New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, March 16, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Mar. 16, 2012
* NYNY1203.16

- Birds mentioned

Wood Duck
EURASIAN WIGEON
Blue-winged Teal
Red-necked Grebe
Osprey
Clapper Rail
Piping Plover
American Woodcock
Laughing Gull
ICELAND GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
SNOWY OWL
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Common Raven
Eastern Bluebird
American Pipit
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
Eastern Meadowlark

- 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

(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, March 16th 2012 at 7pm. The highlights of today's tape are SNOWY OWL, EURASIAN WIGEON, NORTHERN SHRIKE, ICELAND GULL, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and some early Spring migrants.

With the March doldrums apparently upon us most of the rarities continue to be holdovers with many of these on eastern Long Island.

The SNOWY OWL at Napeague was still present Saturday viewed from the end of Lazy Point Road and the adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL continues in the same location. In Southampton a EURASIAN WIGEON was still on Cooper's Neck Pond up through Thursday. The NORTHERN SHRIKE in Calverton was seen again Saturday. This bird has wintered in fields along the power line on the east side of Hulse Landing Road north of its intersection with Route 25A.

Locally, in Brooklyn Sunday, a RED-NECKED GREBE was spotted off Coney Island and an ICELAND GULL was found in Coney Island Creek. In Queens a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was present last Saturday at Saint John's Cemetery off Metropolitan Avenue near Forest Park and in Manhattan the YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT at Union Square Park off East 14th Street was still near the Gandhi statue yesterday.

COMMON RAVENS continue to be seen including possibly the same bird in Amityville Thursday and then in Babylon today.

AMERICAN WOODCOCK, often in decent numbers, are now displaying at most suitable locations including Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

Among the recent arrivals have been some WOOD DUCKS, a BLUE-WINGED TEAL at Alley Pond Park Monday, OSPREY, CLAPPER RAIL, PIPING PLOVER, a LAUGHING GULL in Brooklyn Sunday, some YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKERS, EASTERN PHOEBES and AMERICAN PIPITS, EASTERN BLUEBIRD and EASTERN MEADOWLARK.

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