New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 4, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov 4, 2011
* NYNY1111.04

- Birds Mentioned:

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
Wood Duck
EURASIAN WIGEON
Redhead
Red-throated Loon
GREAT SHEARWATER
Northern Gannet
Bald Eagle
Northern Goshawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
American Golden-Plover
Solitary Sandpiper
MARBLED GODWIT
Red Knot
Stilt Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Short-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Red-headed Woodpecker
WESTERN KINGBIRD
American Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
Vesper Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Pine Siskin


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, 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

~ Transcript ~

Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert
Weekly Recording: (212) 979-3070

To report sightings call:
Tom Burke (212) 372-1483
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, November 4th, at 11:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, MARBLED GODWIT, GREAT SHEARWATER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, and YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.

Thanks to the bizarre October snowstorm, a changeover in seasonal birds has quickly taken place.

In the New York City area, the most unusual report was probably the WESTERN KINGBIRD, only seen briefly at Riis Park last Sunday morning. It was searched for extensively thereafter but could not be relocated.

Two or three VESPER SPARROWS were present at the Fort Tilden Community Garden Sunday, and a hawk watch on a good hawk flight day at Fort Tilden featured NORTHERN GOSHAWK, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, and BALD EAGLE, while a SHORT-EARED OWL was seen coming in off the ocean.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a drake EURASIAN WIGEON was spotted today on the East Pond, north of the Big John's Pond overlook, and also at the bay were a REDHEAD on the West Pond and a flyover PINE SISKIN.

In other city parks, a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT lingered for a few days, at least to Wednesday, in Bryant Park, in the front and back of the New York Public Library off Fifth Avenue.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and at least two VESPER SPARROWS visited Central Park on Tuesday, and the continuing immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was also seen that day.

A SHORT-EARED OWL was spotted migrating over Manhattan on Monday morning.

Fort Tilden had VESPER and LINCOLN SPARROWS last Monday.

A PROTHONOTARY WARBLER was reported Monday at Sunken Meadow State Park, this sighting perhaps involving the same bird seen back on October 22nd.

At Jones Beach West End, a lingering MARBLED GODWIT was still present Thursday on the bar off the Coast Guard Station, and good numbers of RED KNOT are among the other shorebirds gathering there. Lots of NORTHERN GANNETS are now migrating offshore. An immature LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was noted at Jones Beach field 6 on Tuesday.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER visited Cedar Beach Marina on Monday, and that day the Fire Island hawk watch at the eastern end of Robert Moses State Park recorded a NORTHERN GOSHAWK.

A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was among the landbirds migrating along Robert Moses State Park last Sunday. Decent numbers of AMERICAN PIPITS were also noted, while a good movement of seabirds offshore featured lots of scoters, RED-THROATED LOONS, and even 11 WOOD DUCKS.

An AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was with the Black-bellieds just east of Heckscher State Park, field #6, on Monday.

Out east, on the North Fork, a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was on Marratooka Lake along New Suffolk Avenue in Mattituck on Monday, along with a seasonal assortment of ducks.

Another GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was on the favored field on the north side of Further Lane in East Hampton Tuesday, where it has apparently been present for a little while.

At Montauk Point last Saturday before the storm intensified, a flow of 300 or more GREAT SHEARWATERS was witnessed leaving Block Island Sound and heading for the open ocean. Also noted were an adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE and good numbers of Forster's and Common Terns. An earlier sea watch off Amagansett produced over 13,000 scoters of three species, lots of NORTHERN GANNETS and Double-crested Cormorants, and 62 RED-THROATED LOONS.

Five LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were spotted between Montauk, Hook Pond, and Mecox. Shorebirds in Montauk included two AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS near Montauk Inlet and a STILT SANDPIPER off Route 27 on Saturday, and a SOLITARY SANDPIPER at Deep Hollow Ranch on Monday.

NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS have been appearing lately, and this is a good time to encounter a Golden Eagle or two at our regional inland hawk watches.

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 ~