New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, August 26, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Aug. 26, 2011
* NYNY1108.26

- Birds mentioned

Cory's Shearwater
Solitary Sandpiper
Whimbrel
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
MARBLED GODWIT
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER
Tennessee Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Canada Warbler
DICKCISSEL
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole

- 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, August 26th 2011 at 9pm. The highlights of today's tape are BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, MARBLED GODWIT, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER and DICKCISSEL.

Firstly, please note that the shorebird festival, scheduled for Saturday at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, has been canceled due to continuing high water conditions on the ponds.

Despite the refuge's disappointment this year shorebirds remain in the birding forefront though some good landbirds have also occurred this past week.

A BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was present today in various puddles along the runways at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

At Jones Beach West End an HUDSONIAN GODWIT was spotted on the Coast Guard Station bar last Saturday with a MARBLED GODWIT noted across the bay Tuesday. A peak of 5 GULL-BILLED TERNS gathered on the Coast Guard bar on Tuesday and Wednesday and a few BLACK TERNS, a species now quite widespread, have been around the inlet. Two immature LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were at the West End 2 parking lot on Sunday.

On Tuesday 3 BLACK TERNS were at the Alley Pond Environmental Center off Northern Boulevard along with 2 SOLITARY SANDPIPERS and 4 COMMON NIGHTHAWKS and another BLACK TERN was at Hempstead Lake State Park on Thursday.

A decent landbird flight took place Monday night into Tuesday morning with good numbers noted at Robert Moses State Park on the western tip of Fire Island. More numerous participants included BARN SWALLOW with over 10,000 estimated along with CHIMNEY SWIFT, EASTERN KINGBIRD, CEDAR WAXWING, AMERICAN ROBIN, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD and BOBOLINK. The Moses flight also included a WHIMBREL, 2 CLIFF SWALLOWS and a DICKCISSEL. Tuesday also produced a good variety of warblers among them TENNESSEE WARBLER, BLUE-WINGED WARBLER, NORTHERN PARULA, CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, MAGNOLIA WARBLER, BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER and CANADA WARBLER.

Also on Tuesday an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was found at the Hoyt Farm Preserve in Commack and a GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER appeared in Northwest Woods in East Hampton in the afternoon.

In northern Westchester a female PROTHONOTARY WARBLER was found at the Rockefeller Preserve on Tuesday with a GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER there on Wednesday.

At Heckscher State Park on Wednesday a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was seen in a puddle in lot 7 before being flushed off and also at Heckscher were two ROYAL TERNS with 6 COMMON NIGHTHAWKS noted around 8pm. A BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was seen again in the same area on Friday.

Last Sunday at Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes, on the flats north of the parking lot, the count of MARBLED GODWITS reached 8 seen simultaneously and they were joined for awhile by 2 WHIMBREL. PECTORAL SANDPIPER was also present and over 50 ROYAL TERNS were on the bars and around the inlet. A seawatch from Cupsogue was not terribly productive with just a few CORY'S SHEARWATERS but over 30 BLACK TERNS were noted moving east along the ocean. MARBLED GODWIT and WHIMBREL were also seen on the flats on Tuesday.

Four BLACK and 2 ROYAL TERNS were at Shinnecock Inlet Monday the same day producing 5 BLACK TERNS, 14 BLACK SKIMMERS and a PECTORAL SANDPIPER at Mecox.

Two to 3 WHIMBREL continue to be seen at Cedar Point Park in Southold on the North Fork and 4 WHIMBREL were reported from Ditch Plains in Montauk on Monday.

If you are going out after hurricane birds this weekend please be careful and let us know what you see.

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