New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, June 8, 201:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Jun. 8, 2018
* NYNY1806.08

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

Snow Goose
EURASIAN WIGEON
CORY'S SHEARWATER
Sooty Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
BROWN PELICAN
White-rumped Sandpiper
WILSON'S PHALAROPE
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GULL-BILLED TERN
CASPIAN TERN
BLACK TERN
Roseate Tern
ROYAL TERN
SNOWY OWL
Red-headed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Mourning Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Henslow's Sparrow
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, June 8th 2018 at 10pm. The highlights of today's tape are BROWN PELICAN, SNOWY OWL, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, ARCTIC TERN, GULL-BILLED TERN, CASPIAN TERN, ROYAL TERN, BLACK TERN, EURASIAN WIGEON, MANX SHEARWATER, CORY'S SHEARWATER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, BLUE GROSBEAK and more.

Two more Spring BROWN PELICAN reports. First one moving east off eastern Fire Island on Tuesday and then one also going east off Nickerson Beach today. These hopefully an omen of a good Summer to come for this species locally.

A male WILSON'S PHALAROPE spent last Monday around the field 7 puddles at Heckscher State Park joining 2 WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS and other shorebirds there. Unfortunately this bird did not reappear Tuesday. It should be noted that very exposed areas such as the pools at Heckscher, while they do attract some great birds, are very susceptible to disturbance due to proximity and birders and photographers should be very mindful to keep their distances and use their vehicles as blinds.

Very unexpected was a SNOWY OWL sitting on a rooftop in Brooklyn Tuesday afternoon. The location along the bay just west of the end of Bay Ridge Avenue.

A good variety of terns recently have featured single immature and adult ARCTIC TERNS at Nickerson Beach on Wednesday. The Common and Least Terns and Black Skimmers nesting at Nickerson have also attracted a few GULL-BILLED and up to 5 ROSEATE TERNS to the colony along with single BLACK TERNS Saturday and today. Two ROYAL TERNS appeared Wednesday both at Heckscher State Park and in Moriches Bay near Cupsogue County Park where an adult CASPIAN TERN visited today.

A drake EURASIAN WIGEON was still on the West Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last Saturday. A presumably injured SNOW GOOSE also continuing there.

Pelagic birding off Long Island's south shore has been spotty lately. Last Sunday was the most productive day with 33 SOOTY SHEARWATERS counted off Robert Moses State Park while later that day off Triton Lane west of Shinnecock Inlet there were a couple of CORY'S SHEARWATERS followed by 2 MANX and 3 more SOOTY SHEARWATERS.

An ICELAND GULL was still at Moses Park Sunday with another at Smith Point County Park to Wednesday and Smith Point produced the weeks peak count of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS with 36 Sunday.

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER continues at Connetquot River State Park as does a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER at Bayard Cutting Arboretum. BLUE GROSBEAKS were noted last Saturday at Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn and out at the Calverton Grasslands. Please do not harass in any way these very uncommon local breeders or potential nesters.

Among the late northbound migrants have been several species of warblers including a MOURNING WARBLER at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn Wednesday and a few species of flycatchers including OLIVE-SIDED and YELLOW-BELLIED.

The HENSLOW'S SPARROW pair at the Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in Ulster County have settled into a nesting scenario and should only be passively observed from a respectful distance as set out by refuge personnel.

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