-RBA * New York * New York City, Long Island, Westchester County * Feb. 14, 2025 * NYNY2502.14
- Birds Mentioned NORTHERN LAPWING+ SHORT-BILLED GULL+ (probable) SMITH'S LONGSPUR+ (+ Details requested by NYSARC) GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE PINK-FOOTED GOOSE KING EIDER Common Eider HARLEQUIN DUCK BARROW’S GOLDENEYE DOVEKIE THICK-BILLED MURRE BLACK-HEADED GULL Horned Lark BOHEMIAN WAXWING Lapland Longspur CLAY-COLORED SPARROW LARK SPARROW 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: Gail Benson [~BEGIN RBA TAPE~] Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, February 14, 2025 at 11:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are NORTHERN LAPWING, SMITH'S LONGSPUR, BOHEMIAN WAXWING, probable SHORT-BILLED GULL, PINK-FOOTED and GREATER WHITE FRONTED GEESE, BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, KING EIDER and HARLEQUIN DUCK, DOVEKIE and THICK-BILLED MURRE, BLACK-HEADED GULL, CLAY-COLORED and LARK SPARROWS and more. But first, we note with much sadness the recent passing of Helen Hays, whose herculean efforts for well over 50 years working with volunteers on the Great Gull Island Project have successfully provided a stable habitat for a now thriving colony of Common and Roseate Terns. Thank you, Helen - you will certainly be missed. As to this week's birds, the NORTHERN LAPWING continued its stay along Mecox Road and Halsey Lane in Bridgehampton through Sunday but revisited Sagg Pond Monday. It then was absent for a few days, only to be re-found again today along Halsey Lane. Its movements likely are weather dependent, but checking these areas could be worthwhile. A female SMITH'S LONGSPUR spotted late Saturday at Smith Point County Park in Shirley was seen again Sunday around the parking lot area before flying off later in the morning. At Jones Beach West End, the BOHEMIAN WAXWING found there Friday was spotted briefly Sunday and again Monday but remained difficult to pin down. Also at the West End, a decent number of LAPLAND LONGPURS around the dunes included eight counted on Sunday. At Brooklyn Bridge Park last Sunday what was believed to be a SHORT-BILLED GULL was seen in fading light late in the day, but the closely related Common Gull could not definitively be ruled out - hopefully it will reappear somewhere in that area. A PINK-FOOTED GOOSE was noted both on Eastport Lake north of Montauk Highway and on sod fields north of there, east of Route 51 and north of Route 111 to Tuesday, with another at the Huntington Country Club last Saturday. GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE included two regularly on private Tung Ting Pond in Centerport to Wednesday and one continuing to visit Playland Lake in Rye. A drake KING EIDER was still in the COMMON EIDER flock around Shinnecock Inlet Sunday, 11 HARLEQUIN DUCKS were counted off Point Lookout Saturday, and BARROW’S GOLDENEYES featured a drake off Crab Meadow Beach Saturday, a young male on Great Pond in Southold Thursday, and a female found on New Croton Reservoir in Westchester on Wednesday and still present this morning along the east side of the reservoir by an island a half mile southwest of the Taconic overpass. DOVEKIES were seen off Sagg Pond to Monday and around Shinnecock Inlet on Monday, while a THICK-BILLED MURRE has been present all week in Gravesend Bay off Brooklyn, often seen from BJ's Wholesale Club. BLACK-HEADED GULLS continue around Point Lookout and in the Plumb Beach area, with three also reported at Wainscott Pond Saturday. A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was photographed on Randall’s Island Sunday, and the lingering LARK SPARROW was noted near 851 Head of Pond Road in Watermill to Sunday, while another was found at the Reeves Avenue Buffalo Farm on the west side of Roanoke Avenue north of Riverhead on Thursday. This Buffalo Farm has also recently produced a number of HORNED LARKS with up to four LAPLAND LONGSPURS mixed in; a possible but unconfirmed Chestnut-collared Longspur was also reported there briefly on Wednesday and should be looked for. 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 -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
