New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, April 24, 2015:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Apr. 24, 2015
* NYNY1504.24

- Birds Mentioned

BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER+
WESTERN TANAGER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

HARLEQUIN DUCK
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Virginia Rail
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Red Knot
Least Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Caspian Tern
SNOWY OWL
CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Seaside Sparrow
SUMMER TANAGER
Scarlet Tanager
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
BLUE GROSBEAK
Indigo Bunting
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch

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, April 24 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today's tape are BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER, CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW, WESTERN and SUMMER TANAGERS, PROTHONOTARY and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS, BLUE GROSBEAK, SNOWY OWL, HARLEQUIN DUCK and more spring migrants.

An unexpected surprise was a photo circulating today of a male BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER taken Thursday afternoon in Hawthorne, Westchester Co. at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery by the lake near the main entrance off the Taconic State Parkway. A search today did not relocate the bird, but please let us know if it resurfaces.

The lingering CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW was last noted in Manhattan's Bryant Park last Sunday. That same day a male WESTERN TANAGER in nice plumage was found at Jones Beach West End, where it was tracked for a few hours before losing itself in the West End vegetation. A SUMMER TANAGER showing up at that same location on Tuesday did not fare as well, being hit by a car near the turnaround.

BLUE GROSBEAKS also began appearing this week, the first was found Monday in Northern Westchester at Muscoot Farm, where it was still present Thursday. BLUE GROSBEAK was also spotted at Smith's Point County Park in Shirley on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Continuing the southern migrant theme, at least three PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS were in Brooklyn this week, starting with one Saturday at Prospect Park, where two were noted Sunday through Tuesday and at least one continued to Thursday, while another was also at Greenwood Cemetery Monday to Thursday.

Prospect Park also entertained one or two YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS from Sunday to Tuesday, with other YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS also found at Ridgewood Reservoir in Queens on Sunday and at Hempstead Lake State Park on Thursday.

A decent selection of other warblers also arrived during the week, with about 20 species present all told. Friday the 17th perhaps produced the first PRAIRIE WARBLER and NORTHERN PARULA, with the weekend then contributing WORM-EATING, OVENBIRD and HOODED to the list. During this week additional warblers have included NASHVILLE Thursday, two CAPE MAYS Wednesday, one in Central Park and one at Jones Beach West End, BLACK-THROATED GREEN from Tuesday, BLACKBURNIAN Wednesday, and AMERICAN REDSTART Thursday, plus a few more YELLOWS and COMMON YELLOWTHROATS. Both LOUISIANA and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES continue to be seen along with BLACK-AND-WHITE, PINE, PALM and YELLOW-RUMPED.

VIREOS so far have been mostly BLUE-HEADED, along with one or two WHITE-EYEDS, a RED-EYED Tuesday and WARBLING Thursday. Other notable passerines this week have included EASTERN KINGBIRD Wednesday, an EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE Thursday, WOOD THRUSH in Central Park from Tuesday, ORCHARD ORIOLE in Prospect Park Tuesday, BALTIMORE ORIOLE from Wednesday, SCARLET TANAGER in Central Park Tuesday, ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK in Prospect Park Saturday, INDIGO BUNTING as of Tuesday, and SEASIDE SPARROW in Oceanside Tuesday. Also occurring now are BROWN THRASHER, GRAY CATBIRD and EASTERN TOWHEE, plus a variety of sparrows, with some PURPLE FINCHES also moving through.

Tops among the shorebirds this week were 3 WHIMBRELS that appeared at the Coast Guard Station bar at Jones Beach West End Wednesday. Other shorebirds included a RED KNOT at Floyd Bennett Field Monday, SPOTTED SANDPIPER, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER or two and LEAST SANDPIPER in Oceanside as of last Friday.

Other migrants have featured GREEN HERON as of the 17th, VIRGINIA RAIL on eastern Long Island as of the 16th, four CASPIAN TERNS on the Mecox flats on Wednesday and a few scattered RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS.

Another bird on the move is BLACK VULTURE, with three or four over Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn Wednesday, preceded by six east of Riverhead on Tuesday and six over Rye in Westchester County today.

A winter touch was added by a SNOWY OWL still on Hick's Island in Napeague Sunday, two HARLEQUIN DUCKS continuing at Point Lookout last weekend, and a GLAUCOUS GULL still around Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn Wednesday.

Groups of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS during last Monday's storm included 12 at Heckscher State Park and six at Floyd Bennett Field, with two more each at Captree and Robert Moses State Park.

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