New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, February 27, 2015

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Feb. 27, 2015
* NYNY1502.27

- Birds Mentioned

PINK-FOOTED GOOSE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Snow Goose
Canada Goose
EURASIAN WIGEON
HARLEQUIN DUCK
BARROW’S GOLDENEYE
Red-necked Grebe
NORTHERN GOSHAWK
Red-shouldered Hawk
ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK
Willet
Wilson’s Snipe
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-Backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Long-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Horned Lark
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
Snow Bunting
Common Redpoll

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, February 27 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are PINK-FOOTED GOOSE, BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, HARLEQUIN DUCK, EURASIAN WIGEON, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, and LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

With the weather continuing to wear down both birds and birders, a few good birds do nonetheless continue in our area. The rarest of these is perhaps the PINK-FOOTED GOOSE in Riverhead, still present Wednesday with CANADA GEESE on a sod field on the east side of Doctor’s Path. The flock is often found in this complex of fields south of Sound Avenue between Doctor’s Path and Route 105, and Greater White-Fronted and Cackling Geese should also be looked for there.

Joining the female BARROW’S GOLDENEYE still present Thursday on the pond at Moravian Cemetery off Richmond Road on Staten Island and the drake presumed to still be present off or just west of Sands Point Preserve was another female BARROW’S GOLDENEYE spotted inside Fire Island Inlet last Saturday, the flock of ducks there also containing a HARLEQUIN DUCK, which was still there Tuesday.

Immature NORTHERN GOSHAWKS were reported last weekend both from Jones Beach West End and farther east along Ocean Parkway around Gilgo to Cedar Beach, and the timing of the sightings would indicate that, as previously suspected, two different birds are involved.

Excellent numbers of ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS are also present now, seen hunting over most appropriate open marshy areas. Several are along the entire length of Ocean Parkway from Jones Beach West End to the east, as well as along the Meadowbrook Parkway and Loop Causeway, and at least three have been seen at Floyd Bennett Field, with one or two at numerous other sites. A weather-related increase in the number of RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS has also been noted, the same weather conditions also producing an influx of LONG-EARED, SHORT-EARED and NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS.

A drake EURASIAN WIGEON continues at Bush Terminal Piers Park in Brooklyn, and other drakes were seen again on the Arthur Kill on Staten Island Sunday and at Connetquot River State Park Wednesday, with a fourth drake present for the last two days off Rye Beach just south of Playland Park in Westchester County.

A GLAUCOUS GULL was spotted again at Bush Terminal Piers Park in Brooklyn Saturday, and a Sunday search for the Mew Gull only yielded an adult LESSER-BLACKED GULL around the Caesar’s Bay shopping center.

Also in Brooklyn, a WILSON’S SNIPE continues at the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center, a RED-NECKED GREBE was still on Gravesend Bay Thursday, where an ICELAND GULL also continues to hang out, and two LAPLAND LONGSPURS were with HORNED LARKS at Floyd Bennett Field Sunday.

Hundreds of SNOW GEESE were in Jamaica Bay off Big Egg Marsh on Sunday.

At Jones Beach West End ten LAPLAND LONGSPURS were present in a large flock of HORNED LARKS and SNOW BUNTINGS on the lawn next to the Coast Guard Station last Saturday, and 29 COMMON REDPOLLS were counted there Sunday. Another Redpoll flock was noted at Nickerson Beach west of Point Lookout Thursday, and a surprise at Point Lookout last Saturday was a fly-by WILLET.

For information on or to sign up for a twelve-hour pelagic trip out of Brooklyn on April 11 visit the See Life Paulagics website at www.paulagics.com or call them at 215-234-6805.

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