Had a very productive morning on my twice-weekly Bryant Park Bird Walk in midtown Manhattan. We spotted 21 species, and I'm sure there's some we missed! The park is a chaotic mess right now, as they build the skating rink and holiday market. There is hammering and the beeping of backhoes backing up and construction fences and barricades everywhere. In spite of this, we had great views of some nice birds. The most intriguing and frustrating sighting was right as I arrived at 7:50, in the hedgerow area by the fence immediately to the south of the Waffles & Dinges booth: a brief glimpse of a round little sparrow with a short, cocked tail and smudgy gray streaks below. My first instinct was "Nelson's!", but it scurried off into some dense begonias before I could get my binoculars on it, not to be refound. You know how sometimes your spidey-senses (birdie-senses?) tingle when you see something good? Although I barely glimpsed this bird, I'm pretty sure it was something cool, probably a Nelson's. Interestingly, the one other record of the species from the park is from almost exactly this date last year (Oct. 8 & 9, 2015). Other species seen well enough to ID: Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 7, mostly in locust trees in front of LibraryAmerican Kestrel - 1 immature, perched on flagpole in front of Library, found by Jeanne TaoBlue Jay - 2 calling in treetops... somewhat uncommon in BPHouse Wren - 1, found by Vinnie Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 at sapsucker wells in locustsSwainson's Thrush - 1 in NW corner of park, near ping-pongWood Thrush - 1 in NW corner of park, near waffles standAmerican Robin - 1, surprisingly uncommon sight in the parkGray Catbird - a dozen or moreBrown Thrasher - 1 in NW corner of park, near ping-pongEuropean Starling - resident pairOvenbird - 4, eBird thought this was noteworthyCommon Yellowthroat - at least 25! Everywhere...Palm Warbler - 1 in front of LibraryWhite-crowned Sparrow - 1 handsome adult, in NW corner of park, near ping-pongWhite-throated Sparrow - ~ 50, huge influxSong Sparrow - 1Swamp Sparrow - 2, in NW corner of park, near ping-pongEastern Towhee - 1 male in NW corner of park, near ping-pongHouse Sparrow Good fall urban birding! Gabriel Willow --
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/ --
