New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, August 8, 2014:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Aug. 8, 2014
* NYNY1408.08

- Birds Mentioned

WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL+
BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Red-necked Grebe
Cory’s Shearwater
Great Shearwater
AUDUBON’S SHEARWATER
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Leach’s Storm-Petrel
BROWN PELICAN
AMERICAN AVOCET
Whimbrel
MARBLED GODWIT
Western Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Stilt Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Canada Warbler
LARK 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, August 8 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are a pelagic trip with WHITE-FACED and BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETRELS and AUDUBON’S SHEARWATER, BROWN PELICAN, AMERICAN AVOCET, MARBLED GODWIT, LARK SPARROW and more.

A private fishing boat last Friday the 1st ventured out 90 to 100 miles into the Atlantic south east of Shinnecock, encountering a nice selection of Storm-Petrels. These included a WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL visiting a chum slick and later 8 plus BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETRELS also doing the same. A single LEACH’S and about 80 WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS were also present. Three AUDUBON’S SHEARWATERS were spotted in the warm water, but otherwise only two GREAT SHEARWATERS were encountered.

A boat not too far off Montauk Point last Sunday recorded one GREAT and 22 CORY’S SHEARWATERS, 54 WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS, and 6 WHIMBRELS.

Back on shore there were two sightings of BROWN PELICANS during the week—3 were moving west off Cedar Beach Monday evening, and then 2 appeared on the Jones Inlet bar across from the Coast Guard Station Tuesday.

The East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge has recently provided a nice variety of shorebirds, but numbers have not been overwhelming. A breeding-plumaged AMERICAN AVOCET was certainly a highlight over last weekend and up through Wednesday, and a MARBLED GODWIT put in a brief appearance on Wednesday on the pond, and then two were seen this morning in the bay south of the West Pond breach. Other East Pond shorebirds have included a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER Sunday, and just 1 or 2 of WESTERN, WHITE-RUMPED, PECTORAL and STILT SANDPIPERS.

The land bird highlight this week was a LARK SPARROW found Thursday at Robert Moses State Park on Fire Island and still present today. The bird has been ranging along the entire northern border of Lot 2 at the west end of the Park, moving from the Golf Course end to the Volley Ball Courts end.

At Jones Beach West End single BLACK and ROYAL TERNS were present Sunday around the Coast Guard bar, and as the tide got higher Sunday morning the number of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS kept increasing in the West End 2 Parking Lot, with 34 the highest count, most in the western half of the lot.

Two GULL-BILLED TERNS have been hanging around Plum Beach in Brooklyn recently.

Moving East, a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER was at the East Marina at the Timber Point Golf Club Monday, and the RED-NECKED GREBE was still at Mecox Bay Sunday.

Six WHIMBRELS were in Accabonac Harbor on the South Fork Thursday, and another WHIMBREL and 25 plus BLACK TERNS were in Napeague Harbor the day before. Swallow movement recently has included some CLIFF and BANK SWALLOWS, and among the few warblers appearing locally have been MAGNOLIA, BLACKBURNIAN, BLACK-THROATEDS BLUE and GREEN, WORM-EATING, BLACK-AND-WHITE, OVENBIRD, and CANADA.

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