New York City Rare Bird Alert

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

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* July 15, 2011
* NYNY1107.15

- Birds Mentioned:
White Ibis+ (Orange County)
ARCTIC TERN+
SANDWICH TERN+
SOUTH POLAR SKUA+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

CORY'S SHEARWATER
GREAT SHEARWATER
MANX SHEARWATER
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Sandhill Crane (Orange County)
MARBLED GODWIT
Red Knot
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
Glaucous Gull
GULL-BILLED TERN
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Royal Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Common Raven
Sedge Wren (Orange County)
Blue Grosbeak


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:
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, July 15th, at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are SOUTH POLAR SKUA, ARCTIC and SANDWICH TERNS, MANX SHEARWATER, CORY'S SHEARWATER, GREAT SHEARWATER, MARBLED GODWIT, GULL-BILLED TERN, and even more LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS.

A sea watch Monday morning from Robert Moses State Park field 2, with good south winds blowing, was highlighted by the appearance of a dark SOUTH POLAR SKUA, seen a decent way out harassing shearwaters and interacting with an immature PARASITIC JAEGER. Among the 150 or so shearwaters, mostly all CORY'S, were also one MANX and two GREAT SHEARWATERS. On Thursday about 20 CORY'S SHEARWATERS were seen offshore from Moses.

Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes continues to produce interesting birds. An immature ARCTIC TERN sat on the flats north of the parking lot for most of Saturday, while on Monday a SANDWICH TERN dropped in briefly. Other terns on the flats this past week included up to five BLACK TERNS, one in full breeding plumage, and a few ROSEATE TERNS. Seasonal southbound shorebirds have also been gathering at Cupsogue, the most unusual being a PECTORAL SANDPIPER Saturday and a MARBLED GODWIT reported from Tuesday. Good numbers of SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS have been passing through, joining such non-breeding summering species as DUNLIN and RED KNOT. GLAUCOUS GULL with an injured foot was seen around the inlet and outer beach Monday to Wednesday. Two immature LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were on the flats Saturday, while a ROYAL TERN was at nearby Pike's Beach on Saturday.

Sea watching from the Cupsogue boardwalk Saturday produced two GREAT and two dozen CORY'S SHEARWATERS and a small number of WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS. Some CORY'S were also off Shinnecock Inlet Saturday, and at least four COMMON RAVENS were still around the water tower just south of the Hampton Bays train station on Saturday.

At Nickerson Beach off Lido Boulevard, west of Point Lookout last Sunday, a thorough count of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS gathered primarily at two gull roosts, one on each side of the westernmost of the two tern nesting areas, compiled an amazing 70 LESSER BLACK-BACKEDS, of which 56 were in one-year-old plumage, the rest somewhat older up to subadult.

Two GULL-BILLED TERNS were flying around the dunes at Jones Beach West End and resting on the Coast Guard Station bar last Sunday.

A male BLUE GROSBEAK found yesterday at Southampton was seen again today near the skateboarding facility that is part of the Southampton town recycling center complex. This site is along a road labelled "Joe Andreassi Way", but appearing on maps as Elkgrove Road.

Interesting birds around the Oil City Road section of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge near Pine Plains in Orange County recently have featured an immature WHITE IBIS and a SEDGE WREN Thursday and Friday, and a SANDHILL CRANE on Wednesday.

We have no recent reports of the HOODED CROW around Crooke's Point in Great Kills Park on Staten Island.

For the next two weeks Tony Lauro will handle the Rare Bird Alert. Please call Tony with your reports at (631) 734-4126.

This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.

[~END TAPE~]

~ End Transcript ~