New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, May 17, 2019:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May. 17, 2019
* NYNY1905.17

- Birds mentioned
WHITE-FACED IBIS+
WILSON'S PLOVER+
BURROWING OWL+
SWAINSON'S WARBLER+
SAGE THRASHER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
LITTLE GULL
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Evening Grosbeak
Pine Siskin
BLUE GROSBEAK
SUMMER TANAGER
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Orange-crowned Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Mourning 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

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, May 17th 2019 at 11pm. The highlights of today's tape are BURROWING OWL, SAGE THRASHER, WILSON'S PLOVER, SWAINSON'S WARBLER, WHITE-FACED IBIS, LITTLE GULL, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, KENTUCKY WARBLER, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK and much more.

Despite some rather poor spring weather this week has produced an amazing string of rarities.

Thursday evening a BURROWING OWL was found hanging around the small construction site and surrounding marshy area at Big Egg Marsh south of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel. The owl was observed catching insects until darkness set in but could not be relocated there Friday.

However, just north of there, at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on Friday afternoon a SAGE THRASHER was found feeding along a refuge trail. As gathering birders watched from a respectful distance a nicely marker THRASHER foraged back and forth along the central trail behind the visitors center just above the south garden and below the blind and small pond offering nice views. Hopefully it might continue there Saturday.

Out on eastern Long Island at Cupsogue County Park a WILSON'S PLOVER was found Wednesday around the Piping Plover exclosures on the outer beach just west of the beach buildings. The PLOVER remained in that area through Friday roaming the beachfront from as far east as the houses just east of the county park on Friday but usually more on the western side halfway to the point. It also, at lower tides, has flown to the bay side bars to feed eventually returning to the outer beach.

A reasonable week for landbird migration despite some hard weather the best find among the warblers this week was a SWAINSON'S WARBLER singing in Central Park's Ramble near Bow Bridge on Thursday.

Out at Heckscher State Park a well marked WHITE-FACED IBIS was spotted again Monday among the large gathering of Glossy Ibis in the wet areas at field 6 and today 2 WHITE-FACED were present at that site.

On Sunday during the storm an adult LITTLE GULL was seen briefly as it moved past Riis Park.

Other warbler highlights this week featured a couple of PROTHONOTARYS in Prospect Park as well as one early in the week at Westchester's Oscawana Island Park. A YELLOW-THROATED in Central Park Wednesday and Friday with a KENTUCKY there Thursday and Friday, another YELLOW-THROATED at Avalon Gardens in Stony Brook Thursday, a MOURNING in Prospect Park Friday and an ORANGE-CROWNED in Central Park Thursday. Also among the more unusual warblers were a CERULEAN or two as well as decent numbers of such species as CAPE MAY, BAY-BREASTED, BLACKBURNIAN and other expected species.

Among some SUMMER TANAGERS were birds in Central and Forest Parks while BLUE GROSBEAKS were noted in Central Park and on Governors Island Tuesday with one of each out at Jones Beach West End Thursday.

Other migrants this week featured both YELLOW-BILLED and BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS and OLIVE-SIDED, YELLOW-BELLIED and ACADIAN FLYCATCHERS. One or two EVENING GROSBEAKS were noted in Central Park this week as were late PINE SISKINS and a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was found at Pelham Bay Park Wednesday.

An ICELAND GULL and 8 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were at Jones Beach West End last Sunday when another ICELAND and 10 LESSER BLACK-BACKEDS were also at Robert Moses State Park.

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