Manhattan island, N.Y.C. - Sunday, 19 February, 2017 -
17 Canvasbacks continue this Sunday morning at the Hudson river, just north of the (west) Harlem piers park, adjacent to a Fairway supermarket that's off (under) the West Side Highway - the ducks were viewed from the narrow pathway (watch for bikes), to the north of the park with the public piers; they can and do go beneath the aging- wooden pier areas and may be rather hidden at times; as well as not being in this location - when they may visit the opposite (New Jersey) side of the Hudson, a mile or more distant. A lone American Coot also continues, a bit south of this group of ducks. (these birds were seen & photographed today at 8:45 am, & were seen thru the day on Saturday by many observers, as well as being seen in prior weeks, in varying numbers, and times of day.) Thanks to many who updated on this now- scarce-in-Manhattan species; some were also recently noted at the East River as seen from a vantage point in the east 50's on Manhattan. --- At Central Park (also Manhattan, N.Y. City), the first-year Red-headed Woodpecker remains near the path just west of East 68th Street inside the park from Fifth Ave., this bird now exhibiting much red in the "hood" as it comes farther into alternate plumage. The woodpecker was active as early as 6:45 a.m. this very mild Sunday morning. At the CP reservoir, a Red-necke Grebe continues its' post-rehab. stay, & a Common Loon continues as well, both of these in basic (winter-type) plumage & can be diving & moving all about the entire reservoir; also, there are some Double-crested Cormorants present there (& in other water-bodies of the park) now, & a bit of caution is needed in making ID's on loons or larger grebes from a distance. Many gulls were already present by the time I was checking the reservoir at 7:20 a.m., and more were coming in, so it may be worth further checking thru the day, for species beyond the three regulars of winter (& at most times, those of course being Ring-billed, American Herring, & Great Black-backed). - A Glaucous Gull at the East River, found by David Barrett of Manhattan this week, may be continuing and might be viewed from a few vantage points in the 50's-90's of the east side of Manhattan, & perhaps as DB had done, from the southern end of Randall's island scanning south - a scope may be useful for best potential viewing & it can be better in afternoon for less sun-glare, unless an overcast day. (I do not know if this gull is present now!) Hooded Mergansers are distributed on at least 4 water-bodies, but have been a bit skittish with Turtle Pond recently & more often at the Meer, the reservoir, & on the Lake; Wood Ducks have been at the Meer, reservoir, Lake, & the Pond (seen in each of those locations this Sunday morning, with some effort); a drake Northern Pintail was still at The Pond & a single Am Coot, with the comical trio of [feral sorts of] Muscovy type ducks, which very early this morning were within Hallett Sanctuary, then out to the Pond proper. A Red-throated Loon seen for just 2 days in a row at the CP reservoir seems to have departed again, this was seen & photographed by just a few of us, 1st noted by Nancy Pinnell in an eBird report from Wednesday; on Thursday, the Red-throated was not easy to spot for some hours, as it continued to ride low in the water, not from distress but as a method of feeding, which it was doing a great deal of; at the end of the day Thursday a 1-hour further effort did not reveal the Red- throated again, just the basic-plumaged Common (all the park's grebes & loons so far this winter have been in basic plumage, as is most- often seen thru this time of year). There have been 2 Pied-billed Grebes wintering at the reservoir, which continue now. Other CP waterfowl include Gadwalls, Buffleheads, Northern Shovelers (in very good numbers on the Lake, with more on at least 3 additional CP water-bodies), Ruddy Ducks (3 water-bodies, but most scarce at the lake), and other very common species; a Great Blue Heron now with nice hanging plumes is regular at the Pond & sometimes in other areas in the park (seen at the Pond this Sunday very early). Birds heard singing, &/or calling, these very mild mornings include: Mourning Dove, Red-headed Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker Yellow- shafted Flicker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow (2 - Meer), Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch (just 2), White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren (one has been very vocal for many days now in the Ramble area, & there are others in the park now), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (at least 2 are present, one in the Ramble, another at the Pond area; that latter was also heard giving calls - only, not song, very early this Sunday), American Robin, Eastern Towhee (males & females, there are as many as 5 present in the park, one male is regular just north of the Boathouse area, another is often west of Hallett Sanctuary; these 2 were each heard singing & calling this Sunday), [red] Fox Sparrow (partial, "tune-up types of song), Song Sparrow (not quite in full spring-mode voice & not that frequent yet), Swamp Sparrow (a few weak songs heard from one or two at The Pond, where they wintered), White-throated Sparrow (often heard "tuning-up" for spring, not in full voice yet, at least not many & not often), Dark-eyed [Slate-colored] Junco (not too many singing), Northern Cardinal (singing for weeks by now), Red- winged Blackbird (some have given songs, many have passed thru in the last ten days on migration, even a few females which is earlier than 50-year average or typical dates), Rusty Blackbird (the shy one by the Pond is occasionally vocal, bit much more often very quiet and also can be very skulking at the edges, it's been on the south side of Hallett some days where especially hard to pick out in the dark-shaded shore areas & is not obtrusive there), Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch (a few have been occasional in the north woods of the park, but hard to pick out when not singing or very active), House Finch, American Goldfinch (calling often, not noted truly singing that much). Additional species seen in these 2 days - Turkey Vulture, Canada Goose, Brant (at Hudson River, not in or over Central Park), American Wigeon (ongoing drake on the Hudson near about West 165th-175th Streets often with some mallards), American Black Duck, Red-breasted Merganser (few here & there on the Hudson), Bald Eagle (2 recent sightings of adults, by the Hudson up near the GW bridge area), Sharp- shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Hermit Thrush (silent, in Central Park), Gray Catbird (also silent when seen, CP), Northern Mockingbird (as for catbird, in recent days), Brown Thrasher (also silent, in 3 locations where very regular in the park - one being in the Ramble), European Starling (usual cacophony), Cedar Waxwing (few noted in past week, all nearly silent), Field Sparrow (one, north end, quiet when seen at compost area - north), House Sparrow (various cacophony at times) and feral pigeon (some 'coo-ing', at times). --- A citizen’s basic responsibility is to be aware of the consequences of his or her acts. good -& ethical- birding to all, tom fiore - manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
