New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, December 20, 2013:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Dec. 20, 2013
* NYNY1312.20

- Birds mentioned

VARIED THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Snow Goose
ROSS'S GOOSE
Cackling Goose
TUNDRA SWAN
Eurasian Wigeon
KING EIDER
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Red-necked Grebe
Black Vulture
Bald Eagle
Northern Goshawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Pectoral Sandpiper
American Woodcock
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Iceland Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL
Black-legged Kittiwake
Black Skimmer
Razorbill
BLACK GUILLEMOT
Snowy Owl
Barred Owl
Short-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Red-headed Woodpecker
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Common Raven
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Vesper Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Baltimore Oriole

- Transcript

If followed by (+) please submit documentation of your report electronically and use the NYSARC online submission form found at http://www.nybirds.org/NYSARC/...

You can also send reports and digital image files via email to nysarc3@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

Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert
Number: (212) 979-3070

To report sightings call:
Tom Burke (212) 372-1483 (weekdays, during the day)
Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126 (Long Island)

Compiler: Tom Burke, Tony Lauro
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County

Transcriber: Ben Cacace

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, December 20th 2013 at 9pm. The highlights of today's tape are VARIED THRUSH, BLACK GUILLEMOT, BLACK-HEADED GULL, ROSS'S GOOSE, NORTHERN SHRIKE, KING EIDER, TUNDRA SWAN, GLAUCOUS GULL and Christmas Count results.

A very striking male VARIED THRUSH found last Sunday in Stuyvesant Town in lower Manhattan was still present today. The thrush has been frequenting the trees and shrubbery around Stuyvesant Oval which is the center of the Stuyvesant Town complex. This area is east of 1st Avenue around East 19th Street but finding the thrush can be tricky but definitely worth while once located.

The BLACK GUILLEMOT found last Friday around the Shinnecock Inlet jetties was still present at least to Monday and a BLACK-HEADED GULL was spotted among the Bonaparte's Gulls in the inlet today. Also at Shinnecock have been 2 immature GLAUCOUS GULLS as well as immature ICELAND GULLS.

SNOWY OWLS continue along Dune Road and elsewhere as exemplified by last weekend's Christmas Count totals that included 15 in Brooklyn, 5 in Queens, 14 at Captree and 11 at Montauk.

The count field Saturday recorded lower than usual numbers due to the stormy weather but did produce some good sightings. Brooklyn Saturday recorded 110 species including 2 CACKLING GEESE, RED-NECKED GREBE, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, a NASHVILLE and 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS and NELSON'S SPARROW.

Montauk Saturday also netted 110 species including over 1,700 COMMON EIDER, 55 RAZORBILLS, a ROSS'S GOOSE on Montauk Downs Golf Course seen to Monday, 3 BALD EAGLES and 3 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS on Gardiner's Island, HARLEQUIN DUCK at Montauk Point and a NORTHERN SHRIKE at Napeague.

On Sunday the Captree Count tallied 119 species featuring 5 EURASIAN WIGEONS, 2 RED-NECKED GREBES, NORTHERN GOSHAWK on Fire Island, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, PECTORAL SANDPIPER, GLAUCOUS GULL, 2 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, NASHVILLE WARBLER and VESPER SPARROW.

Queens on Sunday recorded 118 species including a drake KING EIDER seen off the 59th Street jetty in the Rockaways, 2 GLAUCOUS GULLS, RAZORBILL, SHORT-EARED OWL, COMMON RAVEN, a NASHVILLE and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS.

The Greenwich-Stamford County Sunday featured 105 species with 4 TUNDRA SWANS, 2 BLACK VULTURES, BALD EAGLE, SNOWY OWL, NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL and BARRED OWLS and 2 RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS.

The Rockland Count Sunday featured 84 species with 53 BLACK VULTURES, 12 COMMON RAVENS and RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.

Central Park on Sunday provided 62 species for the Lower Hudson Count including SNOW GOOSE, BALD EAGLE, AMERICAN WOODCOCK and BALTIMORE ORIOLE.

During the week EURASIAN WIGEONS were seen on Saint John's Pond off Route 25A in Cold Spring Harbor, at Mill Pond in Centerport Wednesday and at Massapequa Preserve last Saturday. Two LAPLAND LONGSPURS were with Horned Larks on Floyd Bennett Field on Wednesday and another was in the swale at Jones Beach West End off lot 2 on Monday. A GLAUCOUS GULL was spotted a few times Thursday between Jones Inlet and the Point Lookout Town Park both on the beach and in the lot there.

Unexpected Wednesday were 2 flocks of TUNDRA SWANS containing 10 and 11 birds reported moving by Jones Beach. A PIPING PLOVER was still near the Jones Beach West End jetty Thursday and an immature BLACK SKIMMER was also present that day. Two TUNDRA SWANS were also still on Hook Pond in East Hampton Wednesday and 2 RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS continued around Turtle Cove at Pelham Bay Park at least to Monday.

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 transcript -