New York City RBA
July 11, 2008
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:26:39 -0700
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From: Karen Fung <imageviewer@yahoo.com>
Subject: [BIRDEAST] NYC Area RBA: 11 July 2008
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- RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* July 11, 2008
* NYNY0807.11
- Birds Mentioned:
ARCTIC TERN+
Wood Duck
Cory's Shearwater
Greater Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
Common Moorhen
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
'Western' Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Stilt Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher (incl. hendersonii form)
Gull-billed Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Barn Owl
Yellow-throated Vireo
Yellow Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
White-throated Sparrow
Orchard Oriole
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
nysarc1@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) 297-4804 (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, July 11th at 7:00
pm. The highlights of today's tape are ARCTIC TERN; CORY'S, GREATER, MANX and
SOOTY SHEARWATERS; PARASITIC JAEGER; and GULL-BILLED and ROYAL TERNS.
Ocean-watching, under the right conditions, continues to be rewarding, and a
decent diversion as we await the returning shorebirds.
Last Saturday at Cupsogue County Park in West Hampton Dunes, a watch from the
boardwalk was quite productive, especially when in mid-afternoon a sea breeze
picked up. Pelagics were usually always in sight, especially a few CORY'S
SHEARWATERS, with a few GREATERS and a few SOOTY SHEARWATERS were also present,
joined by a moderate number of WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS. Overall estimated
totals, with most birds moving east to west, were about 120 CORY'S, 10 GREATER
and 5 SOOTY SHEARWATERS, and a dozen or so WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS, with over 20
NORTHERN GANNETS, all immatures, also present. Birds were often proving nice
views, including a sitting GREATER SHEARWATER and at one point, a nice
procession of single SOOTY, GREATER, and CORY'S SHEARWATERS, one after the other
following the same track.
Shorebird numbers on the Cupsogue flats and at nearby Pikes Beach showed
increases for some expected early species, including over 500 SHORT-BILLED
DOWITCHERS, 60+ LEAST SANDPIPERS, 25+ LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and 8 GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, with others, including BLACK-BELLIED and SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, RUDDY
TURNSTONES, SANDERLINGS, DUNLIN, RED KNOT, and a WESTERN WILLET or two, and the
local breeders also present. Terns in that area included one BLACK TERN and a
few ROSEATE TERNS on Saturday, and a nice surprise Saturday was a pod of about
12 Bottlenose Dolphins not far off-shore.
A visit to the Cupsogue flats today did uncover an adult ARCTIC TERN, plus 2
BLACK TERNS, 8 ROSEATE TERNS, and 2 FORSTER'S TERNS, and 2 CORY'S SHEARWATERS
were seen off-shore. With COMMON TERNS losing the black tip on their bills now,
adult ARCTIC TERNS definitely need to be identified structurally and not just
by plumage characters.
Further west on Saturday a fishing boat a couple of miles off Fire Island also
provided pelagics. Reported birds included a PARASITIC JAEGER and a MANX
SHEARWATER, along with 9 CORY'S and 5 GREATER SHEARWATERS, and a WILSON'S
STORM-PETREL.
Smith Point Park on Sunday produced 3 CORY'S SHEARWATERS and another WILSON'S
STORM-PETREL, and a watch from Robert Moses Park, parking field 3, on Monday
included 2 MANX SHEARWATERS and a WILSON'S STORM-PETREL. Two to three ROYAL
TERNS have been around Robert Moses Park lately, with a few others also along
the south shore of Long Island.
At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where the water level on the East Pond is
dropping, though at an excruciatingly slow rate, most shorebirds have so far
been visiting the West Pond, including numbers of LESSER YELLOWLEGS and GREATER
YELLOWLEGS, some LEAST SANDPIPERS and SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, the latter
including 2 western hendersonii form last Friday. By Wednesday a few birds had
been gathering at minor flats at the south end of the East Pond, where a
PECTORAL SANDPIPER was reported last Friday. One or two GULL-BILLED TERNS
continue to put in appearances over the marsh at the south end of the West Pond,
and all the regular herons including TRICOLORED HERON, LITTLE BLUE HERON, and
YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON can readily be seen around the West Pond. Other
reports during the week from the Bay included the immature BARN OWLS, almost
ready to leave the box at Big John's Pond; almost two dozen WOOD DUCKS spread
between both ponds; and a COMMON MOORHEN on
Wednesday on the West Pond.
Another arriving shorebird was a STILT SANDPIPER reported last Sunday from a
duck farm in Aquebogue, and odd was a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW singing in Gramercy
Park on July 3rd.
Central Park: some floaters or genuinely southbound migrants lately have
included SPOTTED SANDPIPER and OVENBIRD last Sunday, while today featured
SOLITARY SANDPIPER, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, YELLOW WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE
WARBLER, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, and ORCHARD ORIOLE.
To phone in reports on Long Island call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126, or
weekdays call Tom Burke at (212) 297-4804. This service is sponsored by the
Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for
calling. [~ END TAPE ~]
~ End Transcript ~
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