Saturday, 22 December, 2012 - Manhattan, N.Y. City At Central Park's reservoir, an Iceland Gull continues, seen very nicely on the dike not far off the dike's north end, among many ofv the 3 regular gull species (primarily Ring-billed, some Herring & Great Black-backed), and observed from a point on the running path about 50 feet west of the N. building at the reservoir - at the time of observing, I enjoyed full and very good views of this gull. (NB, some, or indeed all, of the gulls that come to the reservoir on a near-daily basis do NOT usually stay there overnight, and seeking gulls at the CP reservoir may be more productive in mid-day hours. In any case gulls regularly come & go there & the maximum numbers of gulls seems often to be after 9, or later, in the morning and may also be before late afternoon... this varies somewhat day-to-day, & of course seasonally.) This individual is quite obvious if seen well, but certainly could also be hunkered in close with the many other gulls and thus require more time to find. I did not seek, and did not notice, an American Wigeon reported at the reservoir on Friday but it could easily have been present again - many ducks & some Canada Geese were loafing near the SW corner of the reservoir in the noon hour.
At Carl Shurz Park, off East End Ave. and between 84th and 92 Streets (I checked mainly in the portions between 86th and 90th), I did not see any hunmingbird, but did run into a local birder who mentioned a few of the recent sightings (a presumed Selasphorus, by those who saw & reported that). In the 90 minutes of poking around that park, I did see a Hermit Thrush, and 3 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers having quite the little territorial dispute for "drilling rights" in various trees. Otherwise, the park seemed a little quiet in overall bird activity. A quick look up the East River and area waters revealed a modest flock of Atlantic Brant, along with a very few other waterfowl, gulls of the regular 3 spp. and a few Double-crested Cormorants. A female Peregrine was atop the western tower of the RFK (mostly still called Triborough) bridge off W. 125 St. One additional note on Carl Shurz Park & potentially wintering hummingbirds there - barely any flowers of use to a hummer seem to be left, yet there just might be a roof or patio garden somewhere in the neighborhood and it is certainly possible that such a bird is still nearby, & could still visit an area or areas it may have frequented in the past weeks or more. 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/ --
