New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, June 24, 2016:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Jun. 24, 2016
* NYNY1606.24

- Birds mentioned
WHITE-FACED IBIS+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

American Bittern
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Piping Plover
Willet (subspecies "Western Willet")
Red Knot
White-rumped Sandpiper
WESTERN SANDPIPER
Gull-billed Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
COMMON TERN (Siberian form longipennis)
Royal Tern
Barn Owl
Acadian Flycatcher
Cliff Swallow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Summer Tanager
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, June 24th 2016 at 6pm. The highlights of today's tape are WHITE-FACED IBIS, BLUE GROSBEAK, WESTERN SANDPIPER, interesting COMMON TERNS and more.

An adult WHITE-FACED IBIS has been continuing its fairly regular visits to the southeast corner of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge as reported each day from Saturday at least through Tuesday afternoon. Diligent scanning through the flock of Glossy Ibis gathered there as they continuously cycle into and out of the pond plus some patience have and may still produce views of the White-faced. Saturday morning the White-faced stayed for about 25 minutes and then flew out alone towards the marsh south of the former West Pond but it could not be relocated there. Also Saturday morning a TRICOLORED and four LITTLE BLUE HERONS were feeding at mid-tide on the flats on the former West Pond. The south marsh and adjacent area has also been attracting one or two GULL-BILLED TERNS lately. Two ROYAL TERNS flew east over the East Pond Saturday morning and an ACADIAN FLYCATCHER that had been in the vicinity at Big John's Pond and was still singing there Tuesday morning and if there one should certainly visit the bird blind at Big John's Pond to view the young BARN OWLS in the nest box across the pond but please do nothing to disturb them.

Out east at least 3 BLUE GROSBEAKS have been present among the nice assemblage of birds around the grasslands at the former Grumman airport in Calverton. The Grosbeaks, including adult and subadult plumaged males and a female, have been in the vicinity at the southwest section of the airport property and surrounding fields near the terminus of Line Road at Grumman Boulevard. As these birds are hopefully nesting please do nothing that would interrupt their activities. Also in that area could still be a SUMMER TANAGER pair present earlier and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS are common nesters in the grasslands there.

At Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes where an entry fee is now charged shorebirds present recently on the celebrated flats there featured an apparent adult WESTERN SANDPIPER last Saturday along with some PIPING PLOVERS, single WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and RED KNOT, a Western WILLET among the Easterns and small numbers of a variety of species that will not be completing the journey farther north this summer. An AMERICAN BITTERN was also seen Saturday along with a ROYAL TERN and two ROSEATE TERNS while quite interesting there was a COMMON TERN showing aspects of the Siberian form longipennis though solidifying this identification would require much more detail than is currently available. Interestingly as well a similarly plumaged COMMON TERN was nicely photographed yesterday at Nickerson Beach west of Point Lookout. But again it is difficult to determine given the variability among age groups of COMMON TERNS exactly which subspecies is involved here. A BLACK TERN was also at Nickerson Thursday and scattered ROYAL TERNS have occurred from Plumb Beach and Nickerson Beach all the way out to Great Gull Island.

CLIFF SWALLOWS have been present within New York City limits recently but a couple feeding over the fields at Van Cortlandt Park Saturday through Wednesday and others constructing a couple of nests at Orchard Beach, these in the Bronx.

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