-RBA * New York * New York City, Long Island, Westchester County * Feb. 27, 2026 * NYNY2602.27
- Birds Mentioned SWAINSON'S HAWK+ (+ Details requested by NYSARC) TUNDRA SWAN Wood Duck Blue-winged Teal EURASIAN WIGEON Harlequin Duck Red-necked Grebe Wilson’s Snipe THICK-BILLED MURRE BLACK-HEADED GULL GLAUCOUS GULL Lesser Black-backed Gull Iceland Gull American Bittern ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK Rusty Blackbird Common Grackle 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 27, 2026 at 11:00 pm. The highlights of today’s tape are SWAINSON’S HAWK, TUNDRA SWAN, EURASIAN WIGEON, THICK-BILLED MURRE, BLACK-HEADED and GLAUCOUS GULLS, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and more. With birding this week severely hampered by last weekend’s blizzard, fortunately some highlights do continue locally, especially the adult SWAINSON’S HAWK wintering again in Brooklyn. As in previous winters, this bird continues to roost and hunt frequently in the vicinity of the SIMS Municipal Recycling Center located around 29th Street west of 2nd Avenue - access to this facility is restricted, but the area can be viewed from outside the surrounding fencing. The hawk has also been seen over the local neighborhood, including nearby Green-Wood Cemetery. Last Sunday afternoon as the blizzard was gearing up, 9 TUNDRA SWANS were found on the icy Hudson River just north of Croton Point Park in Westchester. The next day 2 were seen south of Croton Point but soon flew north upriver and have not been relocated since. A drake EURASIAN WIGEON was spotted last Saturday around a puddle on the Timber Point Golf Course off the end of Great River Road in Great River, and that same day the presumed changing drake EURASIAN WIGEON was noted again on Agawam Lake in Southampton, this lake just south of Montauk Highway. A drake BLUE WINGED TEAL was present again on Patchogue Lake in Patchogue last Sunday. Yesterday morning a THICK-BILLED MURRE was photographed in Gravesend Bay off the Caesar’s Bay Bazaar, while a BLACK-HEADED GULL continues around Jones Inlet, often noted on the Point Lookout side, where 5 HARLEQUIN DUCKS were also present recently. A GLAUCOUS GULL was spotted moving south over the Red Hook section of Brooklyn last Saturday, and another visited Orchard Beach in the Bronx on Wednesday. Among a few wintering LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were one visiting Central Park Reservoir last Sunday and another at Bush Terminal Piers Park Wednesday. Some scattered ICELAND GULLS included up to 4 around Gravesend Bay in Brooklyn all week and 2 on Central Park Reservoir last Saturday, with 1 there Tuesday, while elsewhere singles were spotted at Brooklyn Army Terminal Pier 4 Tuesday and on Thursday at Great Kills Park on Staten Island and at Louis Engel Park in Ossining up in Westchester. A decent number of RED-NECKED GREBES featured singles at Brooklyn Army Terminal Pier 4 and in Southampton last Saturday, 1 in Jamaica Bay Tuesday, another off Orchard Beach Wednesday and Thursday, and others today at Breezy Point and Floyd Bennett Field. AMERICAN BITTERNS were still being seen before the storm along Dune Road, and a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK was spotted over Douglaston in Queens last Tuesday. Impressive counts at Alley Pond Park last weekend featured 78 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS and an estimated 2500 COMMON GRACKLES on Saturday, followed by a count of 64 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS plus 35 WOOD DUCKS and a WILSON’S SNIPE 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 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information Posting Address: [email protected] Archives: The Mail Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org --
