-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* May 13, 2022
* NYNY2205.13
– Birds Mentioned
CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW
Eastern Whip-poor-will
GLAUCOUS GULL
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
ARCTIC TERN
Cattle Egret
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
BICKNELL’S THRUSH
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Vesper Sparrow
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
KENTUCKY WARBLER
Cerulean Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER
SUMMER TANAGER
BLUE GROSBEAK
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, May 13, 2022 at 11:00 pm.
The highlights of today’s tape are an ARCTIC TERN invasion, CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW, GLAUCOUS GULL, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, BICKNELL’S THRUSH, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, GOLDEN-WINGED, YELLOW-THROATED and KENTUCKY WARBLERS, SUMMER TANAGER, BLUE GROSBEAK and more.
A very interesting, but certainly not yet fully understood or evaluated event occurred today with the appearance on water bodies throughout much of our area, as well as in surrounding states, of a totally unprecedented number of ARCTIC TERNS. Word from Connecticut and Massachusetts of these birds appearing on inland lakes and reservoirs inspired searches throughout our area. An adult ARCTIC along with a COMMON TERN were found on Cross River Reservoir in Westchester, and as the afternoon wore on and word spread, birds were being seen moving mostly south along the Hudson River from Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester Counties, and 29 were counted off Riverside Park in Manhattan. Other late day ARCTICS were spotted in Little Neck Bay in western Long Island Sound and further east in the sound off Iron Pier in Northville. It will be interesting to see if coastal sites on Saturday produce more ARCTICS – it certainly will be worth checking. Hopefully a summary of this event will be forthcoming, but, despite this excitement, the weather has not been very good for local migration recently.
A CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW was a nice find at Brooklyn Bridge Park last Wednesday, with an EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL also found in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn Sunday.
A GLAUCOUS GULL was spotted at Cedar Beach Town Nature Preserve west of Miller Place on Tuesday, this site also producing three CASPIAN TERNS Thursday, with other CASPIANS including one at Prospect Park Lake Wednesday and two at Croton Point Park today.
A CATTLE EGRET visited the Cemetery of the Resurrection on Staten Island Tuesday.
A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER visited Central Park’s north end Monday and Tuesday, and a PILEATED WOODPECKER has been a surprise late this week near the waterhole in Forest Park, Queens.
Single OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHERS were at Sands Point Preserve Tuesday and at Sunken Meadow State Park today.
A BICKNELL’S THRUSH, a regular migrant but difficult to identify, has nicely been singing for the last 3 days in Central Park’s north end, where a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was also present Monday to at least Thursday.
Three CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS featured a bird at Brooklyn’s Owl’s Head Park Tuesday, another out at Lloyd Harbor Wednesday, and one at the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center today, while a VESPER SPARROW appeared in Flushing Meadows Corona Park Sunday.
WARBLER highlights included a YELLOW-THROATED in Central Park last Sunday and one at Camp Hero State Park in Montauk Tuesday, a KENTUCKY in Central Park Sunday, and a GOLDEN-WINGED in Forest Park yesterday, while also notable were single CERULEANS in Riverside Park Monday and Central Park Thursday, MOURNING in Central Park Sunday and Monday, and the arrival of a few BAY-BREASTED.
This week SUMMER TANAGERS were seen at Marshlands Conservancy in Rye Sunday and Monday, Alley Pond Park Monday and Tuesday, Hempstead Lake State Park Wednesday and Central Park Thursday.
And BLUE GROSBEAKS have returned to the former Grumman complex in Calverton, a grassland certainly deserving of preservation – please do not disturb these and other sensitive nesting birds at this site
To phone in reports call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922.
