New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, March 29, 2013:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* March 29, 2013
* NYNY1303.29

- Birds Mentioned:

BARNACLE GOOSE+
VARIED THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cackling Goose
Wood Duck
EURASIAN WIGEON
Blue-winged Teal
GREEN-WINGED TEAL (Eurasian form "Common Teal")
TUFTED DUCK
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Osprey
Clapper Rail
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Laughing Gull
Iceland Gull
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Eastern Phoebe
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Pine Warbler
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
Rusty Blackbird
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin

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, March 29nd, at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are VARIED THRUSH, BARNACLE GOOSE, TUFTED DUCK, EURASIAN WIGEON, Eurasian form of GREEN-WINGED TEAL, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, and Spring Migrants.

A nicely plumaged male VARIED THRUSH remained a findable highlight in Brooklyn's Prospect Park through today. For well over a week now, the thrush has been found feeding on the southern slope of Quaker Hill, just east of Quaker Cemetery and west of the Nethermead Bridge. This area is best viewable from a bridle path running along the north side of Center Drive. Watch for the thrush kicking up the underbrush as it feeds. Some winter finches also continue in Prospect, including WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, PINE SISKINS, and fewer COMMON REDPOLLS.

The drake TUFTED DUCK was still on the pond at Heckscher Park, off Route 25A in Huntington, today.

The Westchester County BARNACLE GOOSE was back on Larchmont Reservoir with a CACKLING GOOSE and some Canadas on Sunday. Also known as Sheldrake Lake, this site is off Weaver Street, south of the Hutchinson River Parkway, in Larchmont. The BARNACLE had also recently been at Twin Lakes Park in Eastchester.

Two EURASIAN WIGEON, along with an apparent hybrid wigeon, were still at Massapequa Preserve Wednesday, and farther out on Long Island, at Terrell River County Park in Center Moriches, a nice collection of Eurasian GREEN-WINGED TEAL was still present with dozens of American GREEN-WINGED TEAL last Sunday. Of the four or more birds exhibiting the horizontal white wing stripe of the Eurasian form, a couple maybe have been hybrids, though none showed a notable vertical white stripe. These birds were along the Terrell River, south of the parking lot off Montauk Highway, Route 27A, on a rising tide.

A hybrid-type Eurasian and American GREEN-WINGED TEAL was also at Hempstead Lake State Park on Sunday. Could this have been the same bird wintering just south of there on Smith Pond in Rockville Centre? Hempstead Lake State Park, a good site for early migrants, on Sunday also featured WOOD DUCK OSPREY, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, a few EASTERN PHOEBES, TREE SWALLOWS, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, PINE WARBLER, and some RUSTY BLACKBIRDS. BLUE-WINGED TEAL appeared there today, the first actually a male on the narrow river in Orient last Saturday, and many have appeared since.

A CACKLING GOOSE was present at Inwood Hill Park in northern Manhattan Sunday to Wednesday, and two were also picked out in flight among some Canada flocks, moving over Randall's Island last Sunday morning. When watching Canada flocks though, remember that Canadas do come in various sizes, and small size alone may not indicate a Cackling Goose.

A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was still around Jones Beach West End Monday, usually seen on the Coast Guard parking lot lawn by the gazebo.

Some lingering winter finches have included a nice flock of COMMON REDPOLLS for several days along Route 25A in Calverton, with WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS still in a few locations such as at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye, and occasional RED CROSSBILLS on eastern Long Island. Birders should remember to look for nesting activity, a possibility with both crossbills locally.

Four BLACK VULTURES were noted over the Bronx Zoo on Wednesday, and some new, recent arriving migrants have included BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and GREATER YELLOWLEGS, with a LAUGHING GULL in Brooklyn Monday, and the Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area adding SNOWY EGRET and WILLET Thursday, and GLOSSY IBIS and CLAPPER RAIL today.

Unexpected was a TRICOLORED HERON reported from Montauk last Saturday, when an ICELAND GULL was still around the Montauk Harbor Inlet.

Decent numbers of COMMON RAVENS have been noted locally recently, some presumably nesting.

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 ~