New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, June 7, 2019:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* June 7, 2019
* NYNY1906.07

- Birds Mentioned

BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK+
ARCTIC TERN+
SANDWICH TERN+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Sooty Shearwater
BROWN PELICAN
SANDHILL CRANE
WILSON’S PHALAROPE
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Red-headed Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Northern Waterthrush
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
Canada Warbler
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, June 7, 2019 at 8:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, SANDHILL CRANE, BROWN PELICAN, SANDWICH and ARCTIC TERNS, WILSON’S PHALAROPE, PROTHONOTARY and YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK and more.

Following last Friday’s flock of 10 BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCKS at the Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area, up to 12 were counted in the flooded area at the cloverleaf connecting Ocean Parkway onto the Meadowbrook as approached from Jones Beach West End through Tuesday, and up to 9 were still being seen at Oceanside as recently as Wednesday, so this group could still be in the area.

Also continuing at least to Thursday is the SANDHILL CRANE out east at Napeague, this individual lingering off Cranberry Hole Road near an old fish factory.

And a BROWN PELICAN first noted off Northport on May 27th has apparently continued in that area, reported Wednesday evening as landing on the beach just west of the four stacks.

Though Nickerson Beach has been generating most of the Tern excitement recently, the most unusual was presumably the same adult SANDWICH TERN seen last Sunday morning at both Plumb Beach in Brooklyn and near the West Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge – it has not been reported since.

At Nickerson Beach, which is on the south side of Lido Boulevard west of Point Lookout and does charge a substantial entrance fee from about 9 am to 4 pm, the existing COMMON and LEAST TERN and BLACK SKIMMER colonies have attracted a few adult ARCTIC TERNS so far this spring, including at least two Sunday and Monday, the birds resting on the beach in front of the nesting areas. Also occurring have been a couple of BLACK TERNS in addition to a small number of ROSEATE and GULL-BILLED TERNS, and a male WILSON’S PHALAROPE was seen again there on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A second year ARCTIC TERN was spotted today on South Line Island east of the Wantagh Parkway.

Finishing the TERNS, an adult ROYAL was off the Jones Beach West End Coast Guard Station Wednesday, and today two CASPIANS were reported from Old Inlet on Fire Island west of Smith Point County Park.

Four LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were also at Smith Point County Park Monday, when one of only a very few SOOTY SHEARWATERS so far was spotted offshore. An occasional single SOOTY has also appeared off Robert Moses State Park and other south shore sites, but they seem a little behind schedule.

A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was still present along the Paumanok Trail in Manorville Tuesday.

A PROTHONOTARY WARBLER found at Mashomack Preserve at Shelter Island on Thursday could be a potential nester there, and a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, presumably breeding, remains at Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River. Probably still on the move were a YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER at Bensonhurst Park and a KENTUCKY WARBLER at Floyd Bennett Field, both in Brooklyn on Sunday.

Sunday also produced SUMMER TANAGER sightings in Central Park and at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, certainly migrants, while the nesting enclave of BLUE GROSBEAKS continues around the Calverton Grasslands, one of the reasons that large expanse of great habitat should be protected.

The final stage of migration generally produces the best variety of FLYCATCHERS, including this week some OLIVE-SIDED, ACADIAN, ALDER and YELLOW-BELLIED, while WARBLERS featured a decent number of MOURNINGS for June and a smattering of such species as CHESTNUT-SIDED, MAGNOLIA, BLACKBURNIAN, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, CANADA and even YELLOW-RUMPED.

Remember in breeding season to be very mindful and protective of the nesting birds.

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