New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, June 16, 2017:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Jun. 16, 2017
* NYNY1706.16

- Birds mentioned
MISSISSIPPI KITE+
BLACK-NECKED STILT+
WILSON'S PLOVER+
ARCTIC TERN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cory's Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
Cattle Egret
Sora
Red Knot
White-rumped Sandpiper
LITTLE GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Royal Tern
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Acadian Flycatcher
Worm-eating Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Prairie Warbler
Canada Warbler
Boat-tailed Grackle

- 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, June 16th 2017 at 11pm. The highlights of today's tape are MISSISSIPPI KITE, BLACK-NECKED STILT, ARCTIC TERN, LITTLE GULL, WILSON'S PLOVER, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER.

First, we are very saddened to note that Irving Cantor passed away recently at the splendid age of 97. An active member of the New York birding scene going back to the days of the Bronx County Bird Club. Irv's energy, spirit and friendship will long be remembered.

Last Monday morning in Bedford, Westchester County an immature MISSISSIPPI KITE was photographed as it passed over Bylane Farm heading southwest. Not reported since this is a species to watch for while traveling about.

A pair of BLACK-NECKED STILTS seen in the swale off the Jones Beach West End parking field 2 back on May 29th and 30th reappeared there last Monday and continued visiting that site to Wednesday but not since. Where were they in the interim? Other birds seen in the swale included a GULL-BILLED TERN Monday and a few WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS and also on Monday came a noteworthy report of a WILSON'S PLOVER. Unfortunately this was just observed in flight and had passed by the observers before the bill, the ultimate field mark for this species, could be seen. This is certainly a bird to look for along the ocean beaches and adjacent mudflats.

Nickerson Beach and Lido Beach has recently been providing a nice variety of birds around the tern and skimmer colony highlighted by an immature ARCTIC TERN Thursday plus BLACK, ROSEATE and one or two ROYAL TERNS during the week, a pair of GULL-BILLED TERNS in the colony and an immature LITTLE GULL seen again last Sunday along with some lingering LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS the latter a feature of many gull flocks gathering along Long Island's south shore but at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes the location, where ARCTIC TERN is most frequently found locally, one was seen on the flats last Sunday. Other terns there on Wednesday featured 4 ROSEATE, 3 ROYAL, 2 GULL-BILLED and 1 BLACK while lingering shorebirds that day included 23 RED KNOT and 4 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS. For those especially who enjoy south shore seawatching, today finally produced a good offshore of tubenoses. The morning watch from Robert Moses State Park field 2 produced 180 CORY'S, 46 GREAT and 7 SOOTY SHEARWATERS, 17 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS and 7 NORTHERN GANNETS. An afternoon watch from the beach building at Tiana Beach off Dune Road also produced small numbers of the above shearwaters and storm-petrels and added MANX SHEARWATER to the list. A watch closer to the city off Fort Tilden included 4 CORY'S, 1 GREAT and 2 SOOTY SHEARWATERS. But as a rule seawatching is often more productive the farther east you get along the south shore.

The CATTLE EGRET was still at Cow Meadow Park in Freeport last Saturday.

Unusual and potentially breeding rare local warblers included a PROTHONOTARY at the William Floyd Estate in Mastic Beach Sunday and a YELLOW-THROATED at Connetquot River State Park Thursday while late migrant warblers this week included PRAIRIE, MAGNOLIA, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, CANADA and WORM-EATING.

The Greenwich-Stamford Summer Bird Count last weekend tallied 131 species including in Westchester County SORA, NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, ACADIAN FLYCATCHER and BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE the latter new for the count.

To phone 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