New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 29, 2017:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sept. 29, 2017
* NYNY1709.29

- Birds Mentioned
BROWN BOOBY+
LARK BUNTING+
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Mute Swan
Eastern Whip-poor-will
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN
BROWN PELICAN
AMERICAN AVOCET
American Golden-Plover
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Stilt Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Common Nighthawk
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Philadelphia Vireo
Orange-crowned Warbler
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
LARK SPARROW
Nelson’s Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dickcissel

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

Compilers: Tom Burke and 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 29, 2017 at 9:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are BROWN BOOBY, LARK BUNTING, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD, AMERICAN WHITE and BROWN PELICANS, AMERICAN AVOCET, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, CLAY-COLORED and LARK SPARROWS, and more.

Though it was a great week for birds, it was a sad week for birders, marked by the passing Wednesday of Bob Kurtz due to severe illness. A premier birder on Long Island for several decades. Bobby was an avid hawk watcher, loved to pursue unusual birds, and, most importantly, was a great friend for many of us. He will surely be missed.

Perhaps Bob’s karma had something to do with this week’s nice rarities. Certainly unique for our downstate area is a BROWN BOOBY first spotted on Lake Montauk on Wednesday and continuing there today. The BOOBY seems to spend much of its time perched on the tall mast of a white sailboat called the Maui, this visible on the south side of the Star Island entrance road off West Lake Drive. The boat can also be seen from strategic spots along West Lake Drive. The bird does periodically fly around the lake and was seen nicely in flight from South Lake Drive this afternoon. A rubber skiff tied up to the Maui might indicate it could be getting under way soon, so the BOOBY might need a new roost.

On Thursday morning a female-type LARK BUNTING was found at Robert Moses State Park, and it was still present today. The bird has been frequenting the brushy area between the East end of Field 2 and the adjacent volleyball courts, where it mostly remains hidden but does occasionally pop up in the pines surrounding the brush and may stay visible for a short period of time. Patience is definitely needed.

A third great find this week was an adult male YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD discovered last Sunday at Floyd Bennett Field. The BLACKBIRD stayed in the area of the petting zoo, now closed for the season, near the soccer fields. It was seen there again Monday but not thereafter. Also at Floyd Bennett were a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW for both Sunday and Monday near the BLACKBIRD and a WESTERN KINGBIRD by the model plane field Monday.

Also exciting were 2 BROWN PELICANS resting on the inside of Jones Inlet Sunday morning, eventually pushed off by boaters. And today an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN flew north over Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in the early evening; hopefully it might settle in among the MUTE SWANS gathered on the East Pond, as has happened before. This week on the East Pond an AMERICAN AVOCET was present, usually at the north end, at least to Wednesday, and other shorebirds this week featured 6 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS last Sunday, a BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER Wednesday along with 2 GOLDENS, and a few continuing STILT, WHITE-RUMPED, PECTORAL and WESTERN SANDPIPERS and CASPIAN TERNS.

A WHIMBREL was at Jones Beach West End Sunday to Wednesday, an UPLAND SANDPIPER was reported from Sunken Meadow State Park Monday and Tuesday, and up to 10 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were still at Santapogue Creek in West Babylon Thursday.

A CASPIAN TERN was at Cupsogue County Park Sunday, with 2 at Sagg Pond in Bridgehampton Tuesday, and over 60 ROYAL TERNS were counted at Brooklyn’s Plumb Beach Wednesday.

An EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL was a surprise find at Coney Island Creek last Saturday.

A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW in Central Park’s north end last Friday was followed by a VESPER SPARROW there Saturday, another CLAY-COLORED was at Gilgo Sunday, and a LARK SPARROW was at Captree Island Tuesday. Other SPARROWS including NELSON’S, LINCOLN’S and WHITE-CROWNED are also arriving.

The departing WARBLERS are still moving through in decent numbers, including ORANGE-CROWNED, with 1 on Governor’s Island Monday and in Central Park Tuesday, and such species as COMMON NIGHTHAWK, PHILADELPHIA VIREO, DICKCISSEL and other good seasonal finds also continue.

To phone in reports, on Long Island call Tony Lauro at (631) 734 4126 or 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