New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, December 21, 2018:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Dec. 21, 2018
* NYNY1812.21

- Birds mentioned
PAINTED BUNTING+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Red-necked Grebe
Razorbill
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE
Glaucous Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Eurasian Wigeon
Blue-winged Teal
Wood Duck
BARROW'S GOLDENEYE
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Common Eider
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
PINK-FOOTED GOOSE
Cackling Goose
American Bittern
American Woodcock
Greater Yellowlegs
Northern Goshawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Bald Eagle
Barn Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Snowy Owl
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Eastern Phoebe
Baltimore Oriole
Evening Grosbeak
Red Crossbill
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
Nashville Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Yellow Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
House Wren
Marsh Wren

- 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, December 21st 2018 at 8pm. The highlights of today's tape are PINK-FOOTED GOOSE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE, HARLEQUIN DUCK, BLACK-HEADED GULL, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, YELLOW-THROATED and other warblers, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, winter finches and Christmas Count results.

The Christmas Count season began with a very mixed weekend. A decent Saturday followed by a very rainy, windy Sunday. Saturday won.

The Montauk Christmas Count Saturday recorded 127 species the highlights including a BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 4 WOOD DUCKS, 2 HARLEQUIN DUCKS a female BARROW'S GOLDENEYE off the Camp Hero Overlook, 9 BALD EAGLES and 2 ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS on Gardiners Island, 6 RED-NECKED GREBES, WILSON'S SNIPE and 6 AMERICAN WOODCOCK, 8 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES and 4 ICELAND GULLS, an amazing 1,898 RAZORBILLS, mostly off the point, 13 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS and 3 SNOWY OWLS, EASTERN PHOEBE, HOUSE WREN, NASHVILLE, ORANGE-CROWNED and PINE WARBLERS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, 1 COMMON REDPOLL and 45 PINE SISKINS.

Brooklyn Saturday netted 121 species including 50 COMMON EIDER, 3 RED-NECKED GREBES, a RAZORBILL, 1 ICELAND GULL, BARN, SNOWY and 3 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, 3 EASTERN PHOEBES, 2 MARSH WRENS, an EVENING GROSBEAK, 3 COMMON REDPOLLS and 4 PINE SISKINS and a YELLOW WARBLER.

The Northern Nassau Count produced 104 species Saturday with a CACKLING GOOSE, 4 BALD EAGLES, 4 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, 3 EASTERN PHOEBES and 1 MARSH and 5 HOUSE WRENS. A much more trying Sunday captured and recorded 117 species featuring RED-NECKED GREBE, AMERICAN BITTERN, 1,145 RAZORBILLS, 11 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS, 2 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, 4 EASTERN PHOEBES, 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and 6 RED CROSSBILLS.

Queens on Sunday recorded 112 species highlighted by a PINK-FOOTED GOOSE as well as ICELAND GULL, NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL, EASTERN PHOEBE and 7 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS. The PINK-FOOTED GOOSE was still present at least to Thursday at what is called the Nassau County Storm Water Drainage Basin Number 21 which is located north of Marcus Avenue in Lake Success. The goose could be on the basin or on surrounding grassy areas.

The Greenwich-Stamford Count including eastern Westchester County netted 103 species Sunday including COMMON EIDER, RED-NECKED GREBE, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, 2 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, BLACK-HEADED GULL and for count period a male PAINTED BUNTING at a private feeder in Connecticut.

The Rockland County Count on Sunday featuring AMERICAN BITTERN among its 75 species.

As part of the Lower Hudson Count Sunday an EVENING GROSBEAK was found up in Riverside Park in Manhattan.

As a follow-up to the large RAZORBILL numbers on the Montauk and Captree Counts on Thursday around one thousand were estimated off Montauk and 700 off Shinnecock Inlet. The invasion continuing.

A drake HARLEQUIN DUCK was at Shinnecock Inlet last Friday, another at Montauk yesterday. A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, flooding around southern Westchester County, was on Playland Lake in Rye again yesterday. Single drake EURASIAN WIGEON were again noted on Avon Lake in Amityville and at Brooklyn's Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center this week.

An immature GLAUCOUS GULL was still around Triton Lane off Dune Road in Hampton Bays yesterday and the adult BLACK-HEADED GULL continues around the bar off the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End.

An adult RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was spotted at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx Wednesday.

Some intriguing late warblers noted this week featured a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER at a private Oceanside feeder last weekend. A late CAPE MAY WARBLER found Monday along with an OVENBIRD and a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT in Manhattan's Union Square Park. A PRAIRIE WARBLER in Pelham Bay Park Wednesday, a TENNESSEE WARBLER at the West Meadow Wetlands Preserve in Stony Brook from Saturday to yesterday and a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye Wednesday.

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