- Birds mentioned
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Greater White-fronted Goose
Wood Duck
Eurasian Wigeon
Tufted Duck
King Eider
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Sandhill Crane +
Common Snipe
Little Gull
Black-headed Gull
Mew Gull +
Thayer's Gull +
Iceland Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
Forster's Tern
Dovekie
Razorbill
Red-headed Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Pine Warbler
Palm Warbler
White-crowned Sparrow
Harris' Sparrow +
Lapland Longspur
if followed by (+) please send written report of the sighting to:
Jim Lowe
NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC)
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
The NYSARC report form can be found at:
http://birds.cornell.edu/fnysbc/nysarc.htm
- Transcript
hotline: New York Rare Bird Alert
number: 212 979-3070
to report: Weekdays: Tom Burke 212 697-0606
Long Island: Tony Lauro 516 734-4126
Greater Brooklyn: Paul Keim 718 875-1151
compiler: Tom Burke
coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
transcriber: Greg Kunkel
- Begin RBA Tape
Greetings, this is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday March 19th
at 12:00 Noon.
The highlights of todays tape are Mew Gull, possible Thayer's,
Little, Black-headed, Lesser Black-Backed, and Iceland Gulls,
Sandhill Crane. Harris' Sparrow, Greater White-Fronted Goose, Tufted
Duck, King Eiders, and Red-Headed Woodpeckers.
The MEW GULL continues at Shinnecock Inlet where it was back at its
favorite haunts by last weekend and still there this morning. This
first winter European subspecies, referred to as Common Gull, spends
much of its time feeding off the ocean beach just east of the eastern
jetty at Shinnecock Inlet. At times it will also feed on the inside
of the eastern jetty and on Sunday it flew into the bay and roosted
on the large sandbar for a while before returning back to the beach.
Also there at that time were a second winter LESSER
BLACK-BACKED GULL, and two ICELAND GULLS, and a small offshore Alcid
flight late Sunday afternoon included some RAZORBILLS, and other
large, unidentified Alcids, and a small Alcid presumably a DOVEKIE.
Five BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES were also spotted offshore at Shinnecock
on Sunday. The eastern side of Shinnecock Inlet is reached from
Southampton by taking the shore road, Dune Road, which becomes Meadow
Lane to a parking lot just a short distance from the inlet. Also
along this shore road the westernmost pond on the north side of the
road is Halsey Neck. The next one east is Cooper's Neck Pond. The
drake TUFTED DUCK was on Cooper's Neck Pond last weekend, with a
EURASIAN WIGEON also there on Saturday.
Nearby Bridgehampton's nicely marked HARRIS' SPARROW was still
present yesterday. To reach this site from Route 27 in Bridgehampton
continue east past Sag Main Street to Town Line Road. Go right on
Town Line Road and take the left fork, which comes up very quickly,
on to Wainscott Hollow Road. Go 8/10ths of a mile from the fork and
look for a ball field on the left with a baseball backstop, a
hedgerow running perpendicular to the road behind the backstop, and a
small cemetery at the back edge of the field. The Harris' often feeds
between the backstop and the hedgerow using the latter for cover.
Seed has been scattered at this spot to keep the birds there. As the
Harris' is very spooky good strategy is to park on the far side of
the roadway across from the backstop and use the cars as a blind.
Along with ten or so WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS also present there is an
adult Gambel's form of WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.
The SANDHILL CRANE was relocated yesterday. Having moved east, the
Crane was spotted along the causeway road at Orient Beach State Park.
Also seen in that area recently have been OSPREY, and TURKEY VULTURE.
Staying out east, the Hook Pond GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was seen
Sunday on the pond, and when flushed off the pond by a wind surfer
was relocated in the fields along Route 114 where it intersects with
Route 27 in East Hampton.
Out at Montauk Point on Sunday a good count of RAZORBILLS got into
the sixties, and other sightings included two or three KING EIDERS
over the weekend, a LESSER BLACK-BACKED and two ICELAND GULLS, and a
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE on Sunday.
Point Lookout, on the eastern side of Jones Inlet, has also been very
productive lately. Two adult BLACK-HEADED GULLS continue to appear
there in the Bonaparte's Gull flock that gathers most regularly on
the falling tide off the Point Lookout jetty. As of Sunday and adult
LITTLE GULL joined the flock, and as of yesterday there were both
adult and immature LITTLE GULLS. Also present yesterday between 10:00
and 12:00 in the morning was a bird, slightly oil stained, that was
thought to be a first winters THAYER'S GULL. This was followed by a
black-backed, pale yellow-legged gull seen briefly on the sandbar
that was either a nominate fuscus type LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL or
something more unusual. We would appreciate being updated on either
of these last two gulls. A FORSTER'S TERN was still present also at
Point Lookout, and an ICELAND GULL was seen there yesterday. A
PALM WARBLER also appeared at Point Lookout Monday with an
EASTERN PHOEBE at Jones Beach West End on Thursday.
Ten LAPLAND LONGSPURS were still at Saint Charles Cemetery southeast
of Farmindale on Sunday. the cemetery is on the eastern side of New
Highway just north of Exit 34 on the Southern State Parkway. Look for
the Horned Lark flock that frequents the southern end of the
cemetery.
In Central Park several EASTERN PHOEBES and PINE WARBLERS began
appearing on Wednesday. A BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and three
WOOD DUCKS were also seen. And the eight RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS
remain, with four on the westerns side of The Great Lawn, and an
adult just south of the carousel near 66th Street.
Other reports include and OSPREY and 27 WOOD DUCKS yesterday at
Hempstead Lake State Park, single EURASIAN WIGEONS recently at Mill
Pond in Centerport and Morton's National Wildlife Refuge in Noyack,
and two COMMON SNIPE at Douglaston Marsh.
To phone in reports;
on Long Island call Tony Lauro at 516 734-4126,
in the Brooklyn area call Paul Keim at 718 875-1151,
or during the day except Sunday call Tom Burke at 212 697-0606.
This service is sponsored by The Linnaean Society of New York and The
National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.
- End RBA Tape
- End transcript
Greg Kunkel
Smithtown (Suffolk), NY
74055.1622@compuserve.com