New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending October 26, 2012:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 26, 2012
* NYNY1210.26

- Birds mentioned

BARNACLE GOOSE+
SAY'S PHOEBE+
BICKNELL'S THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

BROWN PELICAN
Cattle Egret
American Golden-Plover
American Oystercatcher
White-rumped Sandpiper
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Glaucous Gull
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Red-headed Woodpecker
PHILADELPHIA VIREO
Common Raven
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Clay-colored Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
Nelson's Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
DICKCISSEL
PINE SISKIN
American Goldfinch
Evening Grosbeak

- 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:

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, October 26th 2012 at 9pm. The highlights of today's tape are SAY'S PHOEBE, BARNACLE GOOSE, BROWN PELICAN, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, BICKNELL'S THRUSH, PHILADELPHIA VIREO, BLUE GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW and PINE SISKIN.

Following last Sunday's dynamic coastal flight it was anticipated that a good rarity would show up in its aftermath. This prediction fulfilled with the report Monday of a SAY'S PHOEBE around 11am near the Fire Island lighthouse at the eastern end of Robert Moses State Park. Unfortunately the phoebe quickly disappeared and could not be relocated. BLUE GROSBEAK was also in the same area.

The Sunday flight itself produced huge presumably unprecedented numbers of PINE SISKINS all along the coast. A dedicated count at field 2 at Robert Moses State Park recorded 20,275 passing by starting around 8am with flocks still moving by after 1pm. The other major mover that day was YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER with over 15 thousand counted and other totals of passing migrants included almost 1,900 AMERICAN GOLDFINCH and 73 RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES. A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen near the main maintenance buildings at Moses Park Sunday. PINE SISKINS are now well dispersed throughout our area.

The big news within the city limits was the appearance Wednesday of a BARNACLE GOOSE at Prospect Park Lake. The bird staying most of the time around the lake itself in the company of a varying number of Canada Geese. This BARNACLE GOOSE was still on the lake this morning. Other recent interesting reports from Prospect included ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and CLAY-COLORED and VESPER SPARROWS. Another good Brooklyn find was a somewhat late BICKNELL'S THRUSH last Saturday at Green-wood Cemetery seen again on Sunday morning.

On Staten Island 2 BROWN PELICANS were present Saturday on the water off Mount Loretto Unique Area where a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was seen again Tuesday. Mount Loretto is off Hylan Boulevard.

Also in the city a BLUE GROSBEAK was reported from Kissena Park Thursday, a VESPER SPARROW was at Alley Pond Park Thursday and today with a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW there last Sunday. Two COMMON RAVENS were around the Bronx Zoo Thursday and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was a Van Cortlandt Park last Saturday. Another GRASSHOPPER SPARROW was at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye on Wednesday another good flight day locally.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Sunday afternoon there were 2 STILT, 4 PECTORAL and 2 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS and a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER on the East Pond.

Out at Jones Beach West End up to 3 VESPER SPARROWS have been around the edge of parking field 2 during the week and a bar off the Coast Guard Station hosted 8 ROYAL TERNS last Sunday along with good numbers of lingering AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, FORSTER'S TERNS and BLACK SKIMMERS. AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER joined some Black-bellied Plovers in the Point Lookout Town Park parking lot last Sunday.

Farther east on Long Island a GLAUCOUS GULL along with a CASPIAN and some ROYAL TERNS were all at Smith Point County Park in Shirley last Saturday. Two CATTLE EGRETS have again been at the Mecox Dairy recently this off Mecox Road where it meets Halsey Lane. BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was on the Mecox flats, or what's left of them, last Friday and Saturday. Among the nice congregation of birds at the ECL Farm off Long Lane in East Hampton last Saturday were a DICKCISSEL plus 3 VESPER and 14 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS and a LARK SPARROW was off Town Lane in Amagansett on Sunday.

Noted both locally and out east recently have been some NELSON'S SPARROWS gathering in appropriate salt marshes but not unexpectedly more than one race involved. More interestingly a few EVENING GROSBEAKS have shown up in Suffolk County late this week.

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