New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, March 6, 2020:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Mar. 06, 2020
* NYNY2003.06


- Birds Mentioned

PACIFIC LOON+
THICK-BILLED MURRE+
TOWNSEND’S SOlITAIRE+
VARIED THRUSH+

(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

Greater White-fronted Goose
King Eider
Harlequin Duck
American Bittern
Osprey
Rough-legged Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Woodcock
Dovekie
Razorbill
Black-headed Gull
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Red-headed Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Yellow-breasted Chat
Eastern Meadowlark
Orange-crowned Warbler
Palm 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, March 6, 2020 at 9:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are VARIED THRUSH, TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE, DOVEKIE and THICK-BILLED MURRE, PACIFIC LOON, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, HARLEQUIN DUCK and KING EIDER, BLACK-HEADED and ICELAND GULLS, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and more.

With more movement among over wintering birds and earlier arriving spring species now taking place, it’s not surprising that our winter rarities would also continue to disperse. Our last report of the VARIED THRUSH in Prospect Park comes from the Nethermead last Saturday, while the TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE out in East Hampton was last seen along Three Mile Harbor Drive last Sunday, so they, like the Painted Buntings previously, may have moved on.

This movement, though, can produce some nice surprises, even if brief. Out at Montauk Point last Sunday a DOVEKIE landed off the restaurant but remained in sight only until it dove, and later an adult PACIFIC LOON was identified off Culloden Point.

The THICK-BILLED MURRE also continued fairly close to shore at least to Tuesday off Montauk Point, where diminishing numbers of birds did feature counts of 47 RAZORBILLS Saturday and 20 on Sunday. Two ICELAND GULLS, 1 an adult, were also present Sunday on the west side of the entrance to Lake Montauk.

Among the lingering unusual waterfowl, the GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE in the Rye area was last seen on Monday, but the young male HARLEQUIN DUCK at Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn was still around yesterday, and the 4 off Orient Point have continued through today.

The female KING EIDER at Orient Point, however, has not been seen since Sunday, though the female KING EIDER usually on the east side of Shinnecock Inlet made it to mid-week.

An adult BLACK-HEADED GULL was seen a few times in Sheepshead Bay at least to Wednesday, with a sighting at Riis Park last Saturday, while the immature ICELAND GULL was noted in Sheepshead Bay at least to Sunday and also on Prospect Park Lake on Monday.

Single LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS occurred at several locations, including Central Park Reservoir Sunday and Wednesday and in Coney Island Monday, and single RAZORBILLS were spotted off Breezy Point Saturday and Canarsie Pier Monday.

A few lingering birds featured a COMMON GALLINULE remaining on Mill Pond in Bellmore at least to Sunday, AMERICAN BITTERN continuing along Dune Road, a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK still along Ocean Parkway in the Gilgo area last weekend, and a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER becoming more adult-like while it resides in Central Park’s north end.

A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was seen again Sunday at the Cemetery of the Resurrection on Staten Island.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER recently snacking on suet feeders at the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton was joined there in that park last Sunday by an EASTERN PHOEBE, 10 EASTERN MEADOWLARKS and a PALM WARBLER.

A few signs of spring recently include increasing movements of AMERICAN WOODCOCK, EASTERN PHOEBE and TREE SWALLOW and an OSPREY in Rye today.

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