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, October
16, 2026 at 11:00 pm. The highlights of today’s tape are WESTERN
KINGBIRD, AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER and MARBLED and HUDSONIAN GODWITS,
pelagics including SCOPOLI’S SHEARWATER and PARASITIC JAEGER,
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, LARK and CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAK,
DICKCISSEL and more.
A somewhat slower week than those preceding it did produce a WESTERN
KINGBIRD spotted Tuesday in Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. And among
those shorebirds still lingering in the area have been up to 5 MARBLED
GODWITS appearing during the week on the bar off the Coast Guard
Station at Jones Beach West End, with at least 1 noted there today,
while on eastern Long Island single HUDSONIAN GODWITS included 1
Saturday at Old Inlet in Bellport Bay, 1 off Mott Lane on Fireplace
Neck in Brookhaven on Sunday and Monday, and another at Sagg Pond on
Tuesday. An HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL visited Fisher’s Island last Saturday,
while last Friday’s AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER in Westchester stayed
around Dobbs Ferry to Monday, another was in Brookhaven Sunday, and 1
visited Jacob Riis Park Sunday and Monday.
Stormy weather last Sunday did bring some coastal birds to inshore
waters, a watch off Robert Moses State Park Field 2 tallying 5
PARASITIC JAEGERS, about 40 ROYAL TERNS and 40 NORTHERN GANNETS and
various SHEARWATERS, including 5 GREAT, 3 MANX and 34
CORY’S/SCOPOLI’S, with at least 2 each of the latter species pair
separated under difficult conditions. Three PARASITIC JAEGERS were
also identified Sunday among several JAEGERS passing by Riis Park -
positively identifying species under these conditions is not always an
exact science.
An AMERICAN BITTERN in Central Park recently was taken to a rehab
center, while another visited Green-Wood Cemetery Thursday, and the
SORA surviving in Bryant Park in Manhattan was still present there
today.
At least 6 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER reports mentioned birds last Saturday
at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Jones Beach Coast Guard Station.
Marshlands Conservancy in Rye and the Cedar Beach Marina, plus 1
Wednesday along Dune Road in Moriches and 1 at Sands Point Preserve
today.
A LARK SPARROW was near the Fire Island Lighthouse Saturday, and 4
CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS featured birds Monday at Carl Schurz Park in
Manhattan, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and Calvert Vaux Park in
Brooklyn, and 1 Thursday at the Jones Beach West End Coast Guard
Station, while a few VESPER SPARROWS included 1 in Prospect Park
Tuesday.
A BLUE GROSBEAK was present in Sunken Meadow State Park Tuesday to
Thursday, with another at the Pruyn Sanctuary in Chappaqua on
Thursday, and among the several DICKCISSELS was 1 visiting Prospect
Park Monday.
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.
