New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 27, 2016:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May 27, 2016
* NYNY1605.27

- Birds Mentioned

PACIFIC LOON+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Common Loon
Sooty Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
Northern Gannet
WHIMBREL
Pectoral Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GULL-BILLED TERN
Roseate Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
SNOWY OWL
Red-headed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
PHILADELPHIA VIREO
Worm-eating Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
Nelson’s Sparrow
SUMMER TANAGER
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

NOTE: DUE TO APPARENT TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES THE PHONE TAPE HAS NOT YET BEEN RECORDED.

[~BEGIN RBA TAPE~]

Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, May 27, 2016 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are PACIFIC LOON, MANX SHEAWATER, SNOWY OWL, GULL-BILLED TERN, WHIMBREL, DICKCISSEL, SUMMER TANAGER, PHILADELPHIA VIREO, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, and other spring migrants.

Sea watching from the south shore of Long Island produced a small flight of tubenoses last Saturday afternoon, with 1 MANX and 7 SOOTY SHEARWATERS seen moving east off Robert Moses State Park Field 2. The first 3, including the MANX, were close in, but abating winds moved the flight line further offshore. Early morning or late afternoon watches, with onshore winds especially, can be very productive. Even better, on Sunday mid-morning a sea watch from the same Robert Moses Field 2 location provided a breeding plumaged PACIFIC LOON flying east in the company of a COMMON LOON. A few NORTHERN GANNETS were also among the other offshore migrants.

Another bird of interest was a SNOWY OWL present on Great Gull Island in eastern Long Island Sound back on Friday the 20th, perhaps the same bird photographed at the end of April on Fisher’s Island.

Some TERNS arriving recently have featured 2 GULL-BILLEDS around the south marsh below the former West Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last Sunday; a ROYAL at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes commencing Wednesday, a ROSEATE at Nickerson Beach today, and an increasing number of BLACK SKIMMERS.

The late build-up of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS might be starting, with 4 spotted at Robert Moses State Park Sunday.

Among the shorebirds, which are presumably nearing peak numbers now, have been a few WHIMBRELS this week, including 1 at Big Egg Marsh in Jamaica Bay Monday, and then on Wednesday sightings of 3 at Breezy Point and singles at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn and Marshlands Conservancy in Rye. A PECTORAL SANDPIPER was at Big Egg Saturday and 3 dropped by Plumb Beach Monday.

A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was visiting the feeders at Connetquot River State Park yesterday, where, to begin the passerines, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER also continues.

Warbler numbers in general have been expectedly dropping off, though Wednesday’s flight did replenish the dwindling totals, mostly with females and anticipated late migrants. MOURNING WARBLERS have been nicely represented in the city parks and elsewhere, and among the others have been a couple of CERULEANS, one in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan Thursday and another last Friday at Owl’s Head Park in Brooklyn among a nice mix of warblers and other landbirds there that day. A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was found Wednesday at Strawberry Fields in Central Park and lingered to Thursday, and other warblers have featured WORM-EATING, TENNESSEE, CAPE MAY, BAY-BREASTED, HOODED and WILSON’S.

A very small number of PHILADELPHIA VIREOS, tough here in Spring and sometimes confused with similar Vireos, included birds this week described from Central Park during mid-week, at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan Wednesday, and in Highland Park at the western end of Forest Park in Queens Thursday.

A nice find today was a male DICKCISSEL at the north end of Central Park near the Great Hill at about West 106th Street.

A few scattered SUMMER TANAGER reports included 1 or more in Central Park last weekend, singles Sunday at Hempstead Lake State Park and by the former Grumman Airport in Calverton, and 1 at Jones Beach West End Thursday.

Flycatchers lately have included a few OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS and the 5 eastern Empidonax species, where vocalizations are hopefully aiding in the identification.

A NELSON’S SPARROW at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn on Wednesday indicate they should be looked for now in coastal salt marshes >

Only 4 places are open for the See Life Paulagics overnight pelagic trip leaving Brooklyn Sunday evening June 5. If interested please call 215-234-6805 ASAP.

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