Thurs. 10 April, Wed. 9 April, & Tues., 8 April, & prior, 2014 Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
Thurs. 10 April - A Wilson's Snipe appeared at the Point, seen by M.OBS. (M.any OBS.ervers), a part of the Ramble along the lake - it was first found fairly early in the morning. (m.o.b.'s can also be interpreted as Many Other BirderS, or in various other ways according to the 'severity' of the situation. ;-) This snipe stayed around a while, today. Clearly it was a day for Blue-gray Gnatcatcher to arrive locally and, whereas some have referred to this week's dates - today & just recently - as "early", that is so mostly in terms of the general arrival, which is later. There are now numerous records for the species in the first week in April, and many more for the first ten days in this month, from both more relatively-recent electronic data, as well as in print in the still very-useful accounts of "Bull's Birds of New York State" (1998, edited by Emanuel "Manny" Levine [d. 2014], pub. by Comstock/Cornell U. Press.) as well as various other sources. In Central Park there were at least 4 individuals found today that I am aware of, 2 in the south half of the park, 2 in the north end. (the south half of the park can be realistically seen as all the park south the 86th Street crosstown Transverse Rd. which is very near the s. end of the reservoir -do the street-math if you wish. However most reports in C.P. indicating "north end" mean the areas very roughly bounded by E. & W. 100 Sts. as a practical matter even if the reservoir & N. Meadow ballfields, & more areas, are all full of potential, and have shown that overt the years. Incidentally all of the large "lawns", meadows, & ballfields are now open for the season, and this can mean much-lowered potential of chances at "meadow" sorts of species, exceptions being getting out at first light, & maybe more so on rainy days. Barn Swallow[s] (f.o.s.?) were reported today, just slightly unusual to have that swallow species appear ahead of N. Rough-winged, & of course usually the first, by far, to arrive locally are Tree Swallows. Overall I thought it a bit slow compared with the last few days, but others may have a different impression... overall numbers of migrants &/or wintering birds seemed to have dropped off. This should be remedied very soon,next few days, if the winds & other weather cooperate a little. It was possible today to find such species as Palm, Yellow-rumped & perhaps Pine Warblers, along with lingering L. Waterthrush, as well as Field, Chipping, Swamp, "red" Fox, and more common sparrows, but most of these were in low single-digits; the same for Winter Wrens. A slightly greater no. of Yellow-shafted Flickers and Hermit Thrushes were still moving through. A few spp. such as E. Phoebe were having a lull in their migration; many more of them are anticipated to pass through very soon. Checking the reservoir twice, it seems the most recent [of 3 individual] Red-necked Grebe[s] may have moved on, however there was at least one report of this species at the CP reservoir today, so perhaps it was still there. The waters were actually choppy on the increasingly stiff sea-breeze of the later afternoon. Plenty of N. Shovelers remain, & a fair no. of Buffleheads, along with a very few Ruddy Ducks. It also seemed the long-lingering Red-breasted Merganser pair have moved on. There are more & more Double-crested Cormorants showing up & also passing overhead. Great Egrets likewise, although numbers in the park are rarely high, but the flyway long-established over the n. end of Central Park (as well as the southern portion of Harlem) continue to provide sightings of egrets, occasional herons, and the possibility of a flyby Glossy Ibis, as these birds wend east or west through many of the warmer months. The phenomenon could date far back into pre-history, assuming meadowlands in New Jersey & various sites in western Long Island (which take in both Brooklyn & Queens, N.Y. City, as well as all the waters off the east Bronx within the city). At least a few Wood Ducks were still around, at reservoir, lake, & meer. ........ Wed., 9 April - still some of the lingering overwintered birds, and earliest spring migrants, in comparison to today when as a few new arrivals came in, there appeared to have been a bit of an exodus out overnight. It was still possible to find such species as "red" Fox Sparrow, Slate-colored Junco, and various others, yet the overall numbers felt fewer to my eyes by Thursday. Many of the regular 'CP' migrants of early April were present. ........ Tues., 8 April - To me, this was a quieter day, but it did start out quite damp & very overcast, and birds may have livened up in the later part of the day. ........ On 7 April, 2 days after a day of many Turkey Vultures on the move, a flyby Black Vulture was also reported, by someone at the Great Lawn. There may have been a good vulture migration on several days at about that time. Not quite in Central but not far at all, an earlier Black Vulture was noted the day before, 6 April, in the vicinity of East 52nd St., on Manhattan's East Side. And what may have been the year's first Belted Kingfisher was found at the Loch in the n. end, on Sat., 5 April. A Ring-necked Duck was ogled by many at the lake, following on the several appearances at the reservoir of this annual-in-Central species. 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/ --
