New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 29, 2015:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May. 29, 2015
* NYNY1505.29

- Birds mentioned

BICKNELL'S THRUSH+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Sooty Shearwater
Red-necked Phalarope (Orange County)
FRANKLIN'S GULL
CASPIAN TERN
ROSEATE TERN
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
SUMMER TANAGER
LARK SPARROW
BLUE GROSBEAK

- Transcript

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 nysarc44(at)nybirds{dot}org.

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

To report sightings call:
Tom Burke (212) 372-1483 (weekdays, during the day)
Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126 (Long Island)

Compiler: Tom Burke, Tony Lauro
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County

Transcriber: Ben Cacace

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, May 29th 2015 at 7pm. The highlights of today's tape are FRANKLIN'S GULL, LARK SPARROW, ROSEATE TERN, CASPIAN TERN, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, KENTUCKY WARBLER, BICKNELL'S THRUSH, BLUE GROSBEAK and SUMMER TANAGER.

An adult FRANKLIN'S GULL was very fortuitously photographed at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn last Sunday afternoon among a gathering of Laughing Gulls and subsequently identified from the photos later that evening. Word of this great find spread quickly and the FRANKLIN'S fortunately has continued in that area through this morning providing birders with the opportunity to study this nicely plumaged adult in comparison with accompanying Laughing Gulls. Though patience has often been required the FRANKLIN'S has periodically appeared along the shoreline at Plumb Beach mostly at the eastern end around the mouth of Gerritsen Inlet but sometimes off the western end of the park closer to Sheepshead Bay. It appeared at one point on Thursday to attempt to mate with a Laughing Gull, interesting but also somewhat disconcerting, but perhaps this will keep it around. For those driving to Plumb Beach the parking lot is off the eastbound side of the Belt Parkway only and does fill up around midday on nice beach days. For those going westbound on the Belt get off at Knapp Street exit 9 to reverse direction. From the parking lot walk out to the beach and turn left to Gerritsen Inlet or right towards the western end of the beach watching for gatherings of Laughing Gulls to scan through.

Another interesting Brooklyn bird was a LARK SPARROW spotted in Green-wood Cemetery last Saturday morning this location also producing a LARK SPARROW last year on May 24th.

Out on eastern Long Island the CASPIAN TERN was still at Mecox Bay Monday that same day finding two ROSEATE TERNS at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes.

With the landbird migration now very quickly winding down especially after last weekend among the more unusual passerines for the week was a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER spotted along the lake at Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx Saturday morning. A KENTUCKY WARBLER found Monday at the East Farm Preserve in Head of the Harbor located southwest of Stonybrook may be searching for a territory there and should not be disturbed the same true for the YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER continuing at Connetquot River State Park.

A SUMMER TANAGER lingered in Central Park to Saturday and another was spotted at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay on Tuesday while a BLUE GROSBEAK was reported from a closed section of the Brookhaven Lab property on Wednesday.

In the city parks at least 4 MOURNING WARBLERS were in Central Park last Sunday with others scattered elsewhere as well. A few BICKNELL'S THRUSHES had been noted early in the week including in Central and Prospect Parks most of them fortunately vocalizing but these and the other migrant thrushes have very abruptly moved on. So will the later moving flycatchers but OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was noted in Central Park as well as Prospect Park last weekend and among the later empidonax singing ALDER, ACADIAN and YELLOW-BELLIED have been present locally.

Onshore pelagics have yet to pick up in numbers but a SOOTY SHEARWATER was off Robert Moses State Park last Saturday. Very attractive was a female RED-NECKED PHALAROPE in Orange County last weekend and this species should be watched for along the south shore of Long Island.

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