New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, February 25, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Feb 24, 2012
* NYNY1202.24

- Birds Mentioned:
PINK-FOOTED GOOSE+
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

EURASIAN WIGEON
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE
Red-necked Grebe
Iceland Gull
Razorbill
Red-headed Woodpecker
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Common Raven
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (AUDUBON'S FORM)
Palm Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
LAPLAND LONGSPUR

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: Tony Lauro, Tom Burke
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, February 24th, 2012 at 9:45pm. The highlights of this report are PINK-FOOTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, NORTHERN SHRIKE, AUDUBON'S FORM OF YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS, and LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

On Tuesday a PINK-FOOTED GOOSE was found in Holtsville, Suffolk County, along the north service road of the Long Island Expressway, in a soccer field just west of Blue Point Road. The bird was with a flock of approximately 500 Canada Geese. The Pink-foot was relocated Wednesday in Medford, east of Holtsville, at the Medford Sports Complex on Horseblock Road, just west of Route 112. The bird has apparently not been seen since Wednesday.

Reports from Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn last Saturday included a EURASIAN WIGEON and several RED-NECKED GREBES at the end of Archery Road (where both species were seen again on Monday and the wigeon again on Tuesday), the continuing but somewhat elusive NORTHERN SHRIKE near Field G, and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR in the Cricket Field.

The drake BARROW'S GOLDENEYE continues to roost with Common Goldeneye on the West Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. To see the Barrrow's you will need to arrive by 6:30am, as flyout is shortly after dawn. The best views are from the trail just past bench 7, and a scope is a necessity.

In Manhattan, the RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD continues through today at the West 81st Street entrance to the American Museum of Natural History. Look for it at the feeder to the right of the entrance. The Central Park RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was still present last Saturday near the Hallet Sanctuary in the southeast corner of the park. The Union Square YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT continues in the park's southwest corner off East 14th Street, at least through Wednesday.

The Audubon's form of the YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER was reported again on Tuesday at Sunken Meadow State Park along the south side of Sunken Meadow Creek, at the creek outlet.

Further east, on Saturday a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was seen below the patio of the restaurant at Montauk State Park, and three RED-NECKED GREBES were spotted on Fort Pond Bay. Reports of an ICELAND GULL along Dune Road in the Tiana area on Sunday, Monday and Thursday are presumably the same bird.

COMMON RAVENS continue to be seen during the week in the Water Tower area by the railroad tracks in Hampton Bays, Suffolk County. A pair of ravens has also been observed in the Co-Op City area of the Bronx, and may be the same birds seen from across Pelham Bay Park, in New Rochelle.

RAZORBILLS reported last week were as follows: one at Montauk last Saturday, one at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx on Sunday, five at Shinnecock on Sunday, and two at the Jones Inlet today.

A PALM WARBLER was found at the Veterans Memorial Pier in Brooklyn on 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 TAPE~]

~ End Transcript ~