New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, July 8, 2016:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* July 8, 2016
* NYNY1607.08

- Birds Mentioned

WHITE-FACED IBIS+
ARCTIC TERN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

BROWN PELICAN
CATTLE EGRET
Black-bellied Plover
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
WHIMBREL
STILT SANDPIPER
Short-billed Dowitcher
GULL-BILLED TERN
Roseate Tern
Royal Tern
Acadian Flycatcher
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Worm-eating Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Northern Parula
Prairie Warbler
Grasshopper Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
Bobolink

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, July 8, 2016 at 7:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are BROWN PELICAN, WHITE-FACED IBIS, ARCTIC and GULL-BILLED TERNS, CATTLE EGRET, WHIMBREL and STILT SANDPIPER, and BLUE GROSBEAK.

Two BROWN PELICANS spotted Thursday morning at Smith Point County Park in Shirley continued east and presumably were half of the four seen later at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes; these four spent the day moving about the bay near Moriches Inlet before ending up on the large bar just inside the Inlet. However, we have no report that they continued in that area today.

Also at Cupsogue, out on the flats last Saturday afternoon an adult ARCTIC TERN joined single ROYAL and ROSEATE plus other expected TERNS plus an assemblage of shorebirds that featured a WHIMBREL, 95 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS and GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS among the migrants.

Neither the Ruff nor the White-faced Ibis were seen at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge this week, but a WHITE-FACED IBIS was reported Sunday afternoon from the marsh off Captree Island – was this the Jamaica Bay bird, which had been fading rapidly?

Jamaica Bay did have a productive week, with a CATTLE EGRET visiting the southern end of the East Pond briefly both Sunday and Monday. Among the shorebirds there, a STILT SANDPIPER appeared at the south end on Monday, while a WHIMBREL was reported flying over the former West Pond the day before. One or two GULL-BILLED TERNS were present during the week, usually around the south end of the former West Pond but also occasionally on the East Pond, where a ROYAL TERN was noted Tuesday. Migrant shorebirds at the Bay have so far been low but building, including some BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, up to 200 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS yesterday, and both YELLOWLEGS, and conditions look good for more to arrive once the heat wave ends. An ACADIAN FLYCATCHER was still singing during the week in the woods south of Big John’s Pond.

A WHIMBREL continued to visit the bar off the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End at least to Saturday.

Up to three BLUE GROSBEAKS, adult and sub-adult males plus a female, continue around the grasslands at the former Grumman Airport in Calverton, often noted near the intersection of Line Road and Grumman Boulevard. Lots of GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS and a nice variety of birds also continue there.

Among the seasonal floaters or early fall migrants noted recently have been BOBOLINK, BANK SWALLOW, and among the WARBLERS, NORTHERN PARULA, WORM-EATING, PRAIRIE, and BLACK-AND-WHITE. The CLIFF SWALLOWS recently at Pelham Bay and Van Cortland Parks in the Bronx may represent birds disrupted from other breeding colonies; as a note, it did appear Monday that some nests on the Cross River Reservoir Dam had been damaged, and many fewer CLIFF SWALLOWS were present than earlier.

For the next two weeks Tony Lauro will handle the RBA duties, so please call Tony with your reports at (631) 734-4126.

This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.

- End transcript