New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, November 24, 2017:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Nov. 24, 2017
* NYNY1711.24

- Birds Mentioned

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER+
WESTERN TANAGER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)


GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
Cackling Goose
TUNDRA SWAN
Eurasian Wigeon
KING EIDER
Great Shearwater
Northern Gannet
CATTLE EGRET
Common Gallinule
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
Long-billed Dowitcher
DOVEKIE
Razorbill
Black-legged Kittiwake
Bonaparte’s Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Royal Tern
SNOWY OWL
Red-headed Woodpecker
Philadelphia Vireo
CAVE SWALLOW
Lapland Longspur
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Orange-crowned Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
LARK 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, November 24, 2017 at 9:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are WESTERN TANAGER, ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, CAVE SWALLOW, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, TUNDRA SWAN, KING EIDER, DOVEKIE, SNOWY OWL, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, CATTLE EGRET, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, LARK and CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS and DICKCISSEL.

A very interesting week for land birds, highlighted by the reappearance of the WESTERN TANAGER yesterday at the Alley Pond Environmental Center. First seen on Sunday November 12th and then only briefly the next day, this female-plumaged Tanager was spotted again yesterday and seen for a while today on the east side of the creek along trails and a berm a little south of Northern Boulevard. Parking is available on the west side of the creek at the Environmental Center parking lot. From the lot walk east along Northern Boulevard over the creek and go right down dead-end 234th street (before the Chevy dealership) to the appropriate trails. Also watch for ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and other birds in this active area.

Also on Thursday an ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER was found on Staten Island at the Mount Loretto Unique Area off Hylan Boulevard. A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was also there yesterday, but we have no reports from today.

And today a CAVE SWALLOW was reported from this morning near the tip of Breezy Point.

The very notable land birds also include a briefly seen LARK SPARROW and an overhead DICKCISSEL moving by Robert Moses State Park Thursday morning, LAPLAND LONGSPURS noted at both Moses Park and Jones Beach West End this week, and a late PHILADELPHIA VIREO Sunday and Monday at Coney Island Creek Park in Brooklyn, where a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER continues at Greenwood Cemetery. And among the WARBLERS, very interesting was a PROTHONOTARY seen today at the Suffolk County Farm and Education Center in Yaphank, while other species noted this week featured a HOODED in Prospect Park last Sunday as well as BLACKPOLL, MAGNOLIA, BLACK-THROATED GREEN and WILSON’S, along with some ORANGE-CROWNEDS continuing in the area.

Pretty neat was a TUNDRA SWAN seen flying down the East River past Randall’s Island Thursday morning, a quick message sent out enabling two other birders to pick it up as it moved south and then turned westerly over Manhattan at mid-town.

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, mostly continuing birds, were at Belmont Lake State Park through today, as well as on Tung Ting Pond in Centerport, at the Northport High School, off Depot Lane in Cutchogue Wednesday, and on Marratooka Lake in Mattituck Saturday.

CACKLING GEESE have been fairly widespread lately, including 2 in Prospect Park or on the nearby Parade Grounds, 2 at Hendrickson Park in Valley Stream, and 7 off Oakleigh Avenue in Calverton.

Single drake EURASIAN WIGEON were recently on Mill Pond in Sayville, Eastport Pond north of Montauk Highway, and at Fuch’s Pond Preserve in Northport.

A female KING EIDER flew west past Jones Beach West End last Saturday, and 2 RAZORBILLS were also noted there. Another interesting alcid report last Saturday was a DOVEKIE off Montauk Point.

An impressive grouping of birds at Breezy Point last Sunday included a GREAT SHEARWATER, 2 unidentified JAEGERS, single BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE and ICELAND and LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, 4 ROYAL TERNS and an estimated 8,000 plus NORTHERN GANNETS.

Today at Robert Moses State Park a good offshore Gull flight included many BONAPARTE’S GULLS and several BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES.

A CATTLE EGRET was off Route 27 east of Bridgehampton Sunday morning, a COMMON GALLINULE stayed in Prospect Park at least to Tuesday, and an HUDSONIAN GODWIT was still at the Field 7 parking lot pool at Heckscher State Park yesterday. LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS remain at Santapogue Creek in West Babylon.

SNOWY OWLS are now appearing along the coast, and we can only hope that birders and photographers will keep their distance and not stress the birds.

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