[nysbirds-l] Syracuse RBA

[Joseph Brin]

RBA
 
*  New York
*  Syracuse
*  August 08, 2011
*  NYSY 08:08.11
 
Hotline: Syracuse Rare bird Alert
Dates(s):
July 31, 2010 - August 08, 2011
to report by e-mail: brinjoseph AT yahoo.com
covering upstate NY counties: Cayuga, Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC) (just outside Cayuga County),
Onondaga, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, Oneida, Herkimer,  Madison & Cortland
compiled:August 08 AT 1:00 p.m. (EST)
compiler: Joseph Brin
Onondaga Audubon Homepage: www.onondagaaudubon.org
 
 
#265 -Monday August 08, 2011
 
 
Greetings! This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week of July 31 , 
2011
 
Highlights:
---

GREAT EGRET
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON
BARNACLE GOOSE
SNOW GOOSE
MERLIN
SANDHILL CRANE
VIRGINIA RAIL
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER    
UPLAND SANDPIPER
STILT SANDPIPER
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER
GRAY-HEADED GULL (Extralimital)




Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC)


 7/31: 300 LEAST and 350 SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPERS were seen at the 
Visitor’s Center. 8 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS and 8 STILT SANDPIPERS were among 
11 species of shorebird seen at Puddler’s Marsh. 35 GREAT EGRETS and 2 SANDHILL 
CRANES were at May’s Point Pool.
 8/04: 1 STILT SANDPIPER and 1 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER were at the Visitor’s 
Center. 
 8/07: Both Knox-Marsellus and Puddler’s Marsh had improved habitat after 
the rain butby that time fog and darkness had made viewing difficult. Many 
shorebirds were seen in the area. Smaller numbers of shorebirds, mostly 
Yellowlegs and Peep were at the Visitor’s Center and along the Wildlife Drive.


Oswego County


 8/02: 1 UPLAND SANDPIPER was found at the Oswego County Airport. Nearby at 
the Co. Rt. 6 wetland VIRGINIA RAIL, COMMON MOORHEN (GALINULE from now on) and 
5 species of shorebirds were seen.
 8/03: A SNOW GOOSE was seen in a farm field with Canadas on Rt.49 near 
Constantia.


Onondaga County

 
 7/31: 4 species of shorebird and a MERLIN were seen at the mouth of Nine 
Mile Creek on Onondaga Lake.
 8/03: A juvenile BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was spotted on the rocks at the 
Marina on Onondaga Lake in Liverpool.
 8/06: a SNOW GOOSE was seen in the Seneca River below the dam in 
Baldwinsville. It was also seen on the 7th.


Jefferson County


 7/31: A BARNACLE GOOSE was seen and photographed on an island just off 
Fuller Street in Alexandria Bay. There have been no follow-up reports since.


Extralimital


 The last positive report of the GRAY-HEADED GULL in Coney Island was 
August 03.

 
    
 
--end transcript
 
--
Joseph Brin
Region 5
Baldwinsville, N.Y.  13027  U.S.A.
--

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ARCHIVES:
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] least tern chicks

[Luke Ormand]

I visited a second Least Tern colony this evening (different from yesterday)
on behalf of the Parks Dept. due to my proximity to the site, familiarity
with the birds and difficulty in reaching the site.  I found just one least
tern chick that was nearly fledged but was surprised to find another chick
that had likely hatched that morning (it was still being protected by its
parent and was not mobile).  This may have been the result of an abandoned
first nest attempt and a successful hatchling from a second clutch
(especially since there was only 1 bird as opposed to the expected 2 or 3).
 Other birds seen in the Goose Creek area while en route to the tern colony
were Black Bellied Plovers (including 1 in breeding plumage), ruddy
turnstones, semi-palmated plovers, least sandpipers and 1 common tern that
flew overhead.  A photo of the least tern hatchling can be seen here:
http://birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com/2011/08/least-tern-hatchling.html

-- 
- Luke Ormand, Flanders

www.birdsoflongisland.blogspot.com

www.wildlongisland.blogspot.com

--

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ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] Table Updates - eBird-a-thon 2011 & Recent Additions

[Ben Cacace]

*List of Top 3 and Contenders (eBird-a-thon 2011)*

Here are recent updates to the notes section for the eBird-a-thon 2011
contest. Only additions to the overall submissions (1900-present) were made
since the last update was at the end of April. Each county section has links
to:

- the Top "100" observers for the year
- bar charts for each species with links to a sighting map
- a list of recent arrivals in descending date order

Contest details can be found at Benjamin Van Doren's site <
http://warblings.wordpress.com/ebirdathon-2011/ >

Link to eBird-a-thon post with current contest updates


Here are the recent additions to both regions over the past week. If you see
any questionable submissions while reviewing the reports please contact <
eb...@cornell.edu> with your concerns.

*Kingbird Region 10* (Marine):

- 24-Jul-2011: *GRAY-HOODED GULL* added to both the 2011 & overall lists
(1900-present). Seen at Coney Island Beach in Kings County.
- 3-Dec-1993: *THAYER'S GULL* added to the overall list (1900-present). Seen
at the Montauk peninsula in Suffolk County.

Link to Region 10 Notes (click on species name to view map of recent
sightings):
http://novahunter.blogspot.com/2010/12/nyc-area-ebird-thon-2011.html#NoteKB10Region

*Kingbird Region 9* (Hudson-Delaware)

Added to both the 2011 & overall lists (1900-present):
- 23-Apr-2011: *BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK* - Seen at the Wallkill River
NWR--Liberty Marsh in Orange County.
- 17-May-2011: *MANX SHEARWATER* - Seen at the Edith G Read Wildlife
Sanctuary in Westchester County.
- 31-May-2011: *AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN* - Seen at the Saugerties Lighthouse
in Ulster County.
- 27-Sep-1980: *WHITE IBIS* - Seen at Marshlands Conservancy in Westchester
County.
- 26-Jul-2011: *WESTERN SANDPIPER* Seen at the Wallkill River NWR--Liberty
Marsh in Orange County.

Added to the overall list (1900-present):
- 11-May-1985: *KING RAIL* - Seen at Cruger Island in Dutchess County.
- 26-Aug-1986: *MARBLED GODWIT* - Seen at Marshlands Conservancy in
Westchester County.
- 14-Mar-2010: *MEW GULL* - Seen at the Edith G Read Wildlife Sanctuary in
Westchester County.
- 27-Jan-1996: *GREAT GRAY OWL* - Seen in Port Jervis in Orange County.

Link to Region 9 Notes (click on species name to view map of recent
sightings):
http://novahunter.blogspot.com/2010/12/nyc-area-ebird-thon-2011.html#NoteKB09Region

Ben Cacace
Manhattan, NYC
Twitter: @NYCbirder

--

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http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm

ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html
2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] Rare Birds: News from the New York State Avian Records Committee

[Angus Wilson]

*** Feel free to repost this to other NY lists and bulletin boards or
reprint in your club newsletter ***

Hi Everyone, Some good news and some less good news, plus an urgent plea for
your help.

First the good news, as readers of the June issue of the Kingbird [2011 Vol.
61 issue 2] will have seen, the New York State Avian Records Committee
(NYSARC) has added three new species to the New York State Check List based
on a series of superbly documented sightings from 2010. The new species are
*BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK*, *COMMON GROUND DOVE* and *HERMIT WARBLER*.
These and a handful of additional reports were reviewed ahead of the rest of
the 2010 packet using the new 'Accelerated Review' procedure for potential
new species. Congratulations to the finders of these fabulous birds, all of
which lingered long enough to be seen by many birders from around the state
and beyond. In total we received close to 180 reports from 2010, covering
some 95 separate sightings. In addition, the Committee is reviewing 14
reports of sightings from as back as 1960. Well done everybody!

Now the bad news. For reasons unknown, there has been a significant and
worrying drop in the number of submissions covering the first half of 2011 -
only 43 submissions covering 32 sightings. This is NOT because of a dearth
in sightings of sufficient rarity; judging from postings to eBird, local
RBAs and the listserves this has been a banner year and begs the question:
why so few reports?

Two recent sightings - the Staten Island Hooded Crow and the Coney Island
Gray-hooded Gull - have attracted very significant attention from birders
and non-birders alike. People have literally flown in from every corner of
the US and Canada to see these two birds. As of today we have 8 submissions
on the Gray-hooded Gull, including a report from the finders (Sara Burch and
Jacob McCartney) - thank you all very much - but only A SINGLE report on the
Hooded Crow.and that was prepared by me.

How many hundreds of people came, saw and photographed the Hooded Crow? For
the review and archiving process to work and for decisions to be made in a
timely manner, we need documentation (descriptions, photographs and other
material that pertain to the origins of these birds). For various reasons we
have to limit ourselves to documentation that is submitted to us and so a
little bit of effort is required from birders.

Many blog postings and listserve messages correctly stated that the 'state
bird record committee'  (meaning NYSARC) is charged with making the decision
of whether or not to add these species to the New York State Checklist,
which is maintained by NYSOA. Some commentators have added the caveat that
this will take a year or more, a tidbit that I've seen reiterated in more
than one newspaper article (gr). While it is true that these decisions
can be slow, afterall some detective work is often needed, this type of
comment fails to acknowledge the above mentioned 'accelerated review'
procedure. The Hooded Crow is especially complicated because of legitimate
concerns about the possibility of an escape, the likelihood of ship-assisted
passage and so on.

But here's the rub, if the Committee is to review and vote on these
important sightings, it needs reports to work from. I can assure readers
that the members of the Committee are chomping at the bit to get stuck into
the review of these important birds and again we need you help. The
photographs I submitted of the Hooded Crow were not terribly good and I'm
sure there are plenty of superior photos available. With respect to the gull
and the crow, the Committee would like to look carefully at the condition of
the plumage and would appreciate good flight shots that showing fine details
of the wings and the tail feathers. These can be emailed directly to us via
our web address: 'nysarc3 [at symbol] nysoa.org'.

Thinking more broadly, I encourage everyone to dig through notes,
photographs and eBird data for your reviewable sightings. Visit our web page
 for more details. We look forward to hearing
from you.

As a side note, I would like to encourage active birders to join us at the
NYSOA Annual Meeting (http://www.nybirds.org/) in late September. The
meeting is hosted by the Ralph T. Waterman Bird Club and will be held on the
shores of Sylvan Lake in Dutchess County. There is an excellent program of
talks about all aspects of birds and birding, including an 'All-Star' series
of workshops (bird identification, eBird, rare birds and so on) on Friday
evening. For the first time, the entire NYSARC Committee will be in
attendance at the meeting and we will actually hold our review meeting
(closed door unfortunately) on Saturday. We look forward to meeting with
people and talking about our work. We also welcome your thoughts on ways to
improve the process so that a greater fraction of rare bird sightings are
adequately documented and archived for posterity.

Cheers, Angus Wilson
Chair, Ne