New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, March 21, 2014:

* RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
*Mar. 21, 2014
* NYNY1403.21

- Birds mentioned

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
TUNDRA SWAN
Wood Duck
Harlequin Duck
RED-NECKED GREBE
Greater Yellowlegs
American Woodcock
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
SNOWY OWL
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Eastern Phoebe
NORTHERN SHRIKE
Tree Swallow
LAPLAND LONGSPUR

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 nysarc44nybirdsorg

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

Compiler: 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, March 21, 2014 at 6:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are SWALLOW-TAILED KITE, NORTHERN SHRIKE, SNOWY OWL, TUNDRA SWAN, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, RED-NECKED GREBE, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, and LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

With a small number of SWALLOW-TAILED KITES appearing in the northeast this week it is very unfortunate that New York's was found deceased Thursday in Quogue.

The NORTHERN SHRIKE was spotted again last Saturday at Jones Beach West End near the swale in front of the West End 2 parking lot and also at West End during the week were two lingering SNOWY OWLS, some TREE SWALLOWS, and today two LAPLAND LONGSPURS in front of the Roosevelt Nature Center. That area also provided an ICELAND GULL at Jones Beach Field 10 last Saturday and four HARLEQUIN DUCKS continuing at the Point Lookout jetties on the west side of Jones Inlet.

On Staten Island last Saturday two briefly seen TUNDRA SWANS were followed by a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE on Arbutus Pond. This pond, mostly private, also hosted a variety of other waterfowl, indicative of the large movement taking place recently.

Also noted at numerous locations have been RED-NECKED GREBES, some coming into nice plumage. Though usually at open water sites, some have also visited and lingered on such bodies as Central Park Reservoir, Prospect Park Lake, Massapequa Preserve just above the train station and Argyle Lake in Babylon.

Despite the spring finally arriving, some SNOWY OWLS can still be found in wintering areas. And additional ICELAND GULLS included two still at Shinnecock Inlet Saturday and one on Central Park Reservoir Tuesday.

A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was still around Coney Island Creek in Brooklyn today. The RED-HEADED WOODPECKER wintering at Muttontown Preserve was seen again Sunday. Another has been wintering at a private residence in Hauppauge. More WOOD DUCKS and EASTERN PHOEBES have been moving into the area. AMERICAN WOODCOCKS have been displaying at appropriate sites this week. And arriving GREATER YELLOWLEGS have also been noted.

If you have not yet signed the petition to restore the West Pond of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, please do so, it will help. The petition is on the internet at http://tinyurl.com/west-pond-petition. Thanks.

To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or days 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 transcript