New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 20, 2015:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov. 20, 2015
* NYNY1511.20

- Birds Mentioned

BARNACLE GOOSE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
Cackling Goose
Eurasian Wigeon
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN
SANDHILL CRANE
Long-billed Dowitcher
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
WESTERN KINGBIRD
CAVE SWALLOW
Lapland Longspur
Orange-crowned Warbler
DICKCISSEL

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, November 20, 2015 at 7:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, SANDHILL CRANE, CAVE SWALLOW, WESTERN KINGBIRD, BARNACLE and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, 2 Central Park Flycatchers, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER and DICKCISSEL.

Ah, we do like November - nice assortment of rarities this week began Saturday with an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN seen flying over the West Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge; it wasn’t until Tuesday noon, however, that the Pelican was relocated on the East Pond, where it has continued through today, usually way up in the north end, where it is best viewed with a telescope from the Big John’s Pond overlook. A good variety of waterfowl is also on the pond, and 2 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were spotted flying in to the south end Wednesday.

Another good flyover Saturday was a SANDHILL CRANE moving west passed Venetian Shores Park in Lindenhurst, photographed as it continued high overhead.

Observers were at Venetian Shores and elsewhere along the coast looking for any of last Friday’s Franklin Gull’s, which apparently disappeared very quickly, but the consolation prize was CAVE SWALLOW. The very strong northwest weekend winds pushed decent numbers of CAVE SWALLOWS to coastal locations - on Saturday up to 9 were counted at Coney Island Creek in Brooklyn, with 7 at Venetian Shores, and smaller numbers included some on Staten Island, at Breezy Point and Fort Tilden, plus Broad Channel and Captree State Park, and Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and in Rye on the Westchester coast. Sunday added some CAVE SWALLOWS again at Coney Island, Breezy Point and Venetian Shores along with sightings at Edgemere Landfill in Queens and at Mount Loretto Unique Area on Staten Island. A nice flight that disappeared once the winds changed.

Another highlight at the Edgemere Landfill Sunday was a WESTERN KINGBIRD.

And speaking of Flycatchers, Central Park has had two intriguing sightings recently - on Wednesday, a Yellow-bellied or “Western” type Empidonax Flycatcher was seen briefly and finally relocated in the Ramble area today, and also today near the Great Hill in the north end a Myiarchus Flycatcher, quite possibly an Ash-throated Flycatcher, was spotted. Both birds have been photographed, and hopefully analysis of the photos and subsequent follow-up can put a definite species tag on both of these birds. A DICKCISSEL was also up near the Great Hill at least through last Sunday, and an immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER continues in Central Park in the Ramble area.

Out on Long Island, a BARNACLE GOOSE was present on Marratooka Lake off New Suffolk Avenue in Mattituck last weekend, and a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was seen Saturday at the Avalon Pond East Farm Preserve in Stony Brook. CACKLING GOOSE was also noted at both locations.

A EURASIAN WIGEON was on Mill Pond in Setauket Saturday.

Up to 7 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS remain along Santapogue Creek in Lindenhurst, the creek just east of Venetian Shores Park.

Other recent highlights have included an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER at Cow Meadow Park in Freeport Sunday and 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS at Fort Tilden last Saturday.

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