New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 3, 2017:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov. 3, 2017
* NYNY1711.03

- Birds mentioned
BROWN BOOBY+
LECONTE'S SPARROW+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Cory's Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
American Bittern
American Golden-Plover
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Parasitic Jaeger
RAZORBILL
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Orange-crowned Warbler
Hooded Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
DICKCISSEL

Extralimital:
CAVE SWALLOW+ (seen in northern NY & along the Connecticut coast)

- 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, November 3rd 2017 at 7pm. The highlights of today's tape are BROWN BOOBY, LECONTE'S SPARROW, BLACK-HEADED GULL, MANX SHEARWATER, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, BAIRD'S SANDPIPER, RAZORBILL, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW and DICKCISSEL.

The adult BROWN BOOBY still present on Lake Montauk last Sunday seen roosting on green buoy #11 as viewed by looking south from the Star Island entrance road off West Lake Drive. Its previously favored roosting sites, the tall masts of sailboats including the Maui, have apparently moved on and with again no reports since Sunday we wonder if the BOOBY has also moved on. Besides the Star Island causeway another observation point with a good vista of the lake is at the end of South Lake Drive. Please post updates.

A great find this week was the LECONTE'S SPARROW found Saturday morning at Turtle Cove in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. Word got out early enough that many birders were at least able to glimpse the LECONTE'S during the day. Like two LECONTE'S along the Connecticut coast the week before this bird was not seen after the initial day. Nevertheless, Pelham Bay did also produce a variety of nice birds this week including an adult BLACK-HEADED GULL roosting in the Orchard Beach parking lot Thursday and today. This possibly the same returning bird that has recently wintered around Five Islands Park in New Rochelle. Also seen Thursday at Pelham Bay were 2 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, VESPER SPARROW and a DICKCISSEL and like in many saltmarshes regionally a few NELSON'S SPARROWS remain around Turtle [Cove].

At Heckscher State Park on Long Island two parking lots containing large puddles have been attracting a nice variety of shorebirds especially lot 7. Thursday and today up to 3 HUDSONIAN GODWITS have been visiting the lot 7 puddles though all 3 including one with 2 unfortunate tumors and another with wing and leg injuries are not there all the time. However this puddle during the week has also produced up to 3 AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS, a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and PECTORAL, WHITE-RUMPED and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS with a WILSON'S SNIPE at the lot 6 puddle on Monday.

Another notable shorebird was a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER reported today with Dunlin in the swale at Jones Beach West End.

A seawatch off East Hampton in the storm Sunday produced 2 RAZORBILLS and a CORY'S SHEARWATER. Further west at Robert Moses State Park Sunday there was a large sea duck flight with 17 thousand scoters estimated, mostly BLACKS and the terns offshore attracted 3 PARASITIC JAEGERS while later in the afternoon a MANX SHEARWATER also went by.

One of the high counts of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS included 26 Sunday at Moses Park field 5. The EURASIAN WIGEON was still on Swan Lake in Patchogue last weekend and a GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was found today in Westchester County at the Stone Barns Center off Bedford Road north of Pocantico Hills.

An AMERICAN BITTERN was at the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center last Saturday and 2 were seen Wednesday at Gilgo.

In Central Park a nice Fall record was the YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER found Saturday north of the Ramble and reported to Monday. A HOODED WARBLER was still in Central Saturday and a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW appeared at the north end at the Great Hill today. ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, generally on the late side, are now popping up in various locations along with some tardy migrants and as a note CAVE SWALLOWS have recently been seen in northern New York and along the Connecticut coast.

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