New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 1, 2016:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sept. 2, 2016
* NYNY1609.02

- Birds Mentioned

BLACK-CAPPED PETREL+
AUDUBON’S SHEARWATER+
WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL+
LEACH’S STORM-PETREL+
BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL+
LONG-TAILED JAEGER+
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD+

(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cory’s Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER
AMERICAN AVOCET
MARBLED GODWIT
Stilt Sandpiper
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER
White-rumped Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Western Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Purple Finch
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Hooded Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
“Lawrence’s” Warbler
LARK SPARROW

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, September 2, 2016 at 6:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are pelagic trip results, including BLACK-CAPPED PETREL, WHITE-FACED, BAND-RUMPED, and LEACH’S STORM-PETRELS, AUDUBON’S SHEARWATER, and LONG-TAILED JAEGER, plus RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, AMERICAN AVOCET, MARBLED GODWIT, BUFF-BREASTED and BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, CONNECTICUT WARBLER, and LARK SPARROW.

Departing from Brooklyn a little after 9 PM last Sunday, a See Life Paulagics trip aboard the Brooklyn VI arrived at some very warm water about 140 miles out into the Atlantic by dawn Monday. The calm seas provided good visibility and very quickly our exciting day of birding began, with most of the great birds well beyond the distances the old one-day pelagics from New York could manage.

Enjoyed during the day were 16 BLACK-CAPPED PETRELS, 3 WHITE-FACED, 25 BAND-RUMPED, 3 LEACH’S and 230 WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS, 18 AUDUBON’S, 13 GREAT and 225 CORY’S SHEARWATERS, a LONG-TAILED JAEGER, and 2 BLACK TERNS. The 16 BLACK-CAPPED PETRELS were a new New York maximum, and, thanks to the boat captain’s deft maneuvering, 2 of the WHITE-FACED STORM-PETRELS were seen remarkably well for an extended period of time. Rounding out an excellent day were close encounters with pods of Striped and Spotted Dolphins and around 300 Pilot Whales, plus sightings of Manta Ray, Hammerhead Shark, Loggerhead Sea Turtle and some Flying Fish.

A Selasphorus hummingbird, first seen last Friday at the feeders at the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyack, was, after close observation Saturday, identified as a young male RUFOUS HUMMINBGIRD, but it apparently departed Monday morning and has not been seen since.

Some grassland sandpipers have been showing up this week, including at the usually productive sod fields north of Riverhead located south of Sound Avenue between Doctor’s Path on the west and Route 105 on the east. These fields have produced up to 8 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS starting last Sunday, a BAIRD’S SANDPIPER Monday off Doctor’s Path, and up to 20 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS as of Tuesday. These birds do move around a bit and may not always be visible. Twenty-four GOLDENS were seen Wednesday off Osborne Avenue, with 26 there today along with 1 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. Other sod fields in Miller Place off Yaphank Road and east of Sycamore Street attracted up to 6 BUFF-BREASTEDS and 4 GOLDENS early in the week.

This morning 3 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS visited the Jones Beach West End pools between field 2 and the Roosevelt Sanctuary; also there were 1 WHITE-RUMPED, 2 WESTERN and 3 STILT-SANDPIPERS.

Another BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER was at Heckscher State Park last Saturday, and BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS include 1 staying at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn from Sunday to at least Wednesday and another at the south end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last Sunday. Also reported from the East Pond Sunday were brief visits from an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER and a MARBLED GODWIT at the north end in the afternoon, and 2 CASPIAN TERNS have been present on the pond during the week.

A single BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER visited Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes Wednesday, this following an AMERICAN AVOCET reported flying east from Cupsogue last Sunday. Four BLACK and 4 ROYAL TERNS were on the flats there Sunday, with 2 CASPIAN TERNS there Tuesday. Two CASPIANS were also seen along the Hudson off Manhattan Sunday afternoon, with another at Heckscher State Park Thursday along with a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.

Land birds for the week were fairly sparse, with some influx today; highlights have featured YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT in Central Park Sunday, a hybrid “LAWRENCE’S” WARBLER at Alley Pond Park Saturday, with a CONNECTICUT WARBLER near Little Alley Pond today, and a HOODED WARBLER at the Bronx Zoo yesterday. OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS were noted Saturday in Prospect Park and at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay.

This morning a small flight at Robert Moses State Park produced a LARK SPARROW and 3 PURPLE FINCHES, along with a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL.

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