Thursday, 26 April, 2012 - Bryant Park, and Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
I birded in Central Park, mainly the north end and briefly the far south end, for about 90 minutes from sunrise on, and again from about 9:15 until early afternoon; and for over an hour from ~ 7:30 'til almost 9 a.m. at Bryant Park (in mid-town). At Riverside Park on Manhattan's upper west side, far west - I made a rapid-assesment and did not have best weather then... At Bryant Park, I and at least several others sought the recent Prothonotary Warbler with NO success. There appeared to have been a bit of influx of migrants there, with birds seen in that morning watch in Bryant Park including: N. Parula, Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warblers (2 or more), Ovenbird, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird (at least 2), Hermit Thrush (at least 6, all seen west of the NY Public Library bldg. within the park's larger green-space), Slate-colored Junco (male, near plant-holding area - on south side), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (female), Swamp Sparrow (at least 3), Savannah Sparrow (also noted by Matthew R. in a brief a.m. pass), Song (a few) and White-throated (many) Sparrows, and Blue Jay (several), along with the usual feral-city species. To my knowledge, no one else was having any luck finding the Prothonotary again. The warblers which were seen seemed to be congregating in the London Plane trees just west of the library and perhaps mostly closer to the 42 St. side (at least to around 9 a.m.) - - - - - - At Central Park, there was fair evidence of new flight overnight & modest activity in patches in the northern end, with just scant numbers of most species other than [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warblers, and White-throated Sparrows, both of which were in reinvigorated numbers, with a fair number singing. Among other birds were: Green Heron, Wood Duck, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser (female-plumaged singleton still on the reservoir), Ruddy Duck (few), Solitary Sandpiper (one continued in the Loch as had been also on Wed.; also had been seen Tues. by a number of north-end regulars, elsewhere), Spotted Sandpiper, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher (continuing in Ramble, for last 4 days or more, and generally quiet), White-eyed Vireo (also seen Wed., Falconer's Hill and lower lobe of lake areas), Blue-headed Vireo (fair numbers), Warbling Vireo (few, and rather silent), Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, House Wren (on territories), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (rather few), Hermit Thrush, Veery, Wood Thrush (one), Gray Catbird (very few), Brown Thrasher (not many), Blue-winged Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler (Loch), Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler (at least several), Black-throated Blue Warbler (male reported in Ramble) Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler (few, including at least one at s,. side of reservoir/old bridle trail), Prairie Warbler (female), Palm Warbler (multiple), Black-and-white Warbler (not many), Worm-eating Warbler (n. end: 2), Ovenbird (two heard, one seen), Northern Waterthrush (6+, including away from water), Scarlet Tanager (male seen singing weakly high over Loch), Eastern Towhee (still fair numbers), Chipping Sparrow (few), Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow (multiple and singing in some areas), White-throated Sparrow (many hundreds), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (at least two bright males, north woods), Indigo Bunting (several reported especially from Great Hill, the park's n. end), Baltimore Oriole (one bright male seen singing a bit, north end), and Purple Finch (in small numbers & seemingly just flying thru, with fair numbers of) American Goldfinches. I would be surprised if here were not at least some additional migrants in this morning, although it also seems that a flight passed and many birds may not have dropped in at all, or barely did... a possible result of how advanced the season is (trees being leafed out, etc.) not just near N.Y. City but well beyond. Things were a little less-active on Wednesday, in Central Park by most birder's accounts and my own experience. - - - - - - - Riverside Park seemed rather quiet in comparison to the similar "latitudes" of Central, albeit at a later hour... although there were at least fair numbers of the most common migrants, certainly including a good new push of Yellow-rumped Warbler. The north of that park, in the areas of W. 110 to 120 Streets, are often, & have been, where more migrants are noted. In Prospect Park, Brooklyn, there was a reliable report of Cerulean Warbler in that park's "midwood" section this morning, with otherwise modest showings of more-typical migrants there, from some reports, thanks to Peter Dorosh's blog (and a number of observers; the Cerulean was found by Tom Stephenson, of Brooklyn). 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/ --
