New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 8, 2013:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov 08, 2013
* NYNY1311.08

- Birds Mentioned:

CAVE SWALLOW+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Snow Goose
Cackling Goose
EURASIAN WIGEON
Blue-winged Teal
Common Eider
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Cory's Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER
American Oystercatcher
Red Knot
Western Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
POMARINE JAEGER
Parasitic Jaeger
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
American Pipit
AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
DICKCISSEL
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark

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/Editor: Karen Fung

[~BEGIN RBA TAPE~]

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, November 8th, at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are CAVE SWALLOW, AUDUBON'S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, NORTHERN SHRIKE, POMARINE JAEGER, MANX SHEARWATER, HARLEQUIN DUCK, EURASIAN WIGEON, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, DICKCISSEL, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, and RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.

It was nice having the New York State Ornithological Association's annual conference in our area last weekend, but unfortunate that the weather wasn't more cooperative.

A coastal flight of mostly robins and blackbirds Sunday morning did also include some TREE SWALLOWS, and along with them were noted a few BARN SWALLOWS, a NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, and also the season's first CAVE SWALLOW, this at Robert Moses State Park. CAVE SWALLOWS have so far been quite scarce in the northeast, but hopefully more will follow. Another CAVE SWALLOW was seen today, with TREE SWALLOWS, at Jones Beach West End this afternoon.

Another unusual bird for the weekend was an Audubon's form of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER reported from a fragment of the old Hempstead Plains in Uniondale on Saturday. At that location Sunday were a VESPER SPARROW and three late BOBOLINKS.

A NORTHERN SHRIKE had the bad timing of waiting until Tuesday to appear at Jones Beach West End, seen west of the West End 2 parking lot, where it reappeared today until lost from view as it moved east past lot #2.

Saturday at Jones Beach West End, an immature AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER joined over 300 American Oystercatchers, 74 Red Knots, and other shorebirds on the sand island off the Coast Guard Station, and three ROYAL TERNS were at Jones Inlet. The Roosevelt Nature Center added a LAPLAND LONGSPUR and three VESPER SPARROWS, all seen from the boardwalk, and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was at Jones Beach field 6 on Sunday.

Another LAPLAND LONGSPUR was noted at Robert Moses State Park Sunday, when five COMMON EIDERS were spotted offshore.

One or two EURASIAN WIGEON were seen over the weekend at Massapequa Preserve, usually present on the pond, east of the eastern end of Pittsburgh Avenue. Another EURASIAN WIGEON appeared on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge today, along the northeast side of Pond. A WESTERN SANDPIPER was on the East Pond last Sunday, joined by a second one on Tuesday.

Continuing their good recent run, other VESPER SPARROWS included singles last Saturday at Kissena Park, the Bronx Botanical Garden, and Soundview Park in the Bronx at Turtle Cove, and Pelham Bay Park, while Saturday and Sunday found five VESPER SPARROWS continuing on the Parade Ground at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Also at the Parade Ground were 45 AMERICAN PIPITS and an EASTERN MEADOWLARK on Sunday, and a CACKLING GOOSE on Thursday.

Two RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were still in the Turtle Cove area of Pelham Bay Park Saturday, at least one Tuesday, and other RED-HEADEDS were at Kissena Park Saturday and Prospect Park Sunday and Monday, Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn Monday, and at Muttontown Preserve today.

CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS were spotted at Sunken Meadow State Park Monday and at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye on Tuesday.

A DICKCISSEL was at the Cemetery of the Resurrection on Staten Island Sunday to Tuesday.

A hawk watch on Sunday at Inwood Hill Park in northern Manhattan recorded a dozen or more BALD EAGLES, some RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, and 70 SNOW GEESE moving south.

NELSON'S SPARROWS remain fairly common in appropriate salt marshes, both on the south shore of Long Island and along the Westchester coast. Dune Road west of Shinnecock Inlet seems to be quite reliable for them now. NELSON'S was also reported at Randall's Island this week and last.

Other birds noted at Shinnecock Inlet last Sunday recently featured a HARLEQUIN DUCK, five PARASITIC JAEGERS, and two ROYAL TERNS.

Farther east on Long Island, a sea watch at Amagansett Saturday produced a POMARINE JAEGER a MANX SHEARWATER, and 17 CORY'S SHEARWATERS. 43 BLACK SKIMMERS were still at Mecox last Friday, and in the Montauk area a CACKLING GOOSE was with Canadas at Deep Hollow Ranch, and BLUE-WINGED TEAL and PECTORAL SANDPIPER were at Rita's Horse Farm.

Unexpected was a calling flyby PECTORAL SANDPIPER in Prospect Park on Monday, only ~5th record in the park's history.

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 ~