New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, June 22, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* June 22, 2012
* NYNY1206.22

- Birds Mentioned:

FEA'S PETREL+ (pending NYSARC approval)
MISSISSIPPI KITE+ (Orange County)
CURLEW SANDPIPER+
ARCTIC TERN+
SANDWICH TERN+
LONG-TAILED JAEGER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Brown Pelican
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Glaucous Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Roseate Tern
Royal Tern
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Kentucky Warbler
Grasshopper Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Blue Grosbeak

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 (weekdays)
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, June 22nd at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are pelagic trip sightings including a FEA'S PETREL and LONG-TAILED JAEGER; CURLEW SANDPIPER, BROWN PELICAN, MISSISSIPPI KITES, ARCTIC TERN, KENTUCKY WARBLER, and BLUE GROSBEAK.

A birder on a boat off eastern Long Island on Tuesday cruised from Quogue to Montauk, getting out to about 35 miles offshore, and encountered a nice variety of pelagic birds. Shearwaters included 200 GREAT SHEARWATERS, 6 CORY'S SHEARWATERS, 2 SOOTY SHEARWATERS and 1 MANX SHEARWATER. These were accompanied by 60 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, and 6 POMARINE JAEGERS, 2 PARASITIC JAEGERS, and 2 LONG-TAILED JAEGERS were also recorded. The surprise came however on the return, about five miles southeast of Montauk Point when, incredibly, an apparent FEA'S PETREL flew by the boat. The petrel was pursued, and a few photos were obtained. If accepted by NYSARC, this would be the first New York State record of this Pterodroma.

The very handsome breeding-plumaged CURLEW SANDPIPER was present through last weekend around Pike's Beach in West Hampton Dunes, but not reported after Monday.

Among the terns on the mudflats at adjacent Cupsogue County Park was a first-year ARCTIC TERN on Saturday afternoon, with up to five ROYAL TERNS there during the week. A few southbound shorebirds appearing Wednesday included 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 3 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and a LEAST SANDPIPER. Seven WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, headed in an unknown direction, were also present. Cupsogue remains a good location to see ROSEATE TERN, SEASIDE SPARROW, and SALTMARSH SPARROW.

Late Thursday morning a BROWN PELICAN was reported sitting on a piling along the Nautical Mile in Freeport, but a subsequent search could not relocate the bird.

Two adult MISSISSIPPI KITES continue at Sterling Forest State Park in Orange County, the birds frequenting the area around the Visitors Center on Old Forge Road, which is accessed from Long Meadow Road as it runs south from Route 17A.

A KENTUCKY WARBLER continues to sing at a DEC property on the south side of Route 25A in Rocky Point, Suffolk County. This bird can be seen with patience and is very likely nesting at this site, so please do nothing to disturb it, ESPECIALLY playing recordings.

The same pertains to a pair of BLUE GROSBEAKS in an historical site in Calverton. These grosbeaks on the west side of Route 25A across from Hulse Landing Road are one of very few pairs on Long Island. Their habitat at this site has been severely altered in the past two years, and it is very fortunate that they still persist here.

Across Route 25 from this area are the very productive Calverton Grasslands at the former Grumman Airport, where a healthy population of GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS and other field birds can be enjoyed.

On Thursday an immature GLAUCOUS GULL was seen on the beach at Smith Point Park in Shirley, this a bird apparently summering at this site.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a peak of three GULL-BILLED TERNS visited the marsh, south of the West Pond, on Tuesday, when a WHIMBREL was reported from a bar in the Bay, west of the West Pond.

When at the Bay, make sure you inquire at the Visitors Center about the water level on the East Pond, stressing that it needs to be in good condition for the fall shorebird migration. We don't want a repeat of last year's disastrous season there.

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 ~