New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, August 12, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Aug 12, 2011
* NYNY1108.12

- Birds Mentioned:

WHITE IBIS+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Common Eider
Surf Scoter
CORY'S SHEARWATER
MANX SHEARWATER
GREAT SHEARWATER
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
SANDHILL CRANE
American Oystercatcher
Whimbrel
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
MARBLED GODWIT
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Wilson's Phalarope
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Royal Tern
PARASITIC JAEGER
Least Flycatcher
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Parula
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Waterthrush
Canada Warbler
Bobolink

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, August 12th at 8:00pm. The highlights of this tape are WHITE IBIS, SANDHILL CRANE, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, MARBLED GODWITS, HUDSONIAN GODWITS, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, MANX SHEARWATERS, GREAT SHEARWATERS, CORY'S SHEARWATERS, and PARASITIC JAEGER.

There has been no sign of the Gray-hooded Gull since last week.

Though the water level on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge remains too high to attract a good congregation of shorebirds, the problems with the outflow are being addressed. In the interim, the pond has attracted some longer-legged rarities. On Thursday morning, two immature WHITE IBIS were spotted resting along the west shore of the pond, well above the Raunt and Big John's Pond overlook. And present in the same area were two MARBLED GODWITS and two HUDSONIAN GODWITS. Then early Friday morning a SANDHILL CRANE was reported flying over Cross Bay Boulevard to the west, but it could not be relocated. The two MARBLED GODWITS were seen however along the bay beach north of the East Pond this afternoon. Otherwise, shorebird numbers remain unfortunately low on the East Pond, but a juvenile WILSON'S PHALAROPE did appear Monday at the south end, where a little shoreline does exist. Checking the south end of the West Pond at high tide, where numbers of dowitchers and other shorebirds have been gathering, could prove productive until the East Pond conditions improve.

Another WHITE IBIS, age unknown, was spotted flying west past the north end of the Robert Moses Causeway bridge on Wednesday afternoon. And the immature WHITE IBIS continues at the Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge off Oil City Road in Orange County.

At Jones Beach West End, shorebirds recently include what was probably the same HUDSONIAN GODWIT in the parking lot at West End 2 on Tuesday and on the Coast Guard Station bar on Thursday. Also there Thursday were 5 STILT SANDPIPERS and 235 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS. This morning the HUDSONIAN was again on the bar, and later out on a bar in the bay with two MARBLED GODWITS.

Last Friday a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER appeared at Democrat Point on the western tip of Fire Island, where seabirds offshore that evening featured 1 MANX SHEARWATER, 3 GREAT SHEARWATERS, and 80 CORY'S SHEARWATERS. A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was also there.

A similar mix of seabirds was also noted last Friday off Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes, when 1 MANX, 2 GREAT, and 60 CORY'S SHEARWATERS and 25 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS were counted. A PARASITIC JAEGER was off Cupsogue on Saturday. Sunday at Cupsogue the lingering MARBLED GODWIT and a PECTORAL SANDPIPER were among the shorebirds on the flats, which also produced a BLACK TERN and 68 ROYAL TERNS between there and Pike's Beach to the east.

A trawler off Cupsogue Sunday morning attracted a good number of birds, including 150-200 CORY'S SHEARWATERS, the only shearwater to be identified, though others may have been present. A WILSON'S STORM-PETREL was also spotted.

Later Sunday at Shinnecock Inlet 115 CORY'S SHEARWATERS were counted sitting just outside the inlet and floating in with the incoming tide and flying back out again. A pool along Dune Road, west of the inlet Sunday contained 9 STILT SANDPIPERS among a collection of yellowlegs and peeps. And a gathering of gulls in the main Tiana Beach parking lot contained at least 5 immature LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS.

Last Saturday an afternoon watch off Amagansett produced 2 CORY'S SHEARWATERS, a PARASITIC JAEGER and 3 BLACK TERNS, and at Napeague there were 5 BLACK and 50 ROSEATE TERNS.

Off Montauk Point Sunday were 74 COMMON EIDER and a SURF SCOTER. A WILSON'S STORM-PETREL was seen in Long Island Sound off Shoreham last Saturday.

On the North Fork, a few WHIMBREL have been present lately at Cedar Beach in Southold, and on Wednesday two CASPIAN TERNS were on the beach in New Suffolk.

A small land bird flight Wednesday and Thursday brought some migrants to coastal Long Island and Westchester, these including LEAST FLYCATCHER, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, NORTHERN PARULA, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, CANADA WARBLER, AMERICAN REDSTART, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH and BOBOLINK.

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 ~