New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, October 14, 2016:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 14, 2016
* NYNY1610.14

- Birds mentioned
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
CACKLING GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER
Lesser Yellowlegs
Red Knot
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Lesser Black-backed Gull
CASPIAN TERN
BLACK TERN
Royal Tern
Common Nighthawk
Red-headed Woodpecker
American Pipit
Orange-crowned Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
LARK SPARROW
SUMMER TANAGER
BLUE GROSBEAK
Dickcissel
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird

- 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

(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, October 14th 2016 at 9pm. Firstly we sadly note the recent passing of Sarah Elliot and Herb Roth. For a long time both have been enthusiastic contributors to the regional birding scene and they will be remembered fondly. The highlights of today's tape are GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, CACKLING GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER, BLACK TERN, CASPIAN TERN, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK, CONNECTICUT WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, LARK SPARROW and CLAY-COLORED SPARROW.

Migration this past week while not overwhelming did provide a good variety and some interesting highlights. Among the increasing numbers of waterfowl perhaps the most unusual were spotted during a morning watch last Monday at Fort Tilden when a single GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was picked out in a small flock of Canada Geese moving by the lookout this followed later by a CACKLING GOOSE identified overhead in a flock of 13 Canadas this presumably the same CACKLING noted earlier that morning moving west with the same number of Canadas over Jones Beach West End. Also notable was a drake EURASIAN WIGEON with American Wigeon on the lake at the north end of Blydenburgh County Park in Smithtown last Saturday.

Among the shorebirds a single AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was calling as it passed over both Jones Beach West End and Fort Tilden Monday this following 3 at Floyd Bennett Field with some Black-bellied Plovers and RED KNOTS and another at Robert Moses State Park last Sunday. Eight LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and 3 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS were counted among the shorebirds at Santapogue Creek off Venetian Boulevard in Lindenhurst Wednesday and unexpected was a flock of 20 LESSER YELLOWLEGS coming in off the ocean at Moses Park last Sunday. Another late sighting was a BLACK TERN moving by Fort Tilden Monday and besides a small number of continuing ROYAL TERNS were 2 CASPIAN TERNS at Moses Park Sunday that day also finding another CASPIAN and 2 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at the Randall's Island saltmarsh. There were at least 14 LESSER BLACK-BACKEDS along the Jones strip and environs last Sunday their numbers slowly diminishing.

Notable among the passerine reports were a SUMMER TANAGER from Central Park's north woods last Sunday and a CONNECTICUT WARBLER videoed on the Trinity Church property in lower Manhattan Tuesday morning. More anticipated were the few BLUE GROSBEAK sightings involving one at Robert Moses State Park Monday, another at Jones Beach West End Tuesday and on Wednesday one in Central Park's north end and the second for the Fall in the field at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye. Among the other birds at Marshlands this week have been a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT since Tuesday and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER today. Another CHAT was at Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island Thursday and other ORANGE-CROWNEDS included one in Central Park Monday and one at Alley Pond Park in Queens Tuesday.

Among the sparrows a LARK SPARROW was photographed Thursday in Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn and CLAY-COLORED SPARROW reports mentioned 2 at Jones Beach West End today and another in Central Park Wednesday. On the CLAY-COLOREDS remember to note the unmarked buffy lores to rule out very similar young Chipping Sparrows. A DICKCISSEL was noted moving by Robert Moses State Park Tuesday. One or more RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were being noted in Central Park early in the week though the number involved seems uncertain.

Other migrants during the week included some lingering warblers, a variety of hawks, some getting late migrants including COMMON NIGHTHAWK and BOBOLINK and some interesting seasonal migrants such as EASTERN MEADOWLARK, AMERICAN PIPIT and RUSTY BLACKBIRD with 55 of the latter counted at Fort Tilden Monday.

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