Tuesday, 11 January 2011 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City The lingering VARIED THRUSH was still to be found in its usual areas this Tuesday, however my observations from 7:50 thru 8:20 a.m. found the thrush perched at between 30 and 40 feet above ground, in one of the taller bare oak trees just east of the maintenance shed (the men's restroom on that building's east side) and more or less over the park path. The thrush had only just come into the oak shortly after I arrived, and it spent most of the half-hour simply sitting in the early sun, just coming up from behind buildings and some conifer trees in the east. It preened and occasionally looked about but seemed content to stay in its high perch. At one point there was a disturbance that Blue Jays recognized as the young male Cooper's Hawk that has been in the general vicinity for quite a long time as well. Also in the immediate vicinity were 1 Swamp, 2 "red" Fox, Song, & many White-throated Sparrows as well as 2 male Eastern Towhees. There were some other birds coming in & around there, including a Red-bellied Woodpecker which may have moved in closely enough to ease the Varied Thrush down to the ground from its high branch, as well as Yellow- bellied Sapsucker & N. [Yellow-shafted] Flicker nearby. A couple of young male Red-winged Blackbirds also appeared rather briefly, along with the Common Grackles that have been somewhat regular in the vicinity in the last month. At the feeders in the Ramble, a short way south of the 79 Street transverse road & maintenance shed - restrooms, mainly expected species there included Brown Creeper, both Red & White- breasted Nuthatches, Carolina Wren, & the other winter "regulars". The finch numbers, all American Goldfinch at the time (rather brief) I was watching were not that high in numbers.
The first-winter RED-HEADED WOODPECKER remains near the 66 Street Transverse Road in Central, however it has taken to visiting the trees on the south side of that below-grade-level crosstown road as well as the area immediately north of it. It is generally within not more than about 100 yards or so west (and either north or a bit south) of the carousel that is near the park road, in a lower area on the south side of the Transverse. It also may sometimes be hard to find as in colder or inclement weather it can literally be "holed-up" in the surrounding trees. 2 drake Wood Ducks persist at the Pond, just below the skating rink in the southeast part of the park. They are in a small area of open water along with multiple Mallards & perhaps a black, or black-mallard hybrid duck or two. The nearby area of Hallet Sanctaury also has a few birds of interest in the interior, sometimes quite difficult to see. Some of these birds will also cross over to the zoo grounds such as a Brown Thrasher & Hermit Thrush, etc. - there is usually some additional food available in the outdoor areas, as well access to as constantly open water. Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
