New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 8, 2015:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May. 8, 2015
* NYNY1505.08

- Birds mentioned

Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Semipalmated Plover
Upland Sandpiper
Red Knot
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Gull-billed Tern
CASPIAN TERN
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Acadian Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Swainson's Thrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Worm-eating Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Canada Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
SUMMER TANAGER
Grasshopper Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
Bobolink

- 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 8th 2015 at 9pm. The highlights of today's tape are Spring migrants with 35 species of warblers including PROTHONOTARY WARBLER and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, BLUE GROSBEAK, SUMMER TANAGER, CASPIAN TERN and RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.

A decent week for migrants. Today's report of an early MOURNING WARBLER in Central Park's Ramble brings the warbler species total in the city parks this week to 34. Among the rarer species a PROTHONOTARY was present in Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island Monday and Tuesday and another appeared at the Lullwater in Prospect Park Wednesday. A YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was spotted in Central Park Tuesday and also near Saint John's Pond in Cold Spring early in the week with nesting birds continuing at Connetquot River State Park. Several KENTUCKY WARBLERS showed up starting last Sunday with one at Clove Lakes Park. A KENTUCKY was found in Riverside Park in northern Manhattan Monday while one in Prospect Park Tuesday was still present Thursday but tough to see. Wednesday also brought reports of KENTUCKY at Hempstead Lake State Park and Drier-Offerman in Brooklyn. YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were found Tuesday in Inwood Hill Park in northern Manhattan and at Jones Beach West End with Wednesday adding one in Prospect Park. A CERULEAN WARBLER visited Central Park Monday. An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was reported from Prospect Park last Saturday and today.

Among the other more notable warblers have been a few newly arriving TENNESSEE, BAY-BREASTED, CHESTNUT-SIDED, BLACKPOLL, WILSON'S and CANADA and such favorites as WORM-EATING, CAPE MAY, BLACKBURNIAN and HOODED all in generally low numbers. And a 35th species of warbler, GOLDEN-WINGED, is already on territory north of the city.

A nice number of SUMMER TANAGERS and BLUE GROSBEAKS appeared during the week. The at least 5 SUMMER TANAGERS included a singing adult male at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last Sunday, one at Inwood Hill Park Sunday and Tuesday and 2 in Central Park Tuesday with one still there Thursday when another also visited Hempstead Lake State Park. Six BLUE GROSBEAKS featured 3, sometimes together, along the roadway at Robert Moses State Park to the water tower up to Tuesday and singles at Heckscher State Park last Saturday, one reported from Roosevelt Island Sunday and one in Central Park's Ramble on Thursday.

Four CASPIAN TERNS were still on the Mecox flats last Saturday and a single GULL-BILLED TERN continued to visit the bar off the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End with a second spotted at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge off the former West Pond on Wednesday. Other notables at the bay recently have included TRICOLORED and LITTLE BLUE HERONS and RED KNOT. Among the shorebirds, now increasing in numbers generally, were an UPLAND SANDPIPER seen at Croton Point Park in Westchester County last Sunday and arriving SEMIPALMATED PLOVER and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.

A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER visited the quickly drying waterhole in Forest Park Monday to Wednesday and another was spotted at Jones Beach West End on Tuesday.

The first YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO was noted Tuesday followed by a BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO by Thursday and a COMMON NIGHTHAWK appeared over Staten Island Wednesday. An ACADIAN FLYCATCHER was identified in Riverside Park Monday, a WILLOW FLYCATCHER was noted by Thursday with other arrivals this week including SWAINSON'S THRUSH, BOBOLINK and SALTMARSH and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS. GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS have returned to the former Grumman airport grasslands in Calverton, an area that every effort should be made to save.

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