New York City Rare Bird Alert

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

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 14, 2011
* NYNY1110.14

- Birds mentioned

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
CACKLING GOOSE
American Bittern
American Golden-Plover
MARBLED GODWIT
Pectoral Sandpiper
Royal Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
LARK SPARROW
NELSON'S SPARROW
Fox Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
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, October 14th 2011 at 9pm. The highlights of today's tape are GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, CACKLING GOOSE, MARBLED GODWIT, BLUE GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL, LARK SPARROW, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW and NELSON'S SPARROW.

The good mix of birds this past week kept things interesting in the city parks. In Central Park a BLUE GROSBEAK visited the north end Tuesday and Wednesday. A decent variety of warblers included two lingering YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS with one in the Ramble and the other at the north end and various sparrows featured a FOX SPARROW arriving Tuesday, a VESPER SPARROW on Wednesday and some LINCOLN'S SPARROWS the latter now quite widespread in the area.

Roosevelt Island added ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and TENNESSEE WARBLER and a variety of sparrows last Saturday and Kissena Park in Queens continued to be productive with 2 BLUE GROSBEAKS still there Sunday and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER lingering to Monday.

The good find was the season's first CACKLING GOOSE appearing at Baisley Pond Park in Queens on Sunday afternoon.

It was a good day for sparrows in the Fort Tilden / Riis Park area last Saturday topped by a LARK SPARROW at Fort Tilden and VESPER SPARROW and NELSON'S SPARROW by the Riis Park Golf Course.

Jones Beach West End also provided good sparrow variety last weekend with one or two CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS around the Coast Guard Station border joined on Sunday by a LARK SPARROW plus a DICKCISSEL. Also at the West End last Saturday were a MARBLED GODWIT on the Coast Guard bar while in the swale at the field 2 concession stand were 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS and 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS.

In other city parks a BLUE GROSBEAK was at Crocheron Park in Queens on Thursday and an AMERICAN BITTERN appeared at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Sunday. As a note, NELSON'S SPARROWS are now appearing in many coastal marshes throughout the region.

A report from the Caumsett State Park fields on Lloyd's Neck last Saturday noted ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, VESPER SPARROW and DICKCISSEL.

A PARASITIC JAEGER was off Robert Moses State Park Saturday and some ROYAL TERNS continue along the Long Island coast.

Out on eastern Long Island a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE appeared with Canadas Saturday at Deep Hollow Ranch in the fields on the south side of Route 27 and was noted there at least through Tuesday. Also on the fields Saturday were an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER and 2 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. Other birds around Montauk Point featured DICKCISSEL Saturday, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and LAPLAND LONGSPUR Monday and CLAY-COLORED SPARROW on Tuesday. An immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was spotted at Napeague Saturday and 2 BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS were also in the Montauk area. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS are more widespread currently.

At Mecox a MARBLED GODWIT on the flats was joined by 5 ROYAL TERNS Saturday and an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was at Sagg Pond Sunday and Monday.

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