New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, October 20, 2017:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 20, 2017
* NYNY1710.20

- Birds Mentioned

BROWN BOOBY+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Common Eider
Northern Gannet
BROWN PELICAN
AMERICAN AVOCET
American Oystercatcher
Red Knot
Parasitic Jaeger
Lesser Black-backed Gull
CASPIAN TERN
Forster’s Tern
Royal Tern
American Pipit
Blue-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
VESPER SPARROW
Nelson’s Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
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, October 20,
2017 at 7:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are BROWN BOOBY, BROWN PELICAN, AMERICAN AVOCET, CASPIAN TERN, CLAY-COLORED and VESPER SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAK and DICKCISSEL.

Present since at least September 27th, the adult BROWN BOOBY continues on Lake Montauk, providing a great opportunity to see this species in our region. The BOOBY still perches on the mast of the sailboat Maui but also recently has been resting on green channel marker #11 located a short distance east of the Maui. Both of these perches can be viewed from the Star Island entrance road, looking south down the first cove after turning off from West Lake Drive. If not visible there, try viewing from the end of South Lake Drive, a short road north of Route 27 that provides a nice vista of the south end of Lake Montauk.

An unexpected surprise were the six BROWN PELICANS sitting on the bar adjacent to the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End late last Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately boater activity kept flushing the flock – they returned twice to the bar but the third time continued east out of sight. An attempted count of the AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHERS perched on the bar came up with 565, and also in that area Sunday were 3 COMMON EIDER and 8 ROYAL TERNS.

Earlier Sunday a sea watch at Robert Moses State Park produced 2 PARASITIC JAEGERS and over 30 NORTHERN GANNETS, and counted on the pilings at the Point Lookout boat basin were 174 FORSTER’S TERNS, with 8 RED KNOTS nearby.

An AMERICAN AVOCET was still present usually at the north end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge at least through Monday, although shorebirds on the pond have now been mostly replaced by waterfowl.

CASPIAN TERNS included 2 on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay to Monday, 1 at the Marine Park Salt Marsh Natural Center Saturday, and 2 at Mecox Bay Sunday, while lingering ROYAL TERNS featured 5 at Floyd Bennett Field Tuesday and 2 at Brooklyn’s Plumb Beach Thursday. Some LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS also remain long the coast.

Among the land birds, WARBLER numbers and species have been decreasing as expected, but some hangers-on have this week included BLUE-WINGED, TENNESSEE, CHESTNUT-SIDED, MAGNOLIA, CAPE MAY, BLACK-THROATED BLUE, AMERICAN REDSTART and WILSON’S, while the later ORANGE-CROWNEDS included sightings in Central and Prospect Parks as well as at Southard’s Pond in Babylon Monday and at Robert Moses State Park Tuesday.

On the other hand, SPARROW numbers and variety are on the increase. A VESPER SPARROW was found at the north end in Central Park Tuesday, and a decent number of CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS featured singles in Prospect Park Tuesday and Central Park at the north end today, one on Governor’s Island today, one in Hempstead last Saturday, and one around the Coast Guard Station hedgerow at Jones Beach West End from Saturday to at least Wednesday. NELSON’S SPARROWS are now present in respectable numbers in various coastal salt marshes, including both coastal and inland races.

A female-type BLUE GROSBEAK was reported from Prospect Park Tuesday, and a few DICKCISSELS, not surprising given their occurrences in the northeast this year, featured one at Robert Moses State Park Sunday, singles Tuesday at Dyker Beach Park in Brooklyn and near the Ponquogue Bridge west of Shinnecock Inlet, and one Wednesday at Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn.

Now is also a good time to watch for AMERICAN PIPIT, especially along coasts in the morning.

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