New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, July 6, 2018:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* July 6, 2018
* NYNY1807.06

- BIRDS Mentioned

BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK+
SANDWICH TERN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

KING EIDER
Common Eider
Cory’s Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Great Shearwater
MANX SHEARWATER
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
BROWN PELICAN
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Parasitic Jaeger
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
SNOWY OWL
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Magnolia Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
BLUE GROSBEAK

Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, July 6, 2018 at 11 pm.

The highlights of today's tape are BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, BROWN PELICAN, SANDWICH TERN, SNOWY OWL, KING EIDER, MANX SHEARWATER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, BLUE GROSBEAK and more.

A BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK reappeared last Saturday at Nissequogue River State Park in Kings Park, though without its mate, last noted on Thursday June 28. The duck was still feeding on the pond yesterday. The park entrance is off Johnland Road on the continuation of Kings Park Boulevard, and the pond is on the left by a small parking lot just before the administration building circle.

This week's BROWN PELICANS featured two moving east off Fire Island last Saturday and four the next morning headed west off Robert Moses State Park field 2.

A SANDWICH TERN was seen very briefly last Saturday afternoon at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes. Other terns at Cupsogue included three Royal Terns Saturday and one Thursday along with a BLACK TERN, and the beginnings of the southbound shorebird migration have also been in evidence there, with appearances of some SHORT BILLED DOWITCHERS, both GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, three WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS last Saturday and a PECTORAL SANDPIPER Thursday, LEAST SANDPIPER, RUDDY TURNSTONE, four “WESTERN” WILLETS, and three WHIMBRELS Thursday. Other WHIMBRELS were noted Friday at Jones Beach West End and off Robert Moses State Park field
2.

Pelagic species have also produced some decent numbers late this week off Long Island’s south shore - at Cupsogue Thursday combined counts netted 3 MANX, 140 CORY’S, 9 GREAT and 3 SOOTY SHEARWATERS and a dozen WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS, while totals off Moses Park field 2 Friday included about 190 CORY’S, 3 GREAT and 4 SOOTY SHEARWATERS plus 8 WILSON’S STORM-PETRELS and a PARASITIC JAEGER.

A few LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS this week included five at Jones Beach West End Friday, and GULL-BILLED TERNS featured one at Brooklyn’s Plumb Beach last Saturday and four at Nickerson Beach today. Two BLACK TERNS were at Moses Park Tuesday.

Very odd and unexpected was a SNOWY OWL found Sunday on Rikers Island. The emaciated bird was turned over to rehabilitators for assistance.

At Shinnecock two male KING EIDERS continue with some COMMON EIDER, the flock usually seen along rocks on the east side of the inlet.

A YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER continues singing on territory at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River, and a male BLUE GROSBEAK was still present Thursday around the Calverton Grasslands in the Preston Ponds complex.

Two RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were continuing at Connetquot River State Park as of last Sunday, with another still at Muscoot Farm in Westchester County Monday.

Some presumably non-breeding floaters recently have included YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO and a few species of mostly regionally breeding warblers, including MAGNOLIA.

The RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH incursion also continues.

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