New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 16, 2014:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
*May 16, 2014
* NYNY1405.16

- Birds Mentioned

WHITE-FACED IBIS+
MISSISSIPPI KITE+
BLACK-NECKED STILT+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

“Black” Brant
MANX SHEARWATER
Glossy Ibis
Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Gallinule
Stilt Sandpiper
WILSON’S PLOVER
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
Gull-billed Tern
Roseate Tern
Black Skimmer
Parasitic Jaeger
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Orange-crowned Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
SUMMER TANAGER
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Savannah Sparrow
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
Saltmarsh Sparrow

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, May 16 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are MISSISSIPPI KITE, WILSON’S PLOVER, BLACK-NECKED STILT, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, MANX SHEARWATER, PROTHONOTARY and KENTUCKY WARBLERS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER TANAGER, and CLAY-COLORED and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS and more.

An immature MISSISSIPPI KITE spotted and recognizably photographed over Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn last Saturday morning was perhaps the same bird spotted there Sunday morning and possibly over Forest Park, Queens early Sunday, but would not have been the adult reported from Montauk Point on Monday. Without large concentrations of cicadas this year, the Kites will be back to their normal regimen and could reappear anywhere.

A WHITE-FACED IBIS was found with GLOSSY IBIS today in Captree Marsh on the north side of Captree Island, a private island west of the Robert Moses Causeway. A STILT SANDPIPER was also noted there. Also on Friday a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was seen along the shore at Old Inlet on Fire Island, with one also later at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes. Sea-watching Friday morning produced decent general movement on the ocean plus a MANX SHEARWATER and two PARASITIC JAEGERS off Robert Moses State Park, with additional single Parasitics also off Smith Point County Park and at Captree.

The BLACK-NECKED STILT recently residing on Goethels Bridge Pond in northwestern Staten Island was still being recorded at least to Sunday, and the WILSON’S PLOVER was reported again from Cupsogue County Park last Saturday.

Five GULL-BILLED TERNS along with arriving BLACK SKIMMERS were at Nickerson Beach west of Point Lookout last Saturday, and three Gull-billeds were at Jones Beach West End Sunday and Monday.

To finalize the non-passerines, RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were spotted at Kissena Park, Queens Monday and at Jones Beach West End Tuesday, a “BLACK” BRANT was seen and photographed with some “ATLANTIC” BRANT at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye Wednesday and Thursday, but not relocated Friday, and numbers of both CUCKOOS are slowly increasing.

With a variety of passerines present this week, perhaps most unusual among them was an influx of GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS last Saturday; single birds were seen at Inwood Hill Park in Manhattan, at Jones Beach West End, and at Playland Park in Rye, with two reported from Van Cortland Park in the Bronx—all were with migrating SAVANNAH SPARROWS and none were relocated the following day. Also interesting were two CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS in Central Park on Monday.

Most regional parks enjoyed a good variety of land birds this week, at least until the weather messed things up again. Among the Warblers, MOURNING began showing up last weekend, and a KENTUCKY was in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn Monday, that same day finding a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER in Central Park, where the ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER lingered to Sunday, these among the 35 species of warblers enjoyed in our region, including several specialties already on territory.

A SUMMER TANAGER was seen in Central Park through last weekend, with other singles at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Saturday, in Forest Park near the waterhole last weekend, at Alley Pond Park Saturday, and at Uplands Park Preserve in Cold Spring Harbor, Tuesday.

Various Flycatchers have also been reported recently, these including OLIVE-SIDED, ACADIAN, ALDER, and YELLOW-BELLIED. Other arrivals have included VIRGINIA RAIL, SORA, COMMON GALLINULE, ROSEATE TERN, and SALTMARSH SPARROW.

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