– RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Jan. 3, 2020
* NYNY2001.03
– Birds mentioned
WESTERN GREBE+
BARNACLE GOOSE+
PAINTED BUNTING+
TOWNSEND’S WARBLER+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)
Red-necked Grebe
Razorbill
GLAUCOUS GULL
ICELAND GULL
Lesser Black-backed Gull
BLACK-HEADED GULL
EURASIAN WIGEON
Blue-winged Teal
BARROW’S GOLDENEYE
HARLEQUIN DUCK
Common Eider
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE
PINK-FOOTED GOOSE
American Bittern
Piping Plover
Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Snowy Owl
Eastern Phoebe
Common Raven
Baltimore Oriole
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
Grasshopper Sparrow
SUMMER TANAGER
Nashville Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-breasted Chat
VARIED THRUSH
– Transcript
If followed by (+) please submit documentation of your report electronically and use the NYSARC online submission form found at https://www.nybirds.org/NYSARC/…
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: Ben Cacace
BEGIN TAPE
Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, January 3rd 2020 at 8pm. The highlights of today’s tape are TOWNSEND’S WARBLER, PAINTED BUNTING, VARIED THRUSH, WESTERN GREBE, BARNACLE GOOSE, PINK-FOOTED GOOSE, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, EURASIAN WIGEON, BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, HARLEQUIN DUCK, BLACK-HEADED GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL, ICELAND GULL, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, SUMMER TANAGER and much more.
An excellent array of rarities this week and it all began on the Southern Nassau Christmas Count held on Saturday December 28th which reported a high 135 species including 2 new to the all time count. On Saturday morning a female plumaged PAINTED BUNTING, possibly a young male, was spotted at Jones Beach State Park. That bird was still present today from Ocean Parkway just west of the Jones Beach water tower enter the parking lot for the Gatsby Restaurant, walk to the small playground on the ocean side of the parking lot and search especially the shrubby area on the north side of the playground where the BUNTING is often quietly eating goldenrod seed heads.
Later on Saturday afternoon a TOWNSEND’S WARBLER was found at Philip B. Healey Beach Park in Massapequa at the end of Florence Avenue. The warbler visited the few pine trees in the park through Sunday. It was also reported briefly on Monday and Wednesday but with no continuous sightings those 2 days despite intensive searching. Other notable finds on the Southern Nassau were HARLEQUIN DUCK around Jones Inlet, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, RED-NECKED GREBE, COMMON GALLINULE at Mill Pond Park in Bellmore, 99 RAZORBILLS, BLACK-HEADED GULL at Jones Beach West End, LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, AMERICAN BITTERN, NORTHERN, BARN and SHORT-EARED OWLS, SNOWY OWL during the count period, 16 COMMON RAVENS, NASHVILLE WARBLER and 3 ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT plus a count period GRASSHOPPER SPARROW.
Last Sunday in Prospect Park a VARIED THRUSH was uncovered and photographed and happily was still present today. The THRUSH can be quite elusive but today was again near the Nethermead Bridge towards Binnen Pool on the ravine side of the bridge.
On Wednesday afternoon a WESTERN GREBE was located on the ocean off the Point Lookout jetties on the west side of Jones Inlet. The bird drifted towards the inlet but could not be relocated on subsequent days.
Another PAINTED BUNTING and our area’s fifth since early November was found Sunday at Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn Heights. This BUNTING also still present today near Pier 5.
The Smithtown Christmas Count last Friday netted 106 species with a PINK-FOOTED GOOSE reported from Sunken Meadow State Park seen on the water course on the west side of the entrance bridge. Other count highlights included 7 COMMON EIDER, 2 RED-NECKED GREBES, 12 RAZORBILLS, BLACK-HEADED GULL, 4 NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWLS, EASTERN PHOEBE, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, BALTIMORE ORIOLE and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.
Seen on the Orient Count last Saturday were 4 HARLEQUIN DUCKS at Orient Point, a PIPING PLOVER and a feeder visiting SUMMER TANAGER.
The BARNACLE GOOSE roosting at Belmont Lake State Park was still around Tuesday and one was spotted today in Riverhead east of Horton Avenue and north of Reeves Avenue. A GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE was at Hook Pond in East Hampton yesterday with another remaining in the Rye area. A drake BARROW’S GOLDENEYE is back at Crab Meadow Beach in Northport with Common Goldeneye west of the beach and a HARLEQUIN DUCK is also at Shinnecock Inlet. Recent EURASIAN WIGEON have been at Mill Pond in Centerport and Avon Lake in Amityville.
Sixty-seven RAZORBILLS were counted off Breezy Point Wednesday, a GLAUCOUS GULL visited Jones Beach field 10 Wednesday, a few ICELAND GULLS are around and BLACK-HEADED GULL has been seen recently at Brooklyn Bridge Park and Setauket Harbor.
A LAPLAND LONGSPUR pwas found with Horned Larks at Jones Beach West End Wednesday.
YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS continue at Bellmore’s Mill Pond Park and at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye.
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