New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, February 22, 2013:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Feb 22, 2013
* NYNY1302.22

- Birds Mentioned:
BARNACLE GOOSE+
GYRFALCON+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Snow Goose
ROSS'S GOOSE
Eurasian Wigeon
EURASIAN GREEN-WINGED TEAL
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE
Red-necked Grebe
American Bittern
Rough-legged Hawk
American Oystercatcher)
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Bonaparte's Gull
Iceland Gull
BLACKPOLL WARBLER
White-crowned Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Baltimore Oriole
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll

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 (during the day except Sunday)
Tony Lauro (631) 734-4126 (Long Island)

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, February 22nd, at 7:00pm. The highlights of this tape are GYRFALCON, ROSS'S GOOSE, BARNACLE GOOSE, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, Eurasian form of GREEN-WINGED TEAL, BLACK-HEADED GULL and BLACKPOLL WARBLER, plus a pelagic trip announcement.

For the third time in less than four years, a GYRFALCON has appeared briefly along the Jones Island strip. Following a bird at Jones Beach West End on 25 October 2009 and one along the Wantagh Parkway on 14 January 2012, there was a gray bird spotted late last Sunday morning along the eastern end of Ocean Parkway, near Oak Beach. The bird was relocated again briefly in the early afternoon, but has not been seen since. If in that area, keep your eyes peeled.

Also at Oak Beach, a female BARROW'S GOLDENEYE was found late Saturday afternoon with Common Goldeneyes in the inlet, as viewed by the parking lot by the site of the former Oak Beach Inn.

A RED-NECKED GREBE was in the Captree State Park Boat Basin on Monday, while a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and an AMERICAN BITTERN were among the birds at Gilgo on Tuesday.

Twelve WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were at Oak Beach on Thursday.

At Jones Beach West End, the weekend's most unusual bird was a BLACKPOLL WARBLER feeding on the median lawn edge on Saturday. Also there that day were both RED CROSSBILLS and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, 21 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS, and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was still around the West End on Monday, this bird often visiting the lawn near the gazebo by the Coast Guard Station parking lot.

A Eurasian form of GREEN-WINGED TEAL was noted with other Green-wings Thursday at Hempstead Lake State Park, on a pond next to parking lot 3.

In Central Park, a subadult BLACK-HEADED GULL visited the Reservoir on Tuesday morning. An ICELAND GULL appeared on the Reservoir Tuesday afternoon, after continuing on the Lake at least till last Sunday. COMMON REDPOLL and BALTIMORE ORIOLE have also been seen around the Ramble feeders, and other redpolls have been noted, including at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

A BARNACLE GOOSE was still on Larchmont Reservoir, also known as Sheldrake Lake, off Weaver Street in Westchester County, at least to Tuesday.

There were still at least five EURASIAN WIGEONS last Saturday, with a large flock of American Wigeons, on the West Sayville Golf Course, south of Montauk Highway.

At Shinnecock Saturday, on the beach west of the inlet, were three ICELAND GULLS and white BONAPARTE'S GULL. Another ICELAND GULL was still at Iron Pier Beach in Northville Monday.

On the sod fields between Doctor's Path and Route 105, just south of Sound Avenue in Riverhead last Saturday, the large Canada flock contained one ROSS'S GOOSE and one SNOW GOOSE, the ROSS'S presumably the bird often overnighting on Merritts Pond in Riverhead.

Two ICELAND GULLS were still along the beach west of Montauk Harbor Inlet yesterday.

See Life Paulagics is hosting a pelagic trip from Freeport aboard the Captain Lou Fleet's Starstream on Saturday, March 2nd. This 12-hour trip, leaving at 6:00 AM, 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, and it should hopefully be a good trip.

To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or during the day except Sunday 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 ~