New York City Rare Bird Alert

Below is the New York City Rare Bird Alert for the week ending Friday, February 4, 2022:

- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Feb. 4, 2022
* NYNY2202.04


- Birds mentioned
THICK-BILLED MURRE+
SLATY-BACKED GULL+
WESTERN TANAGER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
KING EIDER
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Common Gallinule
PIPING PLOVER
Red Knot
Short-billed Dowitcher
Razorbill
BLACK-HEADED GULL
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
GLAUCOUS GULL
American Bittern
Eastern Phoebe
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
Orange-crowned Warbler

- Transcript

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 nysarc44 (at)nybirds{dot}org.

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: Ben Cacace

BEGIN TAPE

Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for *Friday, February 4th 2022* at 11pm. The highlights of today's tape are SLATY-BACKED GULL, WESTERN TANAGER, THICK-BILLED MURRE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, KING EIDER, HARLEQUIN DUCK, BLACK-HEADED GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL, PIPING PLOVER, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW and more.

Certainly this week's highlight was the SLATY-BACKED GULL on Central Park's Reservoir that was identified from photos taken there on Tuesday. Once this tricky identification was sorted out involving separation from several similar blackish backed gulls including Lesser Black-backed a good number of observers got to view the SLATY-BACKED during the period it was on the reservoir early Wednesday morning and again in mid-afternoon. Unfortunately the gull was not spotted either Thursday or today but incoming colder conditions could again bring the gull back to the reservoir or it might be visiting other local gull roosting sites such as Randall's Island or along the Brooklyn shoreline. Central Park's Reservoir has been attracting a good variety of other gulls including an adult BLACK-HEADED on Wednesday and Thursday as well as GLAUCOUS, ICELAND and LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS.

Also on Manhattan are the 2 lingering WESTERN TANAGERS one still at Carl Schurz Park along East End Avenue at the feeders adjacent to East 86th Street and the other more elusive bird near private Clinton Community Garden around West 47th and 48th Streets east of 10th Avenue.

Besides a few coastal RAZORBILLS this week a THICK-BILLED MURRE was found today at Great Kills Park on Staten Island in the harbor on the north side as viewed from the harbor parking lot. Another THICK-BILLED was reported again Wednesday off Tiana Beach along Dune Road.

The lower Westchester GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was last seen on now frozen Playland Lake in Rye last Sunday the same day one was seen again on Tung Ting Pond in Centerport. A female type EURASIAN WIGEON continues along the Brooklyn shoreline near Bush Terminal Piers Park and a drake KING EIDER was still around Shinnecock Inlet Monday. A female HARLEQUIN DUCK was reported off north fork Sunday and a few HARLEQUINS should still be around the Point Lookout jetties.

Seasonally unusual shorebirds featured 3 PIPING PLOVERS seen in Fire Island Inlet along with 3 RED KNOTS on Wednesday when a SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER was also reported from Nickerson Beach.

AMERICAN BITTERNS continue along Dune Road and at Tobay and a COMMON GALLINULE remains at Mill Pond Park in Bellmore.

Also unusual at this season was a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW Tuesday and 2 or 3 GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS early in the week at the Calverton Grasslands on the Epcal complex. These grasslands are definitely worthy of preservation. A VESPER SPARROW was spotted at Caumsett State Park Wednesday.

An EASTERN PHOEBE and a BALTIMORE ORIOLE were still present in Brooklyn's Green-wood Cemetery before the storm and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was found in Shirley Chisholm State Park Sunday.

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