- RBA * New York * New York City, Long Island, Westchester County * Oct 30, 2009 * NYNY0910.30
- Birds Mentioned: GYRFALCON+ RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD+ WESTERN TANAGER+ Cackling Goose KING EIDER Common Eider HARLEQUIN DUCK Red-throated Loon NORTHERN FULMAR Cory's Shearwater Bald Eagle Northern Goshawk Golden Eagle Sora American Golden-Plover AMERICAN AVOCET White-rumped Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Long-billed Dowitcher Lesser Black-backed Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Royal Tern Parasitic Jaeger Great Crested Flycatcher WESTERN KINGBIRD Marsh Wren American Pipit Orange-crowned Warbler Connecticut Warbler Clay-colored Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Nelson's Sparrow Saltmarsh Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Dickcissel Eastern Meadowlark Rusty Blackbird Purple Finch 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 (Long Island) 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, October 30th, at 9:00 pm. The highlights of today's tape are GYRFALCON, RUFOUS-TYPE HUMMINGBIRD, NORTHERN FULMAR, AMERICAN AVOCET, WESTERN KINGBIRD and WESTERN TANAGER, KING EIDER and HARLEQUIN DUCK, and much more. Last Sunday at Jones Beach West End a large falcon was seen capturing a Herring Gull and feasting on it while birders and photographers surrounded it. Unfortunately, the falcon was not identified as an immature gray morph GYRFALCON until photos were subsequently analyzed the following days. Wonderful photos do exist, but the falcon itself has not been seen at West End since Sunday. The generally poor weather might be partly responsible for that, so birders should continue to be vigilant in that area and elsewhere, around the south shore marshes. [Transcriber's note: A photo of the GYR, taken Sunday by Luke Ormand, can be found at http://tinyurl.com/yhceu9h ]. What appears to be an immature male RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD appeared again last Sunday in the yard at 122 Hillside Avenue in the Grymes Hill section of northeastern Staten Island. The homeowner also learned that the hummingbird has been visiting feeders nearby at 44 Woodside Avenue. Birders are welcome by the homeowners to look for the hummingbird, but we have no updated information since last Sunday. Also on Staten Island, two CACKLING GEESE remain in a Canada flock near Mount Loretto Park off Hylan Boulevard. Three very interesting reports during the week of birds apparently seen only by the initial observers involved an apparent WESTERN TANAGER at the Jones Beach West End coast guard hedgerow on Monday, a WESTERN KINGBIRD at Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk on Monday, and an AMERICAN AVOCET on a farm pond along Ocean Avenue in Baiting Hollow on the north shore of eastern Long Island Tuesday. A good amount of activity continues in the Montauk area. Highlights of a sea watch off Ditch Plains last Saturday included a NORTHERN FULMAR, 2+ CORY'S SHEARWATERS, 3 PARASITIC JAEGERS, 3 immature BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, and 3 ROYAL TERNS, plus a good number of sea ducks featuring 250+ COMMON EIDER and a female KING EIDER. Birds off Montauk Point Saturday included 2 CORY'S SHEARWATERS, 2 PARASITIC JAEGERS, and another BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, plus over 600 COMMON EIDER. Two SNOW BUNTINGS also arrived on the Point, and a SORA was heard calling from the little marsh below the restaurant. A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was also on Fort Pond Bay Saturday. On Tuesday single CORY'S SHEARWATER and PARASITIC JAEGER, plus an arriving HARLEQUIN DUCK were reported at Montauk Point. A LAPLAND LONGSPUR visited Shinnecock Inlet back on the 22nd. At Robert Moses State Park, a sea watch Sunday noted 4 CORY'S SHEARWATERS, 4 COMMON EIDER, 6 RED-THROATED LOONS and 15 ROYAL TERNS, with 18 AMERICAN PIPITS, 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS, and PURPLE FINCH migrating by overhead. Monday at Moses added DICKCISSEL and a couple of EASTERN MEADOWLARKS, with 2 lingering WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS also still around. Thursday off Moses there were 160 COMMON EIDER and thousands of scoters on the move. Down at Jones Beach West End up to 40 more ROYAL TERNS have been hanging around the bars, and among the shorebirds still there, has been an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER also seen off the coast guard bar, where 2 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were also identified last Sunday. At least 28 AMERICAN PIPITS were counted last Sunday, and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was noted last Monday, a PURPLE SANDPIPER on Tuesday, and a late GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER today. A fine gathering of sparrows in Prospect Park continues to frequent the newly seeded meadow by the baseball fields in the nearby "Sparrow Bowl", as it is referred to. Last Saturday's collection included both NELSON'S SPARROW and SALTMARSH SPARROW, the latter especially quite unusual at that location, and these were joined by CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, VESPER SPARROW, LINCOLN'S SPARROW, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, and other more common sparrows, with a MARSH WREN thrown in there also. The CLAY-COLORED and VESPER SPARROWS were re-found Sunday, and also in Prospect were RUSTY BLACKBIRD Monday, and an immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK noted on Lookout Hill on Thursday. An interesting late report from Central Park involved a CONNECTICUT WARBLER last Sunday, and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER has also been noted in Central along with a few other lingering warblers. Eagles continue to move by local hawk sites, including 2 GOLDEN EAGLES and 2 BALD EAGLES over Hook Mountain Thursday. Other late-seasoned hawks have also been in evidence. 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 Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
