Friday, 10 February, 2012 In Manhattan, a previously-reported goose with some Canada Geese just south of Riverside Park (in the west 60's by the Hudson river) turned out to look much more like a Lesser Canada, rather than a Cackling, as had first been suggested. The fairly modest flock may roam in that area. I did not find much else of note when looking briefly at the water on the Hudson, from that point on up to the north end of Manhattan. The field at the west end of Dyckman St. inside the river- edge portion of Inwood Hill Park did NOT reveal any Dickcissel, as had been for many weeks, following its discovery on the day of the Bronx- Westchester CBC (count). I searched for about 45 minutes, seeing many of the House Sparrow flocks that Dickcissel had been associating with, as well as bird seed left by others, & plenty of feeding activity. Just no Dickcissel.
The number and variety of what are sometimes referred to as "half- hardy" species, such as Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Towhee, etc. are (especially for Gray Catbird and Eastern Towhee) that have been successfully overwintering are pretty impressive around the city, so far. There actually seems to have been a bit of influx of such in the month of January, corresponding with some general "migratory" like movement on days of stronger cold fronts - yes, we actually did get a few of those this winter! At the same time, or rather in the same mid-winter period, there have been more birds such as American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, and some other typically-early season species on the move... possibly on a northward track on some recent days. At Van Cortlandt Park in the west Bronx, a short search for the long- lingering Greater White-fronted Goose was not fruitful, although that goose may well still be around there, associating with the many hundreds or even 1,000+ Canada Geese that move from lake to golf courses to the large sports fields adjacent to upper Broadway. At last a few Rusty Blackbirds were present in the nearby marsh near the n. end of the lake, and a very early (if not overwintered) Eastern Phoebe was looked at closely in the "butterfly meadow' area on Vault Hill, slightly NE of the Parade Ground (the sports fields) east of Broadway. The phoebe was definitively Eastern, and seemed to be finding insect life close to the ground, in mid-day sun and mild weather. Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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/ --
