New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 6, 2013:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sep 06, 2013
* NYNY1309.06

- Birds Mentioned:

Bald Eagle
American Golden-Plover
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
MARBLED GODWIT
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Red-headed Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER
"Brewster's" Warbler
"Lawrence's" Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
LARK SPARROW
Dickcissel
Bobolink


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)
125 Pine Springs Drive
Ticonderoga, NY 12883

~ 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 (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, September 6th, at 8:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, MARBLED GODWIT, GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, CONNECTICUT WARBLER, LARK SPARROW, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, and other fall migrants.

A decent assortment of birds arrived Wednesday, thanks to Tuesday night's good flight conditions. Many continued through Thursday, with Friday apparently good in some areas, relatively poor in others. Among the shorebirds, some BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS finally showed up on eastern Long Island on Thursday, with five present along with 39 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS and a PECTORAL SANDPIPER and a few along Daniel's Lane, next to Peter Pond Lane in Sagaponack, this once very reliable spot for BUFF-BREASTEDS may become so again. Earlier, on Monday, six AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS were already there. Single BUFF-BREASTEDS were also noted Thursday briefly at Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes; in Shoreham, and along Sound Avenue in Riverhead, this one also there today. The two productive fields north of Riverhead have so far been the one on the east side of Osborne Avenue just south of Sound Avenue, and another on the south side of Sound Avenue, east of Roanoke Avenue and just east of the Roanoke vineyard. A flock of AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS seems to shift between these two fields, with falcon harassment keeping them moving, but the GOLDEN flock of about 25 last weekend off Sound Avenue had grown to over 100 along Osborne Avenue on Thursday. The BAIRD'S SANDPIPER along Osborne was present at least to Wednesday, an UPLAND SANDPIPER flew over this field last Monday, and a few PECTORAL SANDPIPERS have also been regular there. [Late addition: single BUFF-BREASTEDS were also reported at Jones Beach last Saturday and earlier in the week.]

Out at Cupsogue, a HUDSONIAN GODWIT found last Saturday was last noted on Monday, but seven MARBLED GODWITS have been present, either on the Cupsogue flats, or over at the adjacent Pike's Beach flats, depending on the tidal conditions. A WHIMBREL has also been noted there, and three flocks of migrating PECTORAL SANDPIPERS moving by Cupsogue Sunday totaled 23 birds.

Two WHIMBREL flew by Robert Moses State Park today.

A MARBLED GODWIT was among the many shorebirds at Mecox on Monday.

An AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was on Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge's East Pond on Saturday, and three more were at Jones Beach West End at the Coast Guard Station spit yesterday. Another was reported at Heckscher State Park, field 7, today.

Two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were at Fort Pond Bay on Monday.

A good variety of warblers, mostly from Wednesday on, featured a female GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER at Alley Pond Park last Saturday; a few MOURNING WARBLERS; CONNECTICUT WARBLER reports from Central Park Tuesday and Prospect Park today; and single YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS from Central Park Tuesday and Alley Pond Park on Wednesday. Both "LAWRENCE'S" WARBLER and "BREWSTER'S" WARBLER hybrids were also spotted in Central Park during the week. Notable among the other warblers were scattered TENNESSEE WARBLER, CAPE MAY WARBLER, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, WORM-EATING WARBLER and WILSON'S WARBLER.

Other notable land birds have included a few of both BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO and YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO; YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER among the flycatchers; PHILADELPHIA VIREO from Floyd Bennett Field, Staten Island and Alley Pond Park; an early BLUE-HEADED VIREO at Robert Moses State Park as well as Inwood Park in Manhattan, both today; and single DICKCISSELS flying by Moses Park Wednesday and Thursday.

Some nice sparrows have also appeared. LARK SPARROW visited Marine Park in Brooklyn from Saturday to Tuesday, joined there by a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW Monday and Tuesday, and another CLAY-COLORED was at Floyd Bennett Field on Wednesday. A VESPER SPARROW has lingered in Central Park's Great Hill through today.

Also a few RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS have shown up recently. An immature has been seen in the Central Park Ramble since Thursday; an adult was spotted in Jones Beach West End on Thursday, and there were also sightings at Robert Moses State Park on both days. In addition, an adult was observed in flight at the Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch in Bedford Corners (Westchester) this afternoon.

Good numbers of COMMON NIGHTHAWKS have been moving through since last weekend, an evening high count from Tuesday noting about 90 at Heckscher State Park.

Watch for BOBOLINKS among the diurnal migrants, and it is also time to start visiting local hawkwatches, with a BROAD-WINGED flight due in a week or two. BALD EAGLES are already moving south.

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 ~