New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, January 31, 2014:

RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* January 31, 2014

PINK-FOOTED GOOSE+
BARNACLE GOOSE+
MEW GULL+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Eurasian Wigeon
KING EIDER
Common Eider
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Red-necked Grebe
American Bittern
Bald Eagle
Clapper Rail
Willet
Black-headed Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL
Black-legged Kittiwake
Red-headed Woodpecker
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Horned Lark
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nelson's Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Lapland Longspur
Baltimore Oriole

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: Gail Benson

[~BEGIN RBA TAPE~]

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, January 31, 2014, at 5:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are MEW GULL, PINK-FOOTED, BARNACLE and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, BLACK-HEADED and GLAUCOUS GULLS, KING EIDER, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, NORTHERN SHRIKE and much more.

The Brooklyn MEW GULL, judged to be the Eurasian subspecies referred to as COMMON GULL, that was found last Friday the 24th on Veterans Memorial Pier was seen at that location both Saturday and Sunday briefly in mid-afternoon but has not been reported since. Besides the pier, places to look would include around the waste water treatment plant across from Owls Head Park or at the various Gull roosting spots along the Belt Parkway on the south side of the Verrazano Bridge down towards Coney Island Creek. Also noted around the pier this week have been a drake EURASIAN WIGEON and an immature ICELAND GULL, with two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at Coney Island Creek on Saturday.

Out on Eastern Long Island, the PINK-FOOTED GOOSE was present with Canada Geese on Sunday and Monday around the Route 105 and Sound Avenue intersection north of Riverhead. This is the same general area but a little east of last week's site, which was closer to Roanoke Avenue.

The New York City BARNACLE GOOSE has been seen consistently since last Saturday in the northeast section of Randall's Island, usually either in the creek adjacent to Field 44 or feeding with Canada Geese on the ball fields themselves. A RED-NECKED GREBE and an ICELAND GULL were also noted there Sunday. Two ICELAND GULLS were seen along the East River off mid-town Manhattan on Sunday.

The elusive Jones Beach West End NORTHERN SHRIKE was spotted Wednesday off the northwest corner of Lot 2, the bird probably spending much of its time between this Lot and the inlet jetty. A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was with HORNED LARKS on the field next to the pavilion near the Coast Guard Station on Wednesday, and across Jones Inlet at Point Lookout birds during the week included a couple of HARLEQUIN DUCKS continuing around the inlet or ocean jetties, an immature ICELAND GULL Saturday, the WESTERN WILLET again Wednesday, and the ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER again around the Fireman's Park on Monday.

Out at Shinnecock, where things remain active, the immature BLACK-HEADED GULL was seen in the inlet again Thursday. Also around the inlet female and immature male KING EIDERS continue in the Common Eider and mixed Scoter flocks there and GLAUCOUS and ICELAND GULLS continue to frequent the inlet area, feeding or roosting with the many Gulls there, these joined by two BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES last Saturday, when a RED-NECKED GREBE was also seen. Dune Road west of the inlet has also produced AMERICAN BITTERN, CLAPPER RAIL, and NELSON'S and SEASIDE SPARROWS this week.

Four GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE were present at the south end of Cold Spring Harbor off Route 25A last Saturday, and another has been visiting Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge in Shirley the 23rd to at least Tuesday, seen near the bridge over the Carmans River.

Drake EURASIAN WIGEONS were also noted at Massapequa Preserve Wednesday, Santapogue Creek in West Babylon on Saturday and off Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx last weekend. A young male KING EIDER was off Long Beach in Smithtown Saturday and two CACKLING GEESE have been roosting overnight on Playland Lake in Rye, Westchester County, recently. RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS continue at Greenwood Cemetery Brooklyn, Pelham Bay's Turtle Cove, and Croton Point, with another north of the lake in Kissena Park Queens on Wednesday. Two BALTIMORE ORIOLES continue around the Ramble feeders in Central Park, and BALD EAGLES are now along the Hudson River in good numbers.

To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or on weekdays please 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 ~