New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, July 13, 2018:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* July 13, 2018
* NYNY1807.13

- BIRDS Mentioned

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

Snow Goose
KING EIDER
Common Eider
Great Shearwater
BROWN PELICAN
CATTLE EGRET
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
WHIMBREL
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Roseate Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Worm-eating Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Prairie Warbler
BLUE GROSBEAK

Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, July 13, 2018 at 7 pm.

The highlights of today's tape are BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, BROWN PELICAN, ARCTIC TERN, KING EIDER, CATTLE EGRET, WHIMBREL and other shorebirds, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER and BLUE GROSBEAK.

The single BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK was still present today on the pond at Nissequogue River State Park. The pond entrance is off St. 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.

A group of five BROWN PELICANS was reported on a sandbar at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes late Wednesday afternoon; these were followed by three today in Bellport Bay off Old Inlet on Fire Island, west of Cupsogue, these perhaps part of the original group. Pelicans should be looked for anywhere along Long Island’s south shore or around any inlets.

A first-summer ARCTIC TERN visited the flats at Cupsogue last Sunday, and among the slowly increasing numbers of southbound shorebirds there was a STILT SANDPIPER on Wednesday.

Also in that region, the two male KING EIDERS of different ages were still with some COMMON EIDERS Tuesday, the flock usually along the rocks on the east side of the inner part of Shinnecock Inlet.

A CATTLE EGRET was noted from Great Kills Park on Staten Island last Saturday.

Pelagic reports were few this week, but some GREAT SHEARWATERS were spotted out east near Gardiner’s Island last Sunday. Also in that area, a ROYAL TERN made it out to Great Gull Island Tuesday and Wednesday, while others are slowly improving in numbers along Long Island’s south shore.

The good news from Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is that the East Pond is rounding into prime condition for shorebirds. A visit there this morning produced 13 STILT SANDPIPERS and 579 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS as well as other anticipated earlier migrants, including GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS and LEAST and SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS. A GULL-BILLED TERN and two BLACK SKIMMERS also visited the East Pond. Earlier last Saturday at Jamaica Bay a WHIMBREL was spotted in the bay west of the West Pond, where a lone SNOW GOOSE continues.

At Breezy Point Monday afternoon single ROSEATE TERN and LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL were present, the gull continuing the next day. A few other LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS also remain at various gull gathering locations.

A male BLUE GROSBEAK, perhaps a continuing bird, was seen at Brooklyn’s Calvert Vaux Park Wednesday and today.

It appears that RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS nested successfully at Connetquot River State Park, with an immature accompanied by an adult seen there today. Another adult was also noted at a different location in Connetquot.

And this is the time to watch for floaters in our area, as birds not fully involved in breeding activities increasingly move about – this week city and other local parks have produced such WARBLERS as WORM-EATING, PRAIRIE, MAGNOLIA, and BLACK-AND-WHITE, and other similar wanderers are possible.

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