New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, August 7, 2015:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Aug. 7, 2015
* NYNY1508.07

- Birds Mentioned

Tricolored Heron
Willet
WHIMBREL
Red Knot
White-rumped Sandpiper
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
STILT SANDPIPER
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
GULL-BILLED TERN
CASPIAN TERN
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Purple Martin
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Canada Warbler
Bobolink
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole

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, August 7, 2015 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are shorebirds including BAIRD’S, STILT and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, WHIMBREL and LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, CASPIAN and GULL-BILLED TERNS and LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.

Perhaps the week’s most unusual shorebird locally, especially by age, was the adult BAIRD’S SANDPIPER found Monday at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn, where it was still being seen Thursday either along the beach wrack east of the jetty or occasionally in the marsh. It has not yet been reported today.

The East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is slowly rounding into proper condition to accommodate migrating shorebirds, though conditions for birders remain tricky, especially at the north end, due to a slippery algae mat on the flats and the continuing high water - so be careful out there. Among the below normal number of species and total birds this past week were one or two STILT SANDPIPERS from Tuesday morning and six WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS appearing Thursday. Non-shorebirds there have featured one or two TRICOLORED HERONS, a CASPIAN TERN at the Raunt Saturday and seen again Tuesday, and a GULL-BILLED TERN last Sunday.

Up to 5 STILT SANDPIPERS were seen last weekend in the marsh by the marina at Timber Point Golf Course in Great River, just northeast of Heckscher State Park. Four still there on Tuesday were joined by a calling adult LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER.

A PECTORAL SANDPIPER was among some shorebirds at Breezy Point Tuesday, and 4 BLACK TERNS were among the many terns gathered there.

Further east at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes the most notable shorebird was a lingering WHIMBREL, joined by a few “Western” WILLETS, a decent count of 53 RED KNOTS Monday, other seasonal shorebirds and up to 11 ROYAL TERNS.

A little west of Smith Point County Park on the flats at Bellport Bay Inlet Wednesday the congregation of shorebirds featured 4 WHIMBRELS and single PECTORAL and WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS plus 23 ROYAL TERNS.

A small gathering of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS in the Jones Beach West End 2 parking lot recently included 3 Monday and apparently a few more than that earlier. Last year at this time counts of Lessers there reached over
30.

Recently some land birds have also been moving into our City parks, including about a dozen species of Warblers, mostly species nesting just north of the City—the most distant of these would appear to be a TENNESSEE reported from the north end of Central Park Thursday; others have included OVENBIRD, both LOUISIANA and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES, AMERICAN REDSTART, WORM-EATING, BLUE-WINGED, BLACK-AND-WHITE, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, PRAIRIE and CANADA WARBLERS. Other species appearing recently have included EASTERN KINGBIRD, LEAST FLYCATCHER, WARBLING VIREO, BALTIMORE and ORCHARD ORIOLES and BOBOLINK as well as the continuing five species of Swallows and PURPLE MARTIN.

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