New York City Rare Bird Alert

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

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Dec. 13, 2018
* NYNY1812.13

- Birds mentioned
BARNACLE GOOSE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Red-necked Grebe
BLACK GUILLEMOT
Razorbill
GLAUCOUS GULL
BLACK-HEADED GULL
EURASIAN WIGEON
HARLEQUIN DUCK
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
American Bittern
SANDHILL CRANE
Pileated Woodpecker
Evening Grosbeak
Red Crossbill
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
Orange-crowned Warbler

- 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

[Editor's note: My apologies for the delay in transcribing the RBA which
was posted on Thursday evening.]

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Thursday, December 13th 2018 at 9pm. The highlights of today's tape are BLACK GUILLEMOT, SANDHILL CRANE, BARNACLE GOOSE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, HARLEQUIN DUCK, BLACK-HEADED GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL, LAPLAND LONGSPUR and winter finches.

At Montauk Point, our most consistent site for viewing alcids, a watch from the restaurant last Sunday was rewarded with a BLACK GUILLEMOT flying by to the east and 22 RAZORBILLS. The RAZORBILL total however was only a warm up for today's amazing spectacle with an estimated 540 RAZORBILLS surrounded the point outnumbering the unexpectedly low numbers of our 3 scoter species. A precursor of this phenomenon was a report from Smith Point County Park in Shirley which mentioned 200 plus RAZORBILLS feeding offshore on Tuesday. Hopefully these numbers will continue.

A SANDHILL CRANE was photographed last Sunday at Jones Beach West End as it appeared to be coming down for a landing near field 2 but it was not subsequently relocated.

A couple of BARNACLE GEESE were still out on eastern Long Island last Saturday, one north of Riverhead was seen twice in flight moving around the sod fields from Roanoke Avenue to the Northville Turnpike and a second was still in Southold on the north fork just east of Peconic on the north side of Route 48. A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE in Westchester County was roosting on Playland Lake in Rye from Monday to today but the geese do move out to local golf courses to feed.

Continuing drake EURASIAN WIGEONS include one at the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center in Brooklyn last Saturday, one on Staten Island at the Cemetery of the Resurrection moving over to Lemon Creek Pier last Sunday and one again Wednesday on Avon Lake in Amityville. A HARLEQUIN DUCK was spotted on Shelter Island last Sunday but this species is best looked for at sites like the jetties at Point Lookout.

An adult BLACK-HEADED GULL continues to visit the bar off the Jones Beach West End Coast Guard Station seen there today and an immature GLAUCOUS GULL has been staying along Dune Road near Triton Lane in Hampton Bays through today. AMERICAN BITTERN has also been seen regularly along Dune Road recently and is expected there whereas a PILEATED WOODPECKER at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx is unusual there.

RED-NECKED GREBES were spotted last weekend at Pelham Bay as well as at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn.

A LAPLAND LONGSPUR was seen again Tuesday with Horned Larks in the traffic circle at Smith Point County Park.

Much reduced numbers of winter finches in our area lately did feature a RED CROSSBILL at Floyd Bennett Field last Saturday and a male EVENING GROSBEAK in Central Park’s north end on Wednesday.

Two ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS were found in Kissena Park in Queens Saturday and hopefully a few more of these as well as other late warblers and other passerines will be uncovered during the upcoming Christmas Counts. We'd be happy to report the highlights of regional counts so please call them in.

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