New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 21, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sep. 21, 2012
* NYNY1209.21

- Birds mentioned

AUDUBON'S SHEARWATER+
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL+
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN+
FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
American Bittern
Bald Eagle
American Golden-Plover
Whimbrel
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
Marbled Godwit
Western Sandpiper
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
Red-necked Phalarope
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Black Skimmer
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Eastern Whip-poor-will
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Northern Flicker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Gray-cheeked Thrush
American Pipit
Cape May Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Connecticut Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Clay-colored Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
DICKCISSEL
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin

- 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:

Gary Chapin - Secretary
NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC)
486 High Street
Victor, NY 14564

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, September 21st 2012 at 8pm. The highlights of today's tape are FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, WESTERN KINGBIRD, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, BLUE GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL and pelagic trip results.

Certainly the week's highlight was an adult male FORK-TAILED FLYCATCHER found Wednesday morning at the Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area, present until noon, when chased off by a Cooper's Hawk, the flycatcher was not relocated until late in the afternoon on an adjacent golf course. This is a private club but they did graciously allow birders on to view the bird. Searches of both the golf course, with permission, and the Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area on Thursday proved to be fruitless and the Fork-tailed has not been seen since Wednesday.

In the city parks there was the expected seasonal variety of migrants this past week. Unusual in Central Park were an AMERICAN BITTERN continuing around Turtle Pond at least to Thursday and an EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL roosting daily in the Ramble from Saturday to Wednesday. Other Central Park highlights featured YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER Friday, YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, occasional PHILADELPHIA and BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, two dozen plus species of warblers including a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER reported Thursday plus CAPE MAY WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER and HOODED WARBLER, a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW at the north end Sunday through today, some LINCOLN'S SPARROWS and briefly seen BLUE GROSBEAK and DICKCISSEL at the north end today.

Hawks overhead have included scattered BALD EAGLES but the hawk flights have been much better at the inland ridges.

A CONNECTICUT WARBLER was found Monday in Bryant Park joining such migrants as GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, LINCOLN'S SPARROW and a few species of warblers. CONNECTICUT WARBLER has also been reported elsewhere including at Alley Pond Park in Queens.

Prospect Park has also enjoyed a good variety this week including OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, PHILADELPHIA VIREO and CONNECTICUT and HOODED WARBLERS and a BLUE GROSBEAK was spotted at Kissena Park in Queens Wednesday the same day finding a LARK SPARROW at Fort Tilden.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge the AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was still present on the East Pond today along with an immature CASPIAN TERN and the shorebird highlight there was an HUDSONIAN GODWIT found at the Raunt last Saturday this bird not lingering.

A deep sea pelagic trip last Sunday out of Freeport aboard the Star Stream VIII, a fine pelagic vessel, got out about 80 miles and the official trip tally featured 5 CORY'S SHEARWATERS, over 350 GREAT and 4 AUDUBON'S SHEARWATERS, 175 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS and a single LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, 3 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES a BLACK TERN, one PARASITIC and 3 POMARINE JAEGERS and a few landbirds including NORTHERN FLICKER and PURPLE FINCH. Animal highlights were a continuously breaching Hump-backed Whale along with some Common and Bottle-nosed Dolphins.

The coastal flight last Sunday produced 2 WESTERN KINGBIRDS and an adult RED-HEADED WOODPECKER at Robert Moses State Park and it may've been one of these Kingbirds also seen later in the median at Jones Beach West End. At the West End Saturday shorebirds on the bar off the Coast Guard Station included a MARBLED GODWIT, one BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, one PECTORAL SANDPIPER and 2 WESTERN SANDPIPERS and a flyover AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER. On Tuesday at West End a CASPIAN TERN and 17 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were noted while a count of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS from Jones Beach West End to Robert Moses State Park on Wednesday produced 27, mostly adults, and over 600 BLACK SKIMMERS were also counted at the West End bar. A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was spotted at Robert Moses State Park last Saturday and the Sunday flight at Moses also featured YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, BLUE GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL, LINCOLN'S SPARROW and a flyover PINE SISKIN.

At Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes Monday a WHIMBREL joined the lingering 3 MARBLED GODWITS on the flats and a PHILADELPHIA VIREO appeared on Shelter Island Sunday.

Out at Montauk a BLUE GROSBEAK and a LINCOLN'S SPARROW were found at Camp Hero at the point last Sunday.

Among the other arriving migrants recently have been WINTER WREN, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET and AMERICAN PIPIT.

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