New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, August 23, 2019:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Aug. 23, 2019
* NYNY1908.23

- Birds Mentioned

BLACK-CAPPED PETREL+
WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL+
LEACH’S STORM-PETREL+
BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL+
BROWN BOOBY+
BRIDLED TERN+|

(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Cory’s Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Audubon’s Shearwater
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
AMERICAN AVOCET
UPLAND SANDPIPER
Whimbrel
MARBLED GODWIT
Stilt Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Western Sandpiper
WILSON’S PHALAROPE
Red-necked Phalarope
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Olive-sided Flycatcher
WESTERN KINGBIRD
PHILADELPHIA VIREO
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Worm-eating Warbler
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
LARK SPARROW


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

Compiler: Tom Burke
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, August 23, 2019 at 10:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are pelagic trip results including WHITE-FACED, BAND-RUMPED and LEACH’S STORM-PETRELS and BLACK-CAPPED PETREL, BRIDLED TERN, BROWN BOOBY, AMERICAN AVOCET, BUFF-BREASTED and UPLAND SANDPIPERS, MARBLED GODWIT, WILSON’S PHALAROPE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, PHILADELPHIA VIREO, LARK SPARROW, PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and more.

But first, we very sadly mention that a wonderful friend and long-time mainstay of the New York and Long Island birding community, Tony Lauro, has recently passed away. Tony will always be remembered as a passionate, knowledgeable and instructive field birder, and we are grateful for his many years of service with the RBA team. He will definitely be missed.

A See Life Paulagics boat trip last weekend aboard the Voyager out of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, did venture into New York waters to see some goodies, including a WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL. Trip totals covering both New York and New Jersey waters featured 42 BAND-RUMPED, 7 LEACH’S, 1,451 WILSON’S and 4 WHITE-FACED STORM-PETRELS, a BLACK-CAPPED PETREL, 13 GREAT, 31 CORY’S and 2 AUDUBON’S SHEARWATERS; 5 BLACK TERNS, a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE and a CLIFF SWALLOW, plus some good mammals.

A BROWN BOOBY last Sunday landed on a whale watch boat out of Riis Landing while the boat was traversing waters between Sandy Hook and Breezy Point. There is also a report that a BROWN BOOBY has been visiting fishing boats recently around the Point Lookout side of Jones Beach Inlet. And today a Sulid moving west a good distance off Mecox was felt to be a BROWN BOOBY, a combination of field marks seemingly eliminating an immature Northern Gannet.

An AMERICAN AVOCET was found Monday afternoon at Mecox Bay, where it was still present today around the bay edge along the beach front, and a second AVOCET, retaining some color, was spotted Monday just east of Tiana Beach off Dune Road and was seen again today on the bay island off Road K just west of the Ponquogue Bridge at Shinnecock.

A BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER visited Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon.

Recent MARBLED GODWITS featured 9 at Cupsogue County Park in Westhampton Dunes Thursday, 1 at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn Thursday, and 2 at Breezy Point Tuesday.

Two WILSON’S PHALAROPES were still at Jerome Reservoir in the Bronx Saturday before it was filled back up with water.

Other shorebirds seen this week include a few WESTERN, WHITE-RUMPED and STILT SANDIPERS and WHIMBREL, and an UPLAND SANDPIPER visited the landfill at Croton Point Park in Westchester County last weekend.

The highlight at Croton Point was a WESTERN KINGBIRD found there last Saturday and still present today; occasionally visiting the landfill, the KINGBIRD is mostly seen working bare trees uphill on the north side of the entrance road well before the park’s entrance booth.

The adult BRIDLED TERN was still around Great Gull Island last Saturday.

Six BLACK TERNS were reported from Jones Inlet Thursday, and a few CASPIAN TERNS included 3 at Plumb Beach Wednesday.

Notable among the landbirds were a LARK SPARROW fortuitously photographed Monday at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, where a PHILADELPHIA VIREO was found Tuesday, and a couple of OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS.

Single YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were found at Floyd Bennet Field last Saturday and in Central Park today, and 59 CLIFF SWALLOWS were counted in the BARN SWALLOW flight at Robert Moses State Park today.

Among the WARBLERS, last Friday’s Central Park male PROTHONOTARY WARBLER was present at the Pond through the weekend, and another was on Great Gull Island Tuesday. A MOURNING WARBLER in Rye on Wednesday was followed by one in Central Park today, and among the twenty or so species recently, most in very low numbers, have also been WORM-EATING and HOODED.

To phone in reports please 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