New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, January 10, 2020:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Jan. 10, 2020
* NYNY2001.10

- Birds Mentioned

BARNACLE GOOSE+
THICK-BILLED MURRE+
VARIED THRUSH+
PAINTED BUNTING+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
EURASIAN WIGEON
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Bufflehead
BARROW’S GOLDENEYE
Red-necked Grebe
Bald Eagle
Northern Goshawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Common Gallinule
Razorbill
BLACK-HEADED GULL
ICELAND GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL
Snowy Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Red-headed Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swallow
House Wren
Snow Bunting
Vesper Sparrow
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
Yellow-breasted Chat
Orange-crowned Warbler
Wilson's Warbler

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

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, January 10, 2020 at 9:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are PAINTED BUNTING, VARIED THRUSH, BARNACLE and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, EURASIAN WIGEON, BARROW’S GOLDENEYE and HARLEQUIN DUCK, BLACK-HEADED, GLAUCOUS and ICELAND GULLS, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, a belated THICK-BILLED MURRE and more.

Two lingering PAINTED BUNTINGS, both in female plumage though possibly immature males, were still present in our area today. One has been visiting Brooklyn Bridge Park, where some other highlights today featured a continuing adult BLACK-HEADED GULL and three ICELAND GULLS, two of them adults. The other BUNTING remains at Jones Beach State Park, often feeding along the edge of a small playground on the ocean side of the parking lot for the Gatsby Restaurant, which is next to the West Bathhouse just west of the Jones Beach water tower.

The VARIED THRUSH found December 29th in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, delighting birders when visible near the Nethermead Bridge, has not been reported since Tuesday, though it might still remain in the area.

A BARNACLE GOOSE continues to roost on the lake at Belmont Lake State Park; it has been fairly consistently seen in the morning, though it might at times be hidden for a while and will periodically fly out with CANADAS to feed elsewhere.

A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE remains in the Rye area, today appearing again on Playland Lake. CACKLING GEESE were reported from at least seven different locations this week, including Hendrickson Park in Valley Stream and at Belmont Lake.

A EURASIAN WIGEON continues on the Mill Pond in Centerport on the north side of Route 25A.

Two BARROW’S GOLDENEYES last Monday included a drake off Crab Meadow Beach in Northport and a female in Montauk’s Fort Pond Bay, both of these lingering birds, and on Tuesday another drake was spotted off Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx.

Last Sunday a young male HARLEQUIN DUCK was found in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay, accompanying some BUFFLEHEAD off Emmons Avenue, and it was still present there today. Other HARLEQUINS include a few around the jetties on either side of Jones inlet, one at the Shinnecock inlet jetties, and at least four continuing at Orient Point.

Another adult BLACK-HEADED GULL remains at Jones Beach West End, usually on the east side of the spit off of the Coast Guard station or even further down towards the Meadowbrook Bridge.

A GLAUCOUS GULL was spotted Saturday near the Ponquogue Bridge at Shinnecock, and other ICELAND GULLS in the Brooklyn area were noted near the HARLEQUIN DUCK in Sheepshead Bay Sunday and at Bush Terminal Piers Park Monday.

A few LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS are scattered about.

A ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was still in the Cedar Beach area Tuesday, with another off Hulse Landing Road in Calverton last Sunday.

A COMMON GALLINULE continues among the variety of birds using the Bellmore Mill Pond off Merrick Road today.

On Wednesday RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were still at Central Park’s north end and Forest Park in Queens.

A few VESPER SPARROWS included one on Randall's Island Tuesday, and a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW continues by Playland Lake in Rye.

Birds at Breezy Point Tuesday included 9 RAZORBILLS, 2 RED-NECKED GREBES, a BALD EAGLE, 8 TREE SWALLOWS and 12 SNOW BUNTINGS.

The Prospect Park WILSON'S WARBLER was last reported Sunday, and several ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS were noted this week.

Two previously unreported Christmas Counts were Central Suffolk with 115 species on December 27th, featuring a THICK BILLED MURRE and 150 RAZORBILLS, 1 SNOWY and 6 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS and a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, and Quogue Watermill with 109 species on December 15th, including EURASIAN WIGEON, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, SNOWY and NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, EASTERN PHOEBE and HOUSE WREN.

To phone in reports 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