New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 5, 2017:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May 5, 2017
* NYNY1705.05

- Birds Mentioned

PAINTED BUNTING+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

White-winged Scoter
Red-necked Grebe
American Bittern
LEAST BITTERN
Cattle Egret
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Iceland Gull
Roseate Tern
Common Nighthawk
Red-headed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush
Worm-eating Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Hooded Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Canada Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
SUMMER TANAGER
BLUE GROSBEAK
Pine Siskin

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
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, May 5, 2017 at 8:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are PAINTED BUNTING, LEAST BITTERN, and a nice collection of spring migrants including PROTHONOTARY, YELLOW-THROATED and KENTUCKY WARBLERS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, SUMMER TANAGER and BLUE GROSBEAK.

Certainly the week’s most unexpected sighting was the male PAINTED BUNTING appearing briefly in the late afternoon both Monday and Tuesday at a private backyard a little north of Staten Island’s Great Kills Park – could this have been the Staten Island bird previously present last winter in Annadale or perhaps one arriving with the push of birds with a more southerly affinity early in the week?

Perhaps the most unusual city park visitor during a rather productive week was the LEAST BITTERN observed by many as it perched high in a tree near Azalea Pond in Central Park’s Ramble last Sunday. Interestingly, an AMERICAN BITTERN also visited Central Park on Wednesday, following one at Jones Beach West End Saturday.

And while on the herons, the Manhattan CATTLE EGRET was amazingly still present today on the north side of 28th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. Also, on Tuesday a CATTLE EGRET was spotted on the Ocean Parkway median at Oak Beach.

Among the roughly 32 species of WARBLERS seen locally this week, a PROTHONOTARY spotted in Prospect Park last Saturday was followed by one photographed at the Elizabeth Morton Sanctuary in Noyak on Sunday. Single YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS were found in Central Park last Saturday and on Lookout Hill, a current hot spot in Prospect Park, on Wednesday. A burst of KENTUCKY WARBLERS last weekend found one in Prospect Park Saturday, one in Central Park’s north end Sunday, and one visiting Alley Pond Park in Queens Sunday and Monday. A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was also photographed in Prospect Park last Saturday, with a CERULEAN WARBLER there Wednesday and Thursday at Lookout Hill following a CERULEAN at Dreier-Offerman Park in Brooklyn last Saturday.

Other newly arriving WARBLERS this week plus those seen much less frequently featured WORM-EATING, TENNESSEE Saturday, an ORANGE-CROWNED in Central Park Saturday, some CAPE MAYS and BLACKPOLLS, BLACKBURNIAN, a nice push of HOODEDS, and some WILSON’S and CANADAS as of Saturday.

A decent showing of BLUE GROSBEAKS last weekend featured up to four at Jones Beach West End and singles in Prospect Park both days and Central Park Sunday; another was at Captree Thursday.

The number of SUMMER TANAGERS has also been notable, with reports from Robert Moses State Park Saturday, Valley Stream State Park Sunday, Gilgo Monday, Central Park and Dreier-Offerman Park Wednesday, Jones Beach Field 6 Thursday, and at Breezy Point Thursday and Friday.

RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS also continue their encouraging numbers, with two in Central Park last Saturday, one in Garden City from Monday, an adult at Owl’s Head Park Tuesday morning, presumably continuing birds in Hendrickson Park in Valley Stream Wednesday and at Pelham Bay Park Thursday, and another in Calverton Thursday.

An ICELAND GULL in Brooklyn was off Coney Island Tuesday and at the Army Terminal Pier 4 Wednesday.

An evening Long Island Sound watch Monday from Read Sanctuary at Playland Park in Rye did produce results reminiscent of flights that took place late last century when mostly WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS would move west along the Sound until suddenly at dusk turning north and heading overland. In the past other species would join the flight, including RED-NECKED GREBES, and Monday did produce 96 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS and 9 RED-NECKED GREBES.

Interesting was a PINE SISKIN at the Central Park feeders last Saturday.

Other recent arrivals have included SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, 3 ROSEATE TERNS back at Great Gull Island Saturday, a COMMON NIGHTHAWK in Mount Vernon Tuesday, EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE from Saturday, an OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER reported in Central Park Sunday, SWAINSON’S and GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSHES, and WHITE-CROWNED and LINCOLN’S SPARROWS.

Please note this new number for phoning in reports. Call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922 and leave a message.

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

- End transcript