New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, February 15, 2013:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Feb. 15, 2013
* NYNY1302.15

- Birds mentioned

BARNACLE GOOSE+
SAVANNAH SPARROW+ (subspecies "Ipswich Sparrow")
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
ROSS'S GOOSE
Wood Duck
EURASIAN WIGEON
TUFTED DUCK
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Red-necked Grebe
American Bittern
American Oystercatcher
American Woodcock
Iceland Gull
Glaucous Gull
Razorbill
Horned Lark
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
LINCOLN'S SPARROW
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting
Rusty Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll

- 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, February 15th 2013 at 8pm. The highlights of today's tape are TUFTED DUCK, HARLEQUIN DUCK, BARNACLE GOOSE, ROSS'S GOOSE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW and LINCOLN'S SPARROW.

As of Monday the drake TUFTED DUCK was back again on partly thawed Saint John's Pond in Cold Spring Harbor. This pond is adjacent to St. John's Church on the south side of Route 25A. The BARNACLE GOOSE was seen again Wednesday morning on Belmont Lake State Park and is presumably still feeding in the vicinity of St. Charles Cemetery where ever it can find suitable grazing. Another BARNACLE GOOSE was reported today with Canadas on Larchmont Reservoir in Westchester County. The ROSS'S GOOSE was present again this morning on Merritt's Pond north of Riverhead east of Roanoke Avenue. Two GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were noted a few times on the pond at the Heckscher Museum in Huntington at least to last Saturday. Six HARLEQUIN DUCKS present around the easternmost of the 3 ocean jetties off Point Lookout last Sunday were still in the same area through today though Sunday they were also noted flying over towards the Jones Beach West End jetty and today they flew west.

Other interesting birds this week at Jones Beach West End have included small numbers of both RED and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS through today and the LAPLAND LONGSPUR seen again Sunday and the HORNED LARK and SNOW BUNTING flock near the gazebo. After snowstorms areas where plows scrape up the dirt and grass along the edges of roadways can often be very productive in concentrating ground feeding birds and this was the case at the West End where such a scrape on the outer of the two turnarounds attracted a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW last Sunday this also joined by some IPSWICH SPARROWS and several other species. The GRASSHOPPER was still around Monday when an immature GLAUCOUS GULL visited the West End 2 parking lot. At least 4 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS were with other shorebirds on the bar across from the Coast Guard Station Sunday and others were noted at Point Lookout. Six RAZORBILLS were in Jones Inlet today.

A female type EURASIAN WIGEON was photographed off the Archery Range Road at Floyd Bennett Field last Sunday the same day finding a RAZORBILL again off Coney Island. A fairly tame immature ICELAND GULL has been on the Lake in Central Park from last Sunday at least through Thursday and other interesting reports from Central during the week have included WOOD DUCK, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, RUSTY BLACKBIRD and COMMON REDPOLL.

Another interesting sparrow for the season was a LINCOLN'S SPARROW seen last Sunday at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in East Islip.

Thursday sightings on eastern Long Island included 2 HARLEQUIN DUCKS on the north side of Montauk Point, an immature ICELAND GULL at Shinnecock Inlet and lingering AMERICAN BITTERNS along Dune Road west of Shinnecock Inlet.

COMMON REDPOLLS are popping up in some places recently and RED-NECKED GREBES were present off Pelham Bay Park and in Rye Westchester County recently.

See Life Paulagics is hosting a pelagic trip from Freeport aboard the Captain Lou Fleet's Star Stream on Saturday March 2nd. This 12 hour trip leaving at 6am costs $185 per person. For reservations call Melissa Johnson of the Captain Lou Fleet at (516) 623-5823. Decent numbers of alcids have been further offshore recently.

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