New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 18, 2018:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May. 18, 2018
* NYNY1805.18

- Birds mentioned
BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK+
BICKNELL'S THRUSH+
KIRTLAND'S WARBLER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Sooty Shearwater
Northern Gannet
Cattle Egret
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Philadelphia Vireo
Prothonotary Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Lark Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Blue Grosbeak

- 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, May 18th 2018 at 10pm. The highlights of today's tape are KIRTLAND'S WARBLER, BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, KENTUCKY WARBLER, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK, BICKNELL'S THRUSH, LARK SPARROW, OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER and much more.

Thankfully for hundreds of birders the wonderful KIRTLAND'S WARBLER found Friday afternoon in Central Park did remain in the same general area for all of Saturday and into Sunday morning. Attracting quite a crowd the KIRTLAND'S lingered in oaks around the northwestern corner of the reservoir until sometime after 10am on Sunday morning when it moved off and could not be relocated. This constitutes the first confirmed downstate record for New York and only the fourth overall.

This exemplified by Central Park and other city parks. It was a good week for migrants in general despite some rather unfriendly and unseasonal weather, a couple of PROTHONOTARY WARBLERS were seen in Central Saturday, one also Sunday and that park also produced KENTUCKY WARBLER and a few arriving MOURNING WARBLERS plus a CERULEAN WARBLER Monday. Also noteworthy but on the unfortunate side a number of migrants were found dead Tuesday beneath a glass building at 110th Street in the northwestern corner of Central Park. One that might fortunately survive was a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER.

Central Park is a large migrant trap and thus a good barometer on regional migration did feature an expected variety of warblers with some in pleasantly high numbers including CAPE MAY, BAY-BREASTED, WILSON'S and others, one or two or more SUMMER TANAGERS and BLUE GROSBEAKS, a full complement of flycatchers featuring OLIVE-SIDED, ACADIAN and YELLOW-BELLIED. A variety of thrushes including a singing BICKNELL'S and even PHILADELPHIA VIREO attest to the strategic value of locations like Central and our other major city parks but even the scattered vest pocket parks can be quite productive. For instance, birds reported at Madison Square Park Wednesday and Thursday included PROTHONOTARY, KENTUCKY, MOURNING and HOODED and Bryant Park addend another MOURNING.

Another nice surprise this week was a BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK spotted Wednesday morning in a flock of Brant grazing on the ballfields at Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn. Shortly thereafter the flock was flushed and the WHISTLING-DUCK has not been relocated.

Today a LARK SPARROW was found at Shore Road Park in Brooklyn.

A CATTLE EGRET photographed on Governors Island last Sunday may be the same one showing up at Croton Point Park in Westchester today.

A seawatch from Robert Moses State Park this morning counted 19 SOOTY SHEARWATERS and 27 NORTHERN GANNETS as well as a continuation of the spring buildup of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS but about 15 of these, mostly immatures, also noted there.

A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was present at the Rye Nature Center Wednesday morning, a KENTUCKY WARBLER was found at Watch Hill on Fire Island Tuesday and a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER continues at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum.

Unfortunately the pelagic trip scheduled to leave Brooklyn Sunday evening has been canceled due to lack of participation. It seems rather shocking that given our birding populace we cannot generate enough enthusiasm to take advantage of these wonderful opportunities to get well offshore.

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