New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 11, 2015:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sep. 11, 2015
* NYNY1509.11

- Birds mentioned

BLACK-CAPPED PETREL+
AUDUBON'S SHEARWATER+
LEACH'S STORM-PETREL+
BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
American Bittern
Common Gallinule
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet (subspecies "Western Willet")
MARBLED GODWIT
Western Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Stilt Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Pomarine Jaeger
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
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, September 11th 2015 at 6pm. The highlights of today's tape are another pelagic trip including BLACK-CAPPED PETREL, AUDUBON'S SHEARWATER, BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE and more plus AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, MARBLED GODWIT, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, BLUE GROSBEAK and LARK SPARROW.

This week's main highlight is again of the offshore variety reporting a trip aboard a private fishing boat back on the 3rd. This boat again reached very warm waters about 100 miles south of Montauk and encountered a species mix similar to the other two recent trips. Their totals included 3 BLACK-CAPPED PETRELS, 15 CORY'S, 1 GREAT and 49 AUDUBON'S SHEARWATERS, 2 LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, 9 BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL and 24 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, 9 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES and 3 POMARINE JAEGERS. The total of 19+ BLACK-CAPPED PETRELS in less than a week's time is more than had been recorded in New York State in total historically.

The sod field shorebirds have begun to appear in enjoyable numbers out on eastern Long Island. The traditional fields north of Riverhead provided 6 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS over last weekend and during the week the BUFF-BREASTED count got as high as 11 by Tuesday. Also appearing from Monday on were a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER to Wednesday and as many as a dozen AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS these today. These fields are bounded by Sound Avenue on the north, Doctor's Path on the west, Route 105 on the east and Northville Turnpike on the south and so far this season most sightings have been on the southeastern section of these fields especially if viewed from Northville Turnpike or the Fireman's Training Facility. Please do not enter these fields.

Another productive fallow field has been on the east side of Bridge Lane in Cutchogue this north of Middle Road and south of Oregon Road. Over the last weekend there were a dozen AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS as well as a single BAIRD'S SANDPIPER and 3 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS. This field is marked by a white building in the middle with birds often near this structure.

At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge 2 MARBLED GODWITS visited the East Pond for only a short while at midday last Saturday but otherwise the pond continues to produce small numbers of WESTERN, WHITE-RUMPED, PECTORAL and STILT SANDPIPERS. Other shorebirds have included single SOLITARY SANDPIPER and DUNLIN and one or two GULL-BILLED and BLACK TERNS were still visiting the pond at least to Wednesday.

Another MARBLED GODWIT and 2 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS joined other birds at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes on Monday. Most notable among the others were 6 Western WILLETS, 2 STILT SANDPIPERS, 2 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, 13 ROYAL TERNS and an AMERICAN BITTERN.

Birds at Sagg Pond in Bridgehampton Saturday included 2 CORY'S SHEARWATERS offshore and single PECTORAL and WESTERN SANDPIPERS, 2 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS and a CASPIAN TERN on the pond. There were also two CASPIAN TERNS in Bellport Bay Saturday.

Other scattered waterbirds featured 3 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS in the Jones Beach West End lot 2 Saturday, 2 GULL-BILLED TERNS at East Rockaway Beach Sunday and 2 ROYAL TERNS at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn on Monday. An AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was found at Floyd Bennett Field yesterday. The COMMON GALLINULE with a broken wing was spotted Wednesday on McKay Lake off Grumman Boulevard at the former Grumman airport in Calverton. This injury unfortunate for a species not seen much locally anymore,

As we await a new influx of landbirds a LARK SPARROW was found today at Robert Moses State Park around the east side of parking field 5. YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were reported from Central Park to Monday and at the North Fork Preserve in Northville today and a BLUE GROSBEAK was spotted on Governors Island back on Friday the 4th.

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