New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, June 12, 2015:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* June 12, 2015
* NYNY1506.12

- Birds Mentioned

BLACK-NECKED STILT+
ARCTIC TERN+
LONG-TAILED JAEGER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Gadwall
Common Eider
Hooded Merganser
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Cory’s Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Black Vulture
Bald Eagle
SANDHILL CRANE
Whimbrel
Red Knot
White-rumped Sandpiper
Dunlin
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Parasitic Jaeger
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Barred Owl
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Common Raven
Cliff Swallow
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Prothonotary Warbler
SUMMER TANAGER
BLUE GROSBEAK
Pine Siskin

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, June 12 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are BLACK-NECKED STILT, SANDHILL CRANE, LONG-TAILED JAEGER, ARCTIC TERN, MANX SHEARWATER, SUMMER TANAGER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER and BLUE GROSBEAK.

A couple of nice local rarities appeared last weekend – first a BLACK-NECKED STILT was spotted last Saturday in the marsh at Shirley Marina County Park, where it lingered at least through Sunday. This marina is just west of the William Floyd Parkway before it crosses the bridge to Smith Point County Park.

Then on Sunday two SANDHILL CRANES appeared in Napeague, seen around Napeague Pond off Lazy Point Road and later several times in flight as they moved around that area, the last sighting Monday morning as they were flying towards Route 27.

Seawatching has recently become more rewarding, this week’s finds topped by an immature LONG-TAILED JAEGER identified as it moved east off Amagansett early Saturday morning; also counted there were 18 RED-THROATED and 11 COMMON LOONS, 22 NORTHERN GANNETS and a few Scoters.

Some NYC pelagics included a SOOTY SHEARWATER and a late CASPIAN TERN migrating by Riis Park Monday afternoon, followed by a MANX SHEARWATER moving west past Breezy Point Wednesday afternoon. Also at Breezy Point Wednesday were a WHIMBREL and four RED KNOTS among a handful of shorebirds, with a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL there Thursday.

But pelagics do improve as you move east on Long Island. Recently off Robert Moses State Park CORY’S SHEARWATERS and SOOTY SHEARWATERS have been seen daily, with a peak of 24 CORY’S Monday, when 2 PARASITIC JAEGERS also moved by.

An earlier PARASITIC JAEGER and a WILSON’S STORM-PETREL were off Democrat Point Saturday, joining a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and four ROSEATE TERNS out there.

Another pelagic was a WILSON’S STORM-PETREL seen close off Nickerson Beach west of Point Lookout on Wednesday, but the highlight at Nickerson has been the nice collection of Terns there recently. A couple of ARCTIC TERNS have been identified – an adult Monday and an immature Tuesday and Wednesday, these usually roosting among the large numbers of COMMON and LEAST TERNS and BLACK SKIMMERS present in the colony there. One or two GULL-BILLED TERNS there are also probably nesting, and other visitors have included a couple of ROSEATE and BLACK TERNS during the week and an early ROYAL TERN present on Tuesday.

Another ROYAL TERN was on the flats at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes on Wednesday. Earlier in the week at Cupsogue 2 adult ARCTIC TERNS plus ROSEATE TERN were seen on the flats last Sunday, with a PARASITIC JAEGER offshore, while an immature ARCTIC was on the flats yesterday. Another GULL-BILLED TERN was reported out east at Napeague last Sunday.

Among the rarest of our local nesters, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER continues to sing near the entrance to Connetquot River State Park, where the male PROTHONOTARY WARBLER was last noted back on the 5th – we hope its disappearance was only related to its inability to find a mate. A male SUMMER TANAGER was still present Sunday at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, and BLUE GROSBEAK has returned to a traditional site along Route 51 in Eastport.

Interestingly late occurrences include three COMMON EIDER off Rockaway Beach, Queens, Sunday and a RED-NECKED GREBE still off Staten Island last Saturday. YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS appear to be nesting on Governors Island in New York Harbor.

Last weekend the Greenwich-Stamford Summer Bird Count, including much of eastern Westchester County, recorded 137 species. Among the highlights were GADWALL and HOODED MERGANSER, BLACK VULTURE, nesting BALD EAGLE, a few lingering shorebirds, including DUNLIN, some BLACK-BILLED and YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS, a few pairs of BARRED OWLS, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, scattered COMMON RAVENS, CLIFF SWALLOW, BROWN CREEPER, WINTER WREN, 18 species of Warbler, and count period PINE SISKIN.

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