Wednesday, 2 March, 2011 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City The VARIED THRUSH continues but has also been wandering a bit, found (after a good while searching) on the east side of the East Drive and north of the E. 79 Street transverse road. While this is actually a rather short distance from the location the thrush had been most regularly found, it is not an area that many birders take note of, at any season. The thrush was being somewhat skulking when found around 2-3 p.m. this afternoon, with numerous shrubs and some conifers in the area where it was found. (In the early morning I had no luck finding.)
I had first noticed that a moderate and active feeding flock had formed on and just north of Cedar Hill (a slope just east of the E. Drive, & south of the 79 St. transverse, which has scattered conifers) and then at first just glimpsed the thrush, in the area across the transverse, and tracked it as it moved close to & on the ground in the area north of the transverse. This area can be viewed from the East Drive of the park (at times when traffic is not active there, i.e. before 3 p.m. weekdays) and to some extent from a path near the southwestern-most corner of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's section that is well within the park. The thrush was active mainly on its own, but very nearby, at times, were: E. Towhee (male), White-throated Sparrows (multiple), "red" Fox Sparrow (2), N. Cardinal, and in sporadic appearance near these ground-feeding birds, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, & Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (2) plus roving White-breasted (several) & Red-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper (1), and Red-bellied & Downy Woodpeckers, as well as Blue Jays. There were 35+ American Robins which ended up passing through the area, and at one point on Cedar Hill, a flock of 12+ Cedar Waxwings, & a few (3+) Golden-crowned Kinglets moved past mainly in the conifers. The waxwings seemed not to show much interest in the fruits that some of the robins (& perhaps the thrush) had been devouring near the 79 St. transverse. A male Cooper's Hawk, male Sharp-shinned Hawk, male American Kestrel, and 2 Red-tailed Hawks all put in appearances in this area in just one hour and on their passes, many but not all of the other birds scattered. In addition there was a Turkey Vulture that very oddly seemed to come after a young Red-tailed Hawk, the vulture almost buzzing a roof on Fifth Ave. as the hawk made a maneuver to get above it, at which point the vulture lifted out and continued east-ish. Late in the day, 6 Turkey Vultures moved by along with a Northern Harrier, my first Manhattan sighting of the latter this year. The RED-HEADED WOODPECKER continues also, also somewhat mobile in its same general area as previously, this mid-day seen a bit farther west than I have most often found it, on the north side of the 66 Street transverse about 1/2-way between the E. & W. Drives. It wasn't really moving much when seen, and I have almost never heard this individual call, so far in my observations. It still shows a mostly grayish-brown head, but a few red feathers may be seen there, in ideal lighting. Movement early Wed. morning consisted of significant numbers of Red- winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles, along with at least some waterfowl movement, especially mergansers and some "puddle" & wood ducks. There also seemed to be a bit of finch movement, but I wasn't in a good place to detect species. Also noted in slightly higher numbers were American Crows and Blue Jays, although these both may have been rather local foraging movements. 2 male Wood Ducks continue at the Pond, and the reservoir now is increasingly open, with ongoing gull flocks arriving & departing daily. Hooded Mergansers have been on the Lake as well as the reservoir, and N. Shovelers in both places as well. At least one female Bufflehead was in Turtle Pond, with many Buffleheads at the reservoir. The other water-bodies are all very slowly opening, the Pond (typically) may be last to thaw, due to the tremendous shadow effect from all the skyscapers, immediately south. I did not watch the feeders in the Ramble extensively enough to gauge much of what may or may not have been feeding there most of the day. 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/ --
