New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 16, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sep. 16, 2011
* NYNY1109.16

- Birds mentioned

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD+
BLACK-NECKED STILT+
SOOTY TERN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Blue-winged Teal
Cory's Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
BROWN PELICAN
Great Cormorant
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
American Golden-Plover
Marbled Godwit
Western Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Wilson's Phalarope
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Philadelphia Vireo
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Cape May Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
LARK SPARROW
Blue Grosbeak
DICKCISSEL

- 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, September 16th 2011 at 8pm. The highlights of today's tape are SOOTY TERN, MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD, BROWN PELICAN, BLACK-NECKED STILT, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER and such landbirds as CONNECTICUT WARBLER, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, DICKCISSEL and LARK SPARROW.

It was a week of fairly low activity until today but some decent variety did feature 2 tardy storm related occurrences. A SOOTY TERN found deceased last Sunday up on the bluff at Camp Hero in Montauk and a female type MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD reported flying over Pleasantville in mid Westchester County at midday on Tuesday. The latter has not otherwise been encountered.

Another species noted in decent numbers after Hurricane Irene was BROWN PELICAN. At least one was still present last weekend seen Sunday around the entrance to Three Mile Harbor north of East Hampton and not unexpectedly one was seen moving south past Robert Moses State Park today leaving on the cold front. Another perhaps storm related bird was a BLACK-NECKED STILT spotted Sunday morning at Gerritsen Creek in Marine Park Brooklyn and last seen flying west with other shorebirds.

In Central Park a LARK SPARROW found Tuesday near the Great Hill at the north end of the park was still present today just east of the Great Hill. As part of today's good flight Central Park also produced 2 OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS and about 22 species of warblers including CAPE MAY WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER and YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT these followed a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER seen Thursday and a DICKCISSEL at the north end last Sunday.

Another YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was also in Bryant Park today. A second PROTHONOTARY WARBLER was in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on Thursday. Also in today's flight CONNECTICUT WARBLER and LARK SPARROW were reported from Fort Tilden.

Three LARK SPARROWS appeared near the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End and another moved by the Fire Island hawkwatch site at Robert Moses State Park. Also found at Moses today were YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH and BLUE GROSBEAK near parking field 2 and 3 BLUE GROSBEAKS were at Sunken Meadow State Park where a PHILADELPHIA VIREO had been seen on Wednesday.

Other good landbirds seen earlier in the week included a CONNECTICUT WARBLER at the College of Staten Island on Tuesday and DICKCISSEL and YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT at Floyd Bennett Field last Saturday. Another DICKCISSEL was at Jones Beach West End last Sunday along with a MARBLED GODWIT and the day before at Robert Moses State Park birds featured included 6 BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 2 CORY'S SHEARWATERS, WILSON'S STORM-PETREL, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, 3 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS at Democrat Point, CASPIAN TERN, PARASITIC JAEGER and DICKCISSEL. A few PHILADELPHIA VIREOS have also been noted and a GULL-BILLED TERN was at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn on Monday.

At Heckscher State Park 1 or 2 WILSON'S PHALAROPES were present around pools at field 7 from Monday to at least Thursday evening with a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER there Tuesday and Wednesday and other shorebirds there including STILT SANDPIPER and WESTERN SANDPIPER.

Moving east on Long Island there were still 5 MARBLED GODWITS and a CASPIAN TERN at Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes Sunday when 3 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS were on fields off Eastport Manorville Road west of Route 51. A BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER was also on the Deep Hollow Ranch pastures in Montauk on Saturday. Continued high numbers of BLACK TERNS in the Montauk area last Sunday amounted to 673 counted in the Napeague Harbor area with another 85 in Three Mile Harbor. Montauk Harbor on Sunday featured 4 GREAT CORMORANTS and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL. What is believed to be a GLAUCOUS GULL has been around the Patchogue Harbor jetties recently.

With the weather changeover today and good northwest winds blowing a fine movement of hawks, especially BROAD-WINGED HAWKS and BALD EAGLES, took place locally. As the hawk migration progresses a visit to one of several hawk observation sites in the area can be quite exciting. Local sites include Fire Island at the eastern end of Robert Moses State Park, Hook Mountain in Rockland County, Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch at the Butler Sanctuary in Bedford, Quaker Ridge Hawkwatch at the Greenwich Audubon Center in northwestern Greenwich and Mount Peter in Warwick in Orange County.

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