New York City Rare Bird Alert

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

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Mar. 27, 2015
* NYNY1503.27


- Birds Mentioned

MEW GULL+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
Redhead
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Great Egret
NORTHERN GOSHAWK
Rough-legged Hawk
Piping Plover
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
American Woodcock
ICELAND GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL
Eastern Phoebe
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Pine Warbler
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
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/...

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 27 at 7:00 pm.

The highlights of todaya€(TM)s tape are MEW GULL, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, GLAUCOUS and ICELAND GULLS and spring arrivals.

Well things are happening, but slowly a€" signs of the March doldrums.

The elusive first-winter brachyrhynchus MEW GULL put in another Brooklyn appearance last Sunday, this time on the playing fields and parking lot next to the Kohla€(TM)s at Caesara€(TM)s Bay shopping plaza, where it was initially found back on January 21st. Apparently both luck and perseverance are required to see this bird. Also at this site are continuing sightings of a GLAUCOUS GULL to Monday and an ICELAND GULL to Tuesday. Another ICELAND GULL visited Gilgo on the Jones strip Monday. A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was also noted in Brooklyn recently.

Among the lingering waterfowl were four GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE spotted yesterday at Quail Hill Preserve off Town Lane in Amagansett and a nice count of 60 REDHEAD continuing at Baisley Pond Park in Queens Sunday.

Among the EURASIAN WIGEON reported were two still at West Sayville Golf Course Sunday, one found off Miller Place Saturday that was still in Mt. Sinai Harbor Wednesday, one at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx Thursday, one still at Orient Point County Park Tuesday, and one off Lemon Creek Pier on Staten Island today.

Other wintering birds featured the immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK at Jones Beach West End Saturday, where there were also 11 PIPING PLOVERS on the bar off the Coast Guard Station, and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK at Floyd Bennett Field Sunday.

Some RED-NECKED GREBES still around included five in Jamaica Bay off Floyd Bennett Field Saturday and three on eastern Long Island at East Quogue on Monday. Numbers of HORNED GREBES now include some in nice plumage.

Also on the winter front, one or two COMMON REDPOLLS were present in Forest Park, Queens, to Wednesday, and another continued in Prospect Park through today.

Among the arriving species, good numbers of AMERICAN WOODCOCKS are now pouring through, a little behind schedule, but they should be putting on nice evening displays now at many open regional sites such as Floyd Bennett Field, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, along the Jones Beach strip and inland at sites such as Croton Point Park.

A run through Floyd Bennett Field and Plumb Beach in Brooklyn Thursday produced a number of the species now appearing or about to appear at many sites in our region, these including AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, EASTERN PHOEBE, TREE SWALLOW, EASTERN BLUEBIRD, PINE WARBLER, and EASTERN MEADOWLARK. Also seen was a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, while other sites have also added GREAT EGRET and SPARROWS such as CHIPPING, FIELD, and SWAMP.

A VESPER SPARROW from last week was still at Southards Pond in Babylon today, while a PURPLE MARTIN appeared off CONEY ISLAND last Sunday.

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