- RBA * New York * New York City, Long Island, Westchester County * April 20, 2012 * NYNY1204.20
- Birds Mentioned: SWALLOW-TAILED KITE+ (+ Details requested by NYSARC) Red-necked Grebe American Bittern Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Green Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Broad-winged Hawk Spotted Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper Willet Upland Sandpiper Wilson's Snipe Yellow-billed Cuckoo Great Horned Owl Whip-poor-will Chimney Swift RED-HEADED WOODPECKER Eastern Kingbird White-eyed Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Warbling Vireo House Wren Wood Thrush ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Worm-eating Warbler Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Louisiana Waterthrush Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler Chipping Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Eastern Meadowlark Rusty Blackbird 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 nysa...@nybirds.org . If electronic submission is not possible, hardcopy reports and photos or sketches are welcome. Hardcopy documentation should be mailed to: Jeanne Skelly - Secretary NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC) 420 Chili-Scottsville Rd. Churchville, NY 14428 ~ Transcript ~ Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert Weekly Recording: (212) 979-3070 To report sightings call: Tom Burke (212) 372-1483 (weekdays) Tony Lauro (631) 734-4126 Compilers: Tom Burke, Tony Lauro Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County Transcriber: Karen Fung [~BEGIN RBA TAPE~] Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, April 20th at 7:00pm. The highlights of today's tape are SWALLOW-TAILED KITE, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, and other spring migrants. As spring migration progresses, seemingly more accelerated than normal, two negative aspects are shaping up to impact birding during the peak period: the early leafing out of trees, and the lack of water. The latter may be alleviated somewhat this weekend with heavy rain forecast, but for now the waterhole at Forest Park, for instance, is completely dry. Certainly the week's most interesting report involved a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE spotted from Lookout Hill in Prospect Park on Thursday, this following one that had moved north over Sandy Hook on Tuesday. Also interesting has been a larger than normal influx of YELLOW-THROATED WARBLERS. Over last weekend on Saturday, at least four were reported. Three in Manhattan involved one in Central Park's Ramble also noted Sunday, one in Riverside Park on Saturday only, and one Saturday in Inwood Hill Park, while Prospect Park in Brooklyn added another Saturday on Lookout Hill. On Monday another YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was found in Alley Pond Park in Queens, the season's second there, and this was followed by a YELLOW-THROATED next to the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End in Nassau County on Wednesday, this same day finding a HOODED WARBLER in the West End median. A few more reports than normal of ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER have also occurred lately, with two in the north end of Central Park and two in Prospect Park Thursday. Two HOODED WARBLERS were in Central Park today, and WORM-EATING WARBLER has been seen in both Central and Prospect Parks. Otherwise there has been a relatively widespread influx of expected earlier migrants throughout much of the region. Warblers noted recently have included NASHVILLE WARBLER, NORTHERN PARULA, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, PRAIRIE WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, OVENBIRD, and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT; these in addition to the already present PINE WARBLER, PALM WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH. Some WHITE-EYED VIREOS and WARBLING VIREOS have joined the widespread BLUE-HEADED VIREOS, while arriving sparrows include some CHIPPING SPARROWS, SAVANNAH SPARROWS, and SWAMP SPARROWS. A WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW was singing at Riverside Park last Sunday. EASTERN KINGBIRD and WOOD THRUSH have also been reported. HOUSE WRENS have become quickly common, and a few RUSTY BLACKBIRDS continue in the area. Among the non-passerines, one of the more unusual was a RED-HEADED WOODPECKER spotted at Robert Moses State Park last Sunday, near field 2. The breeding plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE was still on the lake by the golf course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx Monday, and an EASTERN MEADOWLARK was unusual there last Saturday. Unexpected in Central Park were an AMERICAN BITTERN in the North Woods on Tuesday and a GREAT HORNED OWL in the Ramble on Thursday. Arriving shorebirds have featured SOLITARY SANDPIPER and SPOTTED SANDPIPER and a WILSON'S SNIPE in Central Park, one or two scattered UPLAND SANDPIPERS, and some WILLETS along the coast, where a small number of GREEN HERONS have also been noted. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO was first spotted in Central Park last Monday, and a few CHIMNEY SWIFTS are beginning to drift through. Various herons, including TRICOLORED HERON, LITTLE BLUE HERON, and YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON are at appropriate coastal sites. Some BROAD-WINGED HAWKS have been passing through inland, and a few WHIP-POOR-WILLS are already on territory to our north. To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or weekdays call Tom Burke at (212) 372-1483. This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling. [~END TAPE~] ~ End Transcript ~ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
