New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 10, 2019:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May 10, 2019
* NYNY1905.10

- Birds Mentioned

BLACK-NECKED STILT+
COMMON GREENSHANK+
RUFF+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Red-necked Grebe
American Bittern
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Greater Yellowlegs
Stilt Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Roseate Tern
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Pine Siskin
Evening Grosbeak
Purple Finch
Vesper Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Worm-eating Warbler
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Orange-crowned Warbler
Mourning Warbler
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Hooded Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
TOWNSEND’S WARBLER (Extralimital)
SUMMER TANAGER
BLUE GROSBEAK


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, May 10, 2019 at 9:00 pm.

The highlights of today's tape are COMMON GREENSHANK, RUFF, BLACK-NECKED STILT, PROTHONOTARY, YELLOW-THROATED, KENTUCKY, GOLDEN-WINGED and extralimital TOWNSEND’S WARBLERS, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK and much more.

Well, it is Warbler time, but what a fine week for Shorebirds! Last Sunday at the rain pools on Timber Point Golf Course in Great River a COMMON GREENSHANK was discovered feeding with GREATER YELLOWLEGS and other Shorebirds and Gulls on what was fortunately a rather unpleasant rainy day that kept golf course activity to an absolute minimum. For all of Sunday birders were able to enjoy nice views of what, pending NYSARC acceptance, will be a first NYS record. With conditions improving overnight, golf course play resumed Monday, and the bird was only seen very early and not thereafter and has not been uncovered since.

This morning at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye a nicely plumaged male white and black RUFF appeared on the mud flats with some GREATER YELLOWLEGS, but after a 40 minute stay it suddenly took off and joined a migrating flock of shorebirds moving overhead. The flock circled as though considering landing on the flats but then rose higher and continued southwest down the Westchester coast towards New York City. Among the other shorebirds at Marshlands today were three WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS.

A BLACK-NECKED STILT extended its stay at the Lido Beach Passive Natural Area at least to Tuesday, and a second one was found Sunday out on eastern Long Island at Georgica Pond in East Hampton, this one not reported after Sunday.

Another Shorebird of note was a STILT SANDPIPER reported from the lagoon at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx today.

Among the Herons, two lingering CATTLE EGRETS were at Oakwood Beach on Staten Island Saturday, an AMERICAN BITTERN was flushed at Southards Pond Park in Babylon Sunday, and a TRICOLORED HERON was at Captree Island Monday.

Last Saturday single CASPIAN TERNS were at Jones Beach West End and Sagg Pond, and among scattered numbers of LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were 61 counted last Sunday along the beachfront at Robert Moses State Park off Fields 2 and 5.

Six RED-NECKED GREBES were off Playland Park in Rye on Monday.

Single EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILLS were seen at Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery Monday and in Central Park Wednesday and heard in northern Manhattan early Friday morning.

Despite some continuing rather poor migration weather locally, some Warbler highlights have included PROTHONOTARY WARBLER in Central and Prospect Parks Saturday and later, with two in Prospect Tuesday, in Massapequa Preserve and one at Southards Pond Wednesday. YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was noted in Central Park Monday and again today and at Rye Nature Center during the week. A GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER visited the Forest Park waterhole Sunday. KENTUCKY WARBLERS were in Central Park Wednesday and Thursday and Forest Park Thursday, and Central Park provided a MOURNING WARBLER Sunday and Tuesday. The excellent Warbler variety also included an ORANGE-CROWNED at Robert Moses State Park Saturday; CERULEAN WARBLERS in Central and Prospect Parks and at Southards Pond, and such other species as WORM-EATING, BAY-BREASTED, CAPE MAY, HOODED and twenty or so other species. And there was also an extralimital TOWNSEND’S WARBLER at Bashakill in Sullivan County last Saturday.

Over a dozen SUMMER TANAGERS this week included birds in Central and Prospect Parks, Forest Park, with two there Wednesday, Alley Pond Park and Hempstead Lake State Park, Cunningham Park, the Bronx Zoo, Jones Beach West End, and a couple on eastern Long Island.

BLUE GROSBEAKS too had a good week, with birds in Central Park, Owls Head and Calvert Vaux Parks in Brooklyn, Jones Beach West End and Marshlands Conservancy in Rye.

Some arrivals noted this week have included COMMON NIGHTHAWK, ROSEATE TERN, YELLOW-BILLED and BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS, OLIVE-SIDED, WILLOW and YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHERS, GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH and SALTMARSH SPARROW.

An EVENING GROSBEAK visited the Central Park feeders Wednesday, and some PINE SISKINS and PURPLE FINCHES are still around.

A VESPER SPARROW was at Floyd Bennett Field Sunday.

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