New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 8, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sept 7, 2012
* NYNY1209.07

- Birds Mentioned:
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

American Golden-Plover
AMERICAN AVOCET
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Semipalmated Sandpiper
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Wilson's Phalarope
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black Tern
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Philadelphia Vireo
Common Raven
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
DICKCISSEL
RED CROSSBILL

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:

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

~ 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, September 7th, at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, AMERICAN AVOCET, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, DICKCISSELS, CONNECTICUT WARBLER and other warblers, and RED CROSSBILLS.

We have few reports from Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this week, but the AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was still present on the East Pond at least to Tuesday, and the AMERICAN AVOCET present at least to Monday at the north end of the East Pond. Otherwise, shorebird numbers continue to be rather low.

The city parks this week have had some good activity, but it has been falling off recently as we await a new cold front.

In Central Park, the RED CROSSBILLS that arrived last Friday continued into Saturday, with flocks of up to 12 noted in the general area of the Ramble, though the total number of crossbills involved has not been determined. They were not seen after Saturday, but other land birds present included a CONNECTICUT WARBLER seen Tuesday. [Transcriber's Note: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO and two YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were also reported in Central on Tuesday. Other birds reported there this week included HOODED WARBLER, WORM-EATING WARBLER, COMMON NIGHTHAWKS, and OLIVE and YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS.]

In Prospect Park, warblers included a female GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER lingering to last weekend, and a CONNECTICUT WARBLER on Saturday, while others included WORM-EATING WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER, and HOODED WARBLER. Also noted were COMMON NIGHTHAWK, YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, and YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.

In Kissena Park in Queens, Monday highlights included two DICKCISSELS, plus such warblers as TENNESSEE WARBLER, PRAIRIE WARBLER, and WORM-EATING WARBLER. Another DICKCISSEL was at Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn on Sunday.

At Floyd Bennett Field, a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER Tuesday and Wednesday followed a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER from Saturday to Tuesday and WILSON'S PHALAROPE briefly seen on Monday, and a MOURNING WARBLER was among birds in the Community Garden on Wednesday.

Last Tuesday on Staten Island, reports included a CERULEAN WARBLER at Clove Lake's Park, and single AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER and BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER at Miller Field.

At Jones Beach West End Sunday, the DICKCISSEL was noted still around the Coast Guard Station, and a few BLACK TERNS were off shore, with two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS on the beach. We also have a belated report of a WESTERN KINGBIRD, seen briefly in the median, near the Coast Guard Station entrance at the West End, on August 31st.

On Wednesday, the count of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at Robert Moses State Park reached well over 20, with a decent influx noted. Earlier at Moses Park, there were two CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS near the volleyball courts at the eastern end of field 2 and a DICKCISSEL along the western side of the parking lot, these on Sunday.

A COMMON RAVEN was seen today in Central Islip, just west of Connetquot River State Park.

The sod fields north of Riverhead have been productive lately, even disregarding the temporary excitement that a plate-billed sandpiper caused Thursday, this apparently a poor Semipalmated Sandpiper with a grotesquely distorted bill. These fields are south of Sound Avenue between Doctor's Path on the west and Route 105 on the East. Recently there have been up to 16 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS and a few BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS on the field, along with other shorebirds including 16 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS today.

The AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS have apparently moved on, though up to 50 were there last weekend, but two Goldens were seen today in the field on the west side of Eastport Manor Road, north of Route 51 in Eastport.

A DICKCISSEL was noted at Teddy Roosevelt County Park in Montauk last Saturday.

At Marshlands Conservancy in Rye, Westchester County, an UPLAND SANDPIPER visited the adjacent golf course today, and a WHIMBREL has been present on the harbor mud flats all week, with a MOURNING WARBLER there yesterday.

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 ~