New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 1, 2013:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov 01, 2013
* NYNY1311.01

- Birds Mentioned:
YELLOW RAIL+
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
Northern Pintail
Common Eider
Sora
Black-bellied Plover
American Oystercatcher
Red Knot
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Wilson's Warbler
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
VESPER SPARROW
LARK SPARROW
Nelson's Sparrow
DICKCISSEL
Rusty Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch


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, November 1st, at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, DICKCISSEL, LARK SPARROW, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, VESPER SPARROW, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, and a pelagic trip announcement.

A nice find last Monday was an adult male BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, photographed on a small field at Caumsett State Park on Lloyd's Neck in northern Suffolk County. Unfortunately there were no followup sightings to our knowledge.

As intriguing was a report from a fishing boat Tuesday, three miles south of Fire Island. Among several passerines flying back to shore was a rail-like bird with white in the secondaries, thought to perhaps have been a YELLOW RAIL, though immature SORA would also be a possibility.

Waterfowl have recently been increasing in both numbers and variety, with the season's first GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE appearing on Marratooka Lake off New Suffolk Avenue in Mattituck, on Long Island's North Fork last Sunday.

This fall's third EURASIAN WIGEON was noted last Saturday, this at a traditional location on the pond at Massapequa Preserve, just east of the eastern end of Pittsburgh Avenue.

A COMMON EIDER was still off Floyd Bennett field Saturday.

We should note at this point that a See Life Paulagics pelagic trip, scheduled for Saturday, November 23rd, out of Freeport Long Island, still needs additional participants to sign up in order to hold the boat, which is the Captain Lou VII, a good pelagic vessel. The boat will leave at 6:00 am, heading towards Hudson Canyon, and the cost is $185 per person. If you want to go, please sign up now. For reservations, call (215) 234-6805, or visit their website at http://www.paulagics.com

Land birds, other than the BREWER'S BLACKBIRD, have been as expected this week. The nice run of RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS has slowed down, but one or two do continue at Pelham Bay Park in the Turtle Cove area.

A decent number of VESPER SPARROWS have been present recently. One at Jones Beach West End last Saturday increased to two by Tuesday. Two more were at Muttontown Preserve by the horse corral Saturday, but the bonanza involved the six seen on the Parade Grounds at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx Saturday. Two VESPERS were also at Riis Park Sunday and Monday, with another at Floyd Bennett Field Sunday, and two more were at Pelham Bay Park Thursday where NELSON'S SPARROWS also continue, as they do presumably in many salt marshes in the area. Other more unusual sparrows featured a LARK SPARROW at the Salt Marsh Nature Center at Marine Park in Brooklyn Saturday and CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS reported at Riis Park Sunday and Central Park Tuesday. Single DICKCISSELS noted last Saturday were one at Robert Moses State Park lingering near the maintenance buildings and one at Hook Pond in East Hampton.

A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was spotted at Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn Thursday, and others should be continuing along the South Shore of Long Island.

A PECTORAL SANDPIPER was among the few shorebirds on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Monday.

Birds in Jones Inlet off Jones Beach West End last Saturday included one FORSTER'S TERN and over 30 ROYAL TERNS, and 330+ AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS. Among the Black-bellied Plovers and Dunlin roosting on the wharf at high tide at the water works docks at Point Lookout Saturday were over 20 RED KNOT.

Unusual birds in Central Park this week featured NORTHERN PINTAIL and WILSON'S SNIPE.

Late warblers seen locally have included NASHVILLE WARBLER, NORTHERN PARULA, MAGNOLIA WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, BLACKPOLL WARBLER, OVENBIRD, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, and WILSON'S WARBLER. A few RUSTY BLACKBIRDS have also been noted lately, and a BALTIMORE ORIOLE was at Riis Park Monday.

PURPLE FINCH is the only winter finch noted locally, though it still seems strange to consider this former local breeder a winter finch.

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 TAPE~]

~ End Transcript ~