New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 26, 2017:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May. 26, 2017
* NYNY1705.26

- Birds mentioned
MISSISSIPPI KITE+
BICKNELL'S THRUSH+
SWAINSON'S WARBLER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Sooty Shearwater
Northern Gannet
RED-NECKED PHALAROPE
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Red-headed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
PHILADELPHIA VIREO
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Golden-winged Warbler
Mourning Warbler
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Hooded Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Henslow's Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
SUMMER TANAGER
Dickcissel

- 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

Compiler: Tom Burke
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County

Transcriber: Ben Cacace

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, May 26th 2017 at 8pm. The highlights of today's tape are SWAINSON'S WARBLER, MISSISSIPPI KITE, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE, BLACK-HEADED GULL, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, KENTUCKY WARBLER, SUMMER TANAGER and PHILADELPHIA VIREO and more.

With migration winding down now is when we hope for some nice seasonal rarities and right on queue a SWAINSON'S WARBLER has appeared in Prospect Park. Found Wednesday in the Midwood section of the park the SWAINSON'S was today still singing and offering brief views in the same general area.

Last Saturday at Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island there was a report of a MISSISSIPPI KITE flyover and this is a species to watch for as dragonfly numbers increase especially inland. Also on Staten Island a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE visited the pond at the Cemetery of the Resurrection near Mount Loretto Unique Area yesterday.

An immature BLACK-HEADED GULL was seen at Sagg Pond in Bridgehampton last Tuesday and an ICELAND GULL along with 3 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were at Shinnecock Inlet Wednesday where a seawatch in the late afternoon only produced 2 SOOTY SHEARWATERS and a handful of NORTHERN GANNETS.

A reasonable but diminishing variety of warblers continues to move through our area. Of the rarer species the YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was still present at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River last weekend. A KENTUCKY WARBLER was in Prospect Park Saturday and a few MOURNING WARBLERS have been showing up right on schedule. Most species are already on territory to our north including GOLDEN-WINGED, CERULEAN and HOODED plus YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and please remember when visiting nesting areas especially a regionally unusual species to keep disturbance to an absolute minimum. This is a very critical time for these birds.

In the city parks such warblers as CAPE MAY, BAY-BREASTED, HOODED and WILSON'S were still being encountered this week. One or more SUMMER TANAGERS remained in Central Park to mid-week and a few reports of PHILADELPHIA VIREO, rather unusual in our area in Spring, included one in Central Park last Saturday. Singing BICKNELL'S THRUSHES, perhaps the best way to separate them from GRAY-CHEEKED as well as Hermit Thrushes, were reported this week from Prospect Park last Sunday and Inwood Hill Park and Forest Park during the week. A GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH on Governors Island Wednesday was very unusual there.

Among the late moving flycatchers this week have been a few OLIVE-SIDED as well as the balance of the empidonax group including ALDER, ACADIAN and YELLOW-BELLIED.

One to three NELSON'S SPARROWS were reported from Plumb Beach in Brooklyn early in the week.

Lingering RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were noted this week at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx Sunday and on Staten Island at both Clove Lakes Park and at the Cemetery of the Resurrection.

To our north HENSLOW'S SPARROW and DICKCISSEL both singing on territory at the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in Ulster County are further examples of birds to enjoy without creating any disturbance especially the sparrow as one of the goals of the grassland restoration project has been to reestablish the former HENSLOW'S colony there. Let's help make that happen.

To phone in reports call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922.

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

- End transcript