New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, July 27, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Jul. 27, 2012
* NYNY1207.27

- Birds mentioned

RUFF+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
WHIMBREL
MARBLED GODWIT
Western Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush

- 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@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, July 27th 2012 at 7pm. The highlights of today's tape are RUFF, MARBLED GODWIT, WHIMBREL and other shorebirds plus some pelagics including MANX SHEARWATER.

The shorebird conditions on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge are back to desired levels after last year's debacle. The number of birds continuing to visit the pond especially around high tide remains impressive and the variety should continue to increase over the next month.

The rufous RUFF was still being seen at least through Monday usually along the east side of the pond towards the north end but we have no reports since then. Other recent East Pond sightings have featured LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER Thursday, a small number of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS and WESTERN SANDPIPERS and some STILT SANDPIPERS along with good numbers of the more expected species and save August 25th for the annual Shorebird Festival at the bay.

On eastern Long Island out at Shinnecock the flats west of the Ponquogue Bridge off Road K produced a MARBLED GODWIT and 2 WHIMBREL today. Further west along Dune Road there were 4 WHIMBREL at Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes on Tuesday with another there last Saturday. Numbers of ROYAL TERNS are increasing there and at nearby Pike's Beach and other terns there have featured a couple of BLACK TERNS plus a CASPIAN TERN at Pike's Beach on Tuesday.

A decent number of WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS has been present recently in the bay between Montauk and Gardiner's Island with 74 counted from Culloden Point last Sunday. Ducks also summering there featured 9 SURF SCOTERS and 2 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS plus 2 COMMON EIDER. A birder offshore up to 25 miles south of Montauk, besides hundreds of WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, also encountered 1 MANX SHEARWATER, 1 CORY'S SHEARWATER and 8 GREAT SHEARWATERS last Sunday.

A bit of landbird migration noted recently has included both LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH and YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER among others in New York City parks and an impressive movement of swallows along the beach at Cupsogue last Wednesday morning featured about 200 CLIFF SWALLOWS along with numerous BARN SWALLOWS and around 150 each of BANK SWALLOW and TREE SWALLOW but just 3 NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS.

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