New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, December 28, 2018:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Dec. 28, 2018
* NYNY1812.28

- Birds Mentioned

MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD+
COMMON MURRE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cackling Goose
Green-winged Teal (Eurasian form)
Common Eider
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Red-necked Grebe
CATTLE EGRET
Bald Eagle
Short-billed Dowitcher
Wilson’s Snipe
RAZORBILL
BLACK GUILLEMOT
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE
BLACK-HEADED GULL
ICELAND GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL
Barred Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
Common Raven
Marsh Wren
Ovenbird
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Cape May Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Chipping Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rusty Blackbird
RED CROSSBILL
Pine Siskin

(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

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 nysarc44nybirdsorg

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: Gail Benson

[~BEGIN RBA TAPE~]

Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, December 28, 2018 at 8:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD, COMMON MURRE, BLACK GUILLEMOT and RAZORBILL numbers, BLACK-HEADED GULL, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, GLAUCOUS and ICELAND GULLS, CATTLE EGRET, HARLEQUIN DUCK, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, RED CROSSBILL and more.

A great find any time in the northeast, a young MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD was spotted Saturday morning at Point Judith on a Rhode Island Christmas Bird Count. As the bird continued west, birders contemplated sites along Long Island Sound’s north shore to look for it. The FRIGATEBIRD instead turned left and was next seen moving by the Coast Guard Station on the north side of the Ponquogue Bridge at Shinnecock around 3 pm in the afternoon, still heading west but, unfortunately, not seen again.

For local Christmas Bird Counts, the Bronx Westchester last Sunday recorded 116 species, including two RED-NECKED GREBES, a WILSON’S SNIPE, nine BALD EAGLES, a RAZORBILL off Rye, one NORTHERN SAW-WHET and ten BARRED OWLS, a RED-HEADLED WOODPECKER at Pelham Bay, four EASTERN PHOEBES, three PINE SISKINS, eight CHIPPING, one LINCOLN’S and four WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and ninety-one RUSTY BLACKBIRDS.

The Smithtown Count held yesterday netted 98 species, highlights including a EURASIAN form of GREEN-WINGED TEAL, four COMMON EIDERS, a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, one LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, nine NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, MERLIN and PEREGRINE FALCON, four COMMON RAVENS, two MARSH WRENS and two PINE SISKINS.

The impressive RAZORBILL invasion on Eastern Long Island continues, with over 9,000 estimated yesterday off Montauk Point and adjacent Camp Hero, these numbers continuing to build over the last two weeks. Very few other alcids, though, have joined this movement. A COMMON MURRE was seen briefly off Camp Hero last Sunday afternoon and reported again off the Point Monday morning, and a BLACK GUILLEMOT was photographed as it few into Shinnecock Inlet last Saturday afternoon. Farther west on Long Island, 677 RAZORBILLS were counted moving by Robert Moses State Park Field 2 Wednesday morning.

Also at Montauk Point Thursday were a BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, with a RED-NECKED GREBE at Culloden Point. An ICELAND GULL continues around the Montauk harbor entrance, and a CATTLE EGRET was seen in flight along Route 27 west of the town of Montauk last Sunday, while a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was spotted at Hither Hills State Park Thursday.

Three HARLEQUIN DUCKS were present at Shinnecock Inlet Wednesday, along with a GLAUCOUS GULL, perhaps the same bird frequenting the area around Triton Lane at least to Wednesday.

An adult BLACK-HEADED GULL continues to be seen around the bar adjacent to the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End, and two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were at Robert Moses State Park Tuesday, with one at West End Wednesday.

Other ICELAND GULLS were noted in Manhattan last Saturday and in Brooklyn Tuesday.

A few CACKLING GEESE have been noted locally, but we have no report of the PINK-FOOTED GOOSE since December 20th.

Single RED-NECKED GREBES were seen last Sunday off Coney Island Pier and Floyd Bennett Field.

It seems few winter finches continue to linger in our area, but among them were four or more RED CROSSBILLS seen Sunday in Brookhaven State Park.

Among a fairly low variety of late lingering WARBLERS have been a CAPE MAY in Manhattan’s Union Square Park, joining an OVENBIRD and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT there, and a TENNESSEE still present Wednesday at the West Meadow Wetlands Preserve in Stony Brook.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WABLER was in Morningside Park in northern Manhattan Tuesday, and among various other interesting passerines in the area was a ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK visiting a private feeder in Mastic Wednesday

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, and Happy New Year!

- End transcript