New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 11, 2011:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov. 11, 2011
* NYNY1111.11

- Birds mentioned

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
Redhead
Common Loon
EARED GREBE
BROWN PELICAN
American Bittern
Purple Sandpiper
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Royal Tern
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Eastern Bluebird
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Orange-crowned Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
American Tree Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird
Purple Finch

- 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, Eleven Eleven Eleven at 7pm. The highlights of today's tape are EARED GREBE, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, BROWN PELICAN, BLACK-HEADED GULL, WESTERN KINGBIRD and several GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE.

A good week for unusual birds starting it off with an EARED GREBE identified last Friday and confirmed Saturday at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Still present at least through Tuesday the EARED GREBE has been staying with a dozen or more Horned Grebes in the bay south of the West Pond as viewed from the trail along the south side of the West Pond. As the tide drops the grebe flock can move pretty far offshore towards the islands in the bay but tends to move closer on the rising tide. A telescope is strongly recommended.

Also at the bay an AMERICAN BITTERN has been frequenting the West Pond since Sunday and a growing number of ducks now include 2 REDHEADS on the West Pond.

The Lenoir Preserve in Yonkers, Westchester County, has attracted another selasphorous hummingbird this appearing to be an immature female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD. The hummingbird has been frequenting the feeders and Pineapple Sage in the butterfly garden between the Nature Center and the hawkwatch site. The hummingbird seems to be sensitive to disturbance and may not come in if there is a good amount of activity so choose your observation point with that in mind. If entering the butterfly garden please be sure the entrance gate is firmly closed.

To reach Lenoir: from the Sawmill River Parkway take Exit 9, Executive Boulevard, to its end at North Broadway, go right on North Broadway a short distance to Dudley Street on the left. The Lenoir parking lot is on the left off Dudley Street.

An adult BLACK-HEADED GULL has returned as of Sunday to the Owl's Head waste water treatment plant in Bay Ridge Brooklyn near the Verrazzano Bridge. It can take patience to see the gull flying about the plant while viewing from outside the facility and finding higher ground helps. It might also be worth checking any gulls roosting on the nearby Veteran's Memorial Pier.

Also in the New York City area a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was still frequenting Bryant Park to Wednesday when it was seen in the northwest corner of the park and a thrush believed to be a GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH was also there.

Birds Sunday at Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn featured ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, EASTERN MEADOWLARK and EASTERN BLUEBIRD. It was a good weekend for bluebirds locally as they were present at many locations.

In the Bronx a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was on the lake at Van Cortlandt Park Thursday and today. This white-front joins at least 4 others scattered around eastern Long Island and these include 1 seen on the athletic field at East Northport High School on Monday, 1 continuing to visit Marratooka Lake off New Suffolk Avenue in Mattituck and 2 lingering on the South Fork, 1 off Further Lane in East Hampton and the other at the Deep Hollow Ranch on the south side of Route 27 east of Montauk.

Also in Montauk an immature BROWN PELICAN continues to be seen along the north shoreline usually around the Montauk Harbor jetties but on Monday it was also spotted in Fort Pond Bay to the west of the Montauk Harbor entrance.

On Thursday a WESTERN KINGBIRD was seen in Oldfield north of Setauket on the north shore of Suffolk County. The bird was around the Oldfield lighthouse around noon.

At Montauk Point Saturday birds featured 2 adult BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES but few terns were remaining while 285 COMMON LOONS were counted in Gardiner's Bay. Fourteen ROYAL TERNS were still at Georgica Pond on Sunday.

Other notable gatherings of birds last Saturday included YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, 5 BLACKPOLL WARBLERS, AMERICAN TREE SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, 5 PURPLE FINCHES and 5 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS at Caumsett State Park and at Democrat Point at the western tip of Fire Island singles of PURPLE SANDPIPER, immature LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

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