- RBA * New York * Buffalo * 12/22/2005 * NYBU0512.22 - Birds mentioned ---------------------------------------------------------- Please phone in any rare sightings so they may be shared via the DAB telephone update system, and submit email contributions directly to dfsuggs@localnet.com. Thank you, David ---------------------------------------------------------- PALM WARBLER HARLEQUIN DUCK TRUMPETER SWAN GRAY CATBIRD Red-throated Loon Common Loon Red-necked Grebe Northern Shoveler Long-tailed Duck Black Scoter White-winged Scoter Common Goldeneye Red-br. Merganser Bald Eagle Rough-legged Hawk Killdeer Dunlin Little Gull Bonaparte's Gull Herring Gull Thayer's Gull Iceland Gull L. Black-b. Gull Glaucous Gull Yellow-b. Sapsucker Carolina Wren Winter Wren Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Lapland Longspur - Transcript Hotline: Dial-a-Bird at the Buffalo Museum of Science Date: 12/22/2005 Number: 716-896-1271 To Report: Same Compiler: David F. Suggs (dfsuggs@localnet.com) Coverage: Western New York and adjacent Ontario Transcriber: David F. Suggs Website: www.BOSBirding.org Thursday, December 22, 2005 Dial-a-Bird is a service provided by your Buffalo Museum of Science and this answering system was donated by the Buffalo Ornithological Society. Press (2) to leave a message, (3) for updates, meeting and field trip information and (4) for instructions on how to report sightings and use this system. To contact the Science Museum, call 896-5200. Highlights of reports received December 15 through December 22 from the Niagara Frontier Region include PALM WARBLER, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, TRUMPETER SWANS and GRAY CATBIRDS. December 18, an exceptional PALM WARBLER was discovered at the control gates above Niagara Falls in Ontario; seen at the parking area north and south of the gates. On the 19th, the warbler was reported again, and was noted to be of the EASTERN or YELLOW sub-species. There are only two winter records of PALM WARBLER in the BOS archives, and this may be the first winter record of the EASTERN PALM WARBLER. Also at Niagara Falls, on the 18th, a male HARLEQUIN DUCK, previously in the falls gorge and at Dufferine Islands, was found at the south end of the control gates, associating with the resident MALLARDS. Above the falls, KILLDEER and 5 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, and at the gatehouse near the Engineerium, a WINTER WREN. Gulls at the falls included an estimated 15,000 HERRING GULLS, plus 4 ICELAND GULLS, 7 L. BLACK-B. GULLS, GLAUCOUS GULL and a probable THAYER'S GULL. On the upper Niagara River in Buffalo, a LITTLE GULL among several thousand BONAPARTE'S GULLS at Rich's Marina in Riverside, and at the Bird Island Pier, DUNLIN and L. BLACK- B. GULL. Tagged TRUMPETER SWANS on the upper river - one above the falls, and two, possibly including the swan from the falls, with up to 100 TUNDRA SWANS at Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island. In Dunkirk Harbor, a female HARLEQUIN DUCK and a BLACK SCOTER continue to be reported among abundant waterfowl. Generally rare in winter, GRAY CATBIRDS were reported at three locations this week - Buckhorn Island on Grand Island, in the Town of Wilson and on Dietz Road in Porter. Also on Dietz Road, 2 YELLOW-B. SAPSUCKERS and a HERMIT THRUSH. At Bond Lake Park in Lewiston, 2 more YELLOW-B. SAPSUCKERS. EASTERN BLUEBIRDS, uncommon but annual winter residents, surprised observers at two locations - 6 in the Town of Concord, and 5 in East Aurora. December 18, waterfowl on Lake Ontario off Wilson-Tuscaurora State Park included 45 RED-THROATED LOONS, 4 COMMON LOONS, 6 RED-NECKED GREBES, 228 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, 655 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, 125 COMMON GOLDENEYES and 492 RED-BR. MERGANSERS, plus ICELAND GULL and GLAUCOUS GULL. Other reports - around Grand Island, 2 BALD EAGLES at both Buckhorn Island and Strawberry Island, and another BALD EAGLE on the ice in the Buffalo Harbor. ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK roosting in a yard in the Chautauqua County Town of Westfield. From Elma, a CAROLINA WREN. Sparrows of note - on Chapin Road in Sheridan, CHIPPING SPARROW, FIELD SPARROW and SONG SPARROW. Another CHIPPING SPARROW at a thistle feeder in Darien, and in Orchard Park, 2 FOX SPARROWS. And at the Dunkirk Airport, 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. Season's Greetings, Merry Christmas and thanks to the Dial- a-Bird contributors and callers, who have kept this service active for forty years. The report will be updated Thursday evening, December 29. Please call in your sightings by noon Thursday, and report sightings after the tone. - End Transcript