New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 11, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May. 11, 2012
* NYNY1205.11

- Birds mentioned

WHITE-FACED IBIS+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cattle Egret
Black Vulture
Red Knot
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Common Tern
Black Skimmer
Parasitic Jaeger
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Cerulean Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Kentucky Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
SUMMER TANAGER
Lincoln's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
Bobolink

- 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, May 11th 2012 at 7pm. The highlights of today's tape are WHITE-FACED IBIS, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER and many Spring migrants.

The adult WHITE-FACED IBIS at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge was rather accommodating last weekend spending a decent amount of time along the south shore of the West Pond both with and without accompanying Glossy Ibis and was doing the same routine early in the week. Watch for this nicely marked bird along the south shore anywhere from the southwest corner along the entire south edge. If not there the bird had previously been seen at the north end of the West Pond or in the marsh north of the pond. Also at the bay Saturday was one of several OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS arriving in the area last weekend plus BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO and a good selection of herons.

After a decent weekend, poor weather early in the week finally gave way to better conditions and brought good numbers of migrants into the area Thursday and today.

As our regional barometer for migration Central Park noted over 30 species of warblers during the week. The more unusual featured a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER in the Ramble Thursday and a KENTUCKY WARBLER noted irregularly at the north end to Thursday along with a CERULEAN WARBLER Tuesday and the first of the later arriving MOURNING WARBLERS on Thursday. Both cuckoos have occurred in the park and flycatchers are on the increase with OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and a few species of empidonax including YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER adding to the mix. GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH has also begun to show up joining good numbers of SWAINSON'S THRUSH and VEERYS now present. A SUMMER TANAGER has been lingering in the vicinity of the Ramble this week and a second was reported near West 65th Street Thursday. Sparrows have included LINCOLN'S SPARROW and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW and some early morning BOBOLINKS have been noted.

The PROTHONOTARY WARBLER in Bryant Park amazingly was still being reported today as it drifts throughout the park and a nice collection of birds included a HOODED WARBLER Thursday.

The YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was reported Thursday from Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan while Brooklyn's Prospect Park recorded a SUMMER TANAGER Tuesday and MOURNING WARBLER today with PROTHONOTARY and HOODED WARBLERS in nearby Green-wood Cemetery on Thursday.

On Staten Island, Clove Lakes Park had an early MOURNING WARBLER back on the 4th followed by SUMMER TANAGER and OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER Thursday. Last Saturday a KENTUCKY WARBLER was found along the Riis Park / Fort Tilden border and a BLUE GROSBEAK was spotted at Floyd Bennett Field Sunday. A CERULEAN WARBLER was among the birds visiting the waterhole at Forest Park in Queens last Sunday.

Out at Jones Beach West End a SUMMER TANAGER and a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT were uncovered around the Turnaround Grove last Saturday and stayed at least through Sunday. Two GULL-BILLED TERNS on the Coast Guard sandbar Saturday increased to 5 by Sunday. Also on Saturday several species of flycatchers including OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE were noted chasing and devouring some of the abundant Red Admiral butterflies. Lots of RED KNOTS, BLACK SKIMMERS and some LEAST TERNS along with numerous COMMON TERNS were also present around Jones Inlet. Six LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were in the West End 2 parking lot Saturday afternoon.

A male SUMMER TANAGER was spotted again at Valley Stream State Park on Sunday. A KENTUCKY WARBLER appeared at Robert Moses State Park last Saturday, a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT on Sunday and seawatching from field 2 there on Tuesday produced a small number of PARASITIC JAEGERS. Three other PARASITICS were noted off Main Beach in East Hampton Tuesday. The CATTLE EGRET continues at the Mecox Dairy off Mecox Road near Halsey Lane in Bridgehampton.

Other interesting birds on eastern Long Island featured a BLACK VULTURE Sunday and Monday over East Lake Drive in Montauk, a late BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE at Mecox Wednesday, a KENTUCKY WARBLER in Southold Sunday and Monday and at Montauk Point a SUMMER TANAGER at Camp Hero and a BLUE GROSBEAK at Turtle Cove both on Sunday.

A fallout on Great Gull Island featured a KENTUCKY WARBLER last Saturday and a BLUE GROSBEAK was on the Stonybrook University campus Monday and Tuesday.

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