New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, September 8, 2017:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sep. 8, 2017
* NYNY1709.08

- Birds mentioned
BRIDLED TERN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

AMERICAN AVOCET
American Golden-Plover
Upland Sandpiper
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
MARBLED GODWIT
Stilt Sandpiper
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
White-rumped Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Pectoral Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
WILSON'S PHALAROPE
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Common Nighthawk
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Philadelphia Vireo
Worm-eating Warbler
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER
Tennessee Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
BLUE GROSBEAK
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

Compilers: Tom Burke and Tony Lauro
Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County

Transcriber: Ben Cacace

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, September 8th 2017 at 9pm. The highlights of today's tape are BRIDLED TERN, AMERICAN AVOCET, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, MARBLED GODWIT, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, CONNECTICUT WARBLER, GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, BLUE GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW and more.

A handsome and unexpected visitor to Great Gull Island, located northeast of Orient Point and Plum Island, was an adult BRIDLED TERN first spotted around the tern colony last Saturday afternoon and subsequently also noted on the island Sunday and Tuesday. It is possible that this may have been the same BRIDLED TERN that had visited Falkner Island off the eastern Connecticut coast to mid August.

The continuing excellent variety of shorebirds in our area got a nice boost this morning with the appearance of an AMERICAN AVOCET at the north end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge while the south end of the pond provided reports of AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER and BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. The East Pond has also been producing decent numbers of STILT, WESTERN, WHITE-RUMPED and PECTORAL SANDPIPERS and earlier in the week a WILSON'S PHALAROPE visited the north end briefly Tuesday preceded by 2 HUDSONIAN GODWITS found at the south end last Saturday with one HUDSONIAN also present late Sunday and only early Monday at the north end. The larger shorebirds have been quite sparse this year at the north end presumably due to the high water condition and the often present adult Bald Eagle. Two to three CASPIAN TERNS have also been using the East Pond this week.

Three MARBLED GODWITS were still around Old Inlet in Bellport Bay last Saturday. This site on Fire Island west of Smith Point County Park. A nice concentration of birds at Old Inlet Saturday also featured an ICELAND GULL, 9 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS and 150 ROYAL TERNS.

BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERS out on the Riverhead sod fields last weekend included up to 4 off Doctor's Path, 1 to 3 off Hulse Landing Road to Monday and 2 west of Osborne Road Sunday while single BAIRD'S SANDPIPERS occurred at Doctor's Path and Hulse Landing Road Saturday and at Georgica Inlet in East Hampton Monday with a flyby at Robert Moses State Park today. An UPLAND SANDPIPER was also spotted off Hulse Landing Road Sunday. Two AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS were at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn Sunday joined by 3 BLACK TERNS and 2 CASPIAN TERNS visited Pike's Beach in West Hampton Dunes Saturday. Up to 3 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS have been reported recently along Santapogue Creek in West Babylon seen off Venetian Boulevard near Beachmont Avenue.

It was also a productive week for warblers and other sought after passerines. A GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER found last Friday in Alley Pond Park near Little Alley Pond was still there Monday and a second was located at Southard's Pond Park in Babylon Saturday. A CONNECTICUT WARBLER was found in Prospect Park Monday and noted up to Thursday and 2 reports from today mentioned one at Upland Farms Sanctuary in Cold Spring Harbor and a flyby at the Robert Moses Migratory Watch this morning. Over 2 dozen warbler species this week also featured WORM-EATING, TENNESSEE, MOURNING, HOODED, CAPE MAY, BAY-BREASTED and WILSON'S.

A WESTERN KINGBIRD was reported near Moses Park field 2 Wednesday a day before finding the season's first CLAY-COLORED SPARROW at that same site. A BLUE GROSBEAK was at Coney Island Creek Monday joined by a DICKCISSEL and other DICKCISSELS were noted at the Moses Park Hawk Watch site Monday and at Jones Beach West End Tuesday.

Other notable landbird migrants this week featured OLIVE-SIDED and YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS and PHILADELPHIA VIREO and evenings with decent winds have produced some nice flights of southbound COMMON NIGHTHAWKS with counts in excess of 100 both from Long Island and the Westchester coast.

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