New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending October 3, 2014:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 3, 2014
* NYNY1410.03

- Birds Mentioned

NORTHERN WHEATEAR+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

EURASIAN WIGEON
American Golden-Plover
American Oystercatcher
Pectoral Sandpiper
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Northern Parula
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-Crowned Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
Pine Siskin

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, October 3rd at 7:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are NORTHERN WHEATEAR, WESTERN KINGBIRD, BAIRD’S and BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS, EURASIAN WIGEON, BLUE GROSBEAK, and GOLDEN-WINGED and CONNECTICUT WARBLERS.

Perhaps providing signs of better things to come, a WESTERN KINGBIRD appeared Monday at the Mount Loretto Unique Area off Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island.

And better things did come with the discovery Wednesday of a NORTHERN WHEATEAR at Brooklyn’s Plum Beach. Ranging up and down the beachfront both Wednesday and Thursday at Plum Beach, the WHEATEAR was missed most of today, but apparently was refound this evening near the east end of the marsh, so may linger into tomorrow.

Though landbird numbers generally remain fairly unimpressive, a nice later fall variety is becoming evident in most regional parks. And today seemed to mark the transition from warblers over to sparrows. A few CONNECTICUT WARBLERS have been reported lately, including from Monday and Wednesday in Central Park, Tuesday in Madison Square Park in lower Manhattan, and today at Strack Pond at the western end of Forest Park in Queens. A male GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER spotted in Alley Pond Park last Sunday was joined there by WORM-EATING and CAPE MAY WARBLERS, and a MOURNING WARBLER was at Crocheron Park in Queens Monday. Though the bulk of the warblers has presumably moved through, the good variety still being seen has included TENNESSEE, BAY-BREASTED, BLACKBURNIAN and HOODED, with species like NORTHERN PARULA and BLACKPOLL occurring in good numbers this week, while YELLOW-RUMPEDS are just beginning to appear. An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was noted in Kissena Park in Queens last Sunday, and a PHILADELPHIA VIREO or two are still being reported.

Kissena Park also produced two BLUE GROSBEAKS near the Velodrome last Sunday, and it is good to see small numbers of PINE SISKINS moving through the area, with certainly more to come, though this may be the only winter finch to get this far south this winter.

Other species moving into our area recently have included YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, WINTER WREN, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, BROWN CREEPER and various sparrows, including LINCOLN’S and WHITE-CROWNED. Some NELSON’S SPARROWS are also appearing in salt marshes in the area, including at Plum Beach.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, though shorebird numbers have been low recently, the drake EURASIAN WIGEON was still being seen on the East Pond at least through Wednesday.

At Jones Beach West End a nice gathering of birds recently at high tide on the bar next to the Coast Guard Station has included over 450 AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS and 150 BLACK SKIMMERS, with an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER joining the other shorebirds there last weekend. Also noted last Saturday were a ROYAL TERN and 8 PINE SISKINS overhead.

The sodfields of Riverhead last Saturday produced 8 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS and 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS in fields along Edward’s Avenue and another GOLDEN-PLOVER on the west side of Route 105 just south of Sound Avenue, with a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER reported at the Route 105 fields Sunday.

A BAIRD’S SANDPIPER was noted at the Georgica Pond inlet last Sunday, while at Mecox inlet last Saturday were one ROYAL TERN and four CASPIAN TERNS and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.

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