New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, August 7, 2020:

-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Aug. 07, 2020
* NYNY2008.07


- Birds Mentioned

SOUTH POLAR SKUA+
SOOTY TERN+
BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

UPLAND SANDPIPER
WHIMBREL
White-rumped Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
POMARINE JAEGER+
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GULL-BILLED TERN
CASPIAN TERN
Black Tern
MANX SHEARWATER
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel
BROWN PELICAN
ACADIAN FLYCATCHER
BLUE GROSBEAK

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, August 7, 2020 at 5:00 pm.

The highlights of today’s tape are Tropical Storm Isaias birds, including SOOTY TERN, SOUTH POLAR SKUA, BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL, POMARINE JAEGER and MANX SHEARWATER, plus BROWN PELICAN, UPLAND SANDPIPER, WHIMBREL, CASPIAN and GULL-BILLED TERNS, ACADIAN FLYCATCHER, BLUE GROSBEAK and more.

Certainly the predominant bird of interest during the passage of Isaias through our area Tuesday was SOOTY TERN, and, as it turns out, the best area to look for them locally was along the Hudson River in the afternoon as the birds were moving back south. At least five were counted passing by lower Riverside Park around 70th Street in Manhattan, with eight spotted off Inwood Hill Park further north. Some SOOTY TERNS were even seen well north of us on lakes in both New York and in the Berkshires. Other local sightings included three off Kings Point and two off Rye Playland on Long Island Sound, and a few also appeared more coastally, including singles at Coney Island Creek Park and Gravesend Bay and farther east off Oak Beach. Only one was seen Wednesday on the Hudson well north of the city.

Another Isaias highlight was a SOUTH POLAR SKUA moving north past 70th Street in Manhattan, photographed with the George Washington Bridge in the background.

Two intrepid birders out at Robert Moses State Park encountered the only flock of STORM-PETRELS to be seen, sheltered somewhat inside Fire Island Inlet, these including about a dozen or so WILSON’S and a larger longer-winged bird they were able to see well enough to identify as a BAND-RUMPED.

Otherwise the only other tubenose reported to our knowledge was a MANX SHEARWATER off Great Kills Park on Staten Island, that park still noting two BROWN PELICANS offshore last Saturday.

Two POMARINE JAEGERS were enjoyed for a short while Tuesday afternoon off Lloyd Harbor and the Eaton’s Neck Coast Guard Station, and BLACK TERNS also appeared at various places during the storm.

Three LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS at Floyd Bennett Field Tuesday were among the small numbers still around our area.

A GULL-BILLED TERN at Coney Island Beach Tuesday followed one still at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last Saturday. Single CASPIAN TERNS were at Battery Park and Riverside Park Wednesday, with two earlier in the week at the Croton Point Railroad Station lagoon.

An UPLAND SANDPIPER was nicely photographed as it flew by Breezy Point last Saturday. WHIMBREL included two at Floyd Bennett Field Tuesday and one in Jamaica Bay Saturday, and other notable shorebirds this week included WHITE-RUMPED, PECTORAL and WESTERN SANDPIPERS.

The ACADIAN FLYCATCHER family of four is still being seen in Prospect Park, and BLUE GROSBEAKS continue around the Calverton grasslands.

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