Saturday, 8 March, 2014 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y.C. As noted in a post to this list earlier this week, the feeders in the Ramble are not the only site to check for some of the birds that have been seen (most often) recently there ... a look at the feeders this a.m. was fine, with sightings of a lingering Am. Tree Sparrow, Brown Creeper, & at least 1 B. Oriole. Most evident of newly-arrived birds were the 20+ Red-winged Blackbirds (incl. a couple of females) that came in, as well as the many Common Grackles.
However, I chose to check Cedar Hill, a few minutes walk to the east, just across the East Drive & there I found, in a busy & active loose flock, the lingering "drab" PINE WARBLER, both Baltimore Orioles (the adult male was in a tall tree, picking at its buds, a behavior typical of many orioles), a bright adult male Yellow-bellied-Sapsucker, "red" Fox Sparrows (3), "the" Black-capped Chickadee (one, maybe same, was singing briefly nearer the feeders), multiple American Robins, many Slate-colored Juncos, and a bunch of other typical wintering & resident birds. It may be well worth looking around there, esp. if the feeders happen to be relatively quiet. At the reservoir, still mostly- frozen as of 10 a.m. (but surely today's much warmer temp. will get rid of some of the ice, at last), I found not all that much other than the lingering Am. Coots, a few N. Shovelers, & the other usuals incl. a good many gulls of the usual 3 winter species; I failed to see any Wood Ducks anywhere in the park this a.m., despite looking for them. A single Rusty Blackbird was along the west edge of the Lake, as well as scattered C. Grackles. Very early (pre-sunrise) there was some modest- seeming movement of birds flying over (north & beyond the park), from what I could see most were blackbirds (Red-winged; & C. Grackles) & American Robins. Much later in the day, an attempt to re-find yesterday's Red-necked Grebe along the Hudson river off upper west Manhattan was unfruitful, and it seemed that slightly fewer ducks were to be seen, at least in my looking, although Canvasbacks were still near the s. end of Riverbank park (below W. 135 St.) ------- On an 'extra-limital' note, some on this list may find the report - w/ photo links - to a pelagic done out of Maryland a week prior to be of interest. http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=825062 And as some pelagic fans will know of, a very fine pelagic sighting was had a bit farther south, just a bit earlier this winter, from Capt. B. Patteson's boat off N. Carolina. http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=817384 and the following blog- photo post gives it all away (scroll down to see many photos of "the" bird...) http://ncbigyear2014.blogspot.com/2014/02/yellow-nosed-albatross-22feb2014.html No further comment! 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/ --
