great Kills Park on Staten Island. Look for the ibis in the ponds and wet areas along the south or right side of the entrance road as you enter the park from Hylan Boulevard up to the area near the ranger station, and please report any additional sightings. It's best to park in the lot past the ranger station and walk back, looking for the ibis from the main roadway.

Land bird migration in the city parks recently has been sparse and much less than it should be at this point in May. Highlights from Central Park included GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH Sunday; MOURNING WARBLER and SUMMER TANAGER on Monday, the tanager lingering around Strawberry Fields to Thursday; additional appearances of the BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE at the north end on Tuesday and Thursday; and an AMERICAN BITTERN along the Lake on Wednesday.

In Prospect Park, Brooklyn, a MOURNING WARBLER appeared last Friday with a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT there Saturday and a BLACK TERN visiting the Lake on Wednesday.

In Forest Park, Queens, the waterhole was still being visited by good numbers of warblers last weekend, including BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, CAPE MAY WARBLER and WILSON'S WARBLER, and a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was present Saturday along the bridle trail just east of railroad tracks, and then on Sunday across the tracks near the gully. An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was there today.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge a KENTUCKY WARBLER found last Thursday at the north end of the North Garden was still present there at least to Saturday. Several RED KNOT were among the shorebirds starting to gather there, with a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER also seen Monday.

Seawatching paid dividends last weekend, starting with 11 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS and an immature BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE off Cupsogue County Park Saturday morning. Later that day about 70 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS were estimated off Shinnecock Inlet. Saturday evening two MANX SHEARWATERS flew east to west, past Robert Moses State Park, parking field 2, with a BLACK TERN, two BONAPARTE'S GULLS, and many NORTHERN GANNETS also offshore. Sunday morning at Moses produced 2 SOOTY SHEARWATERS, 144 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, 605 NORTHEN GANNETS, 4+ ROSEATE TERNS, 2 BLACK TERNS, and 2 PARASITIC JAEGERS.

A count off Amagansett Sunday afternoon yielded one MANX SHEARWATER, 11 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, an immature ICELAND GULL, a BONAPARTE'S GULL, and a PARASITIC JAEGER. And on Wednesday two SOOTY SHEARWATERS were seen again off Robert Moses State Park, and a watch there this morning had 4 SOOTY SHEARWATERS and 10 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS.

An influx of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS also took place recently. Last Sunday at least three were at Jones Beach West End, along with an ICELAND GULL, and two more LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were at Robert Moses State Park. Monday found two at Hempstead Town Park and at Point Lookout, and on Wednesday three LESSER BLACK-BACKS were at Captree State Park and six gathered at Democrat Point.

Good numbers of shorebirds at Jones Beach West End featured a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER Sunday and 70 RED KNOT today. A WHIMBREL was at Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area today.

Single SUMMER TANAGERS were noted Saturday at the Route 51 field southwest of Riverhead and Thursday along Browns River in Sayville. Sunken Meadow State Park Friday provided singing ACADIAN FLYCATCHER and BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.

The flats at Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes Saturday produced five ROSEATE TERNS, 27 BLACK SKIMMERS, and good numbers of the regular shorebirds, plus a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER.

GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS are back at the Grumman Airport grasslands in Calverton, and two COMMON EIDER were with some scoters off Fort Tilden on Tuesday.

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 ~