Monday, 24 April, 2017 Manhattan, N.Y. City A Western Cattle Egret is continuing on at the north side of West 28th St., between Eighth & Ninth Avenues, seen into this Mon. evening there. It’s been possible, for those that aspire to such, to include 3 egret species on a day & county list with the above, and from Central Park’s north end ‘fly-way’, sighting a Snowy as well as the far-more-frequent Great Egret, which is regular within the park as well. Snowy Egret can be seen on most days, with a bit of effort or by chance, mainly from points north of 100th St. & these egrets moving overhead, east-west & vice-versa. (this may also be observed from outside the park in a sort of east-west-east ‘corridor’ between very roughly 100th & 125th Streets in Manhattan, which clearly parallels an ancient route these waterbirds have known & are still able to utilize.) They are moving between points in the upper East River / westernmost LI Sound, & the New Jersey meadowlands region. In past years, the Snowy was a bit more of an occasional to near-regular drop-in visitor at the north end of Central Park; this seems to be less-regular in recent years. It’s possible they may still be seen doing so around dawn or dusk hours, however.
- - On what some may have thought a ‘slow’ birding day, there were at least a few first-of-year sightings in various parts of Central Park, including the Ramble area, the north end, & elsewhere around the park as found by some careful observers. The lingering Wild Turkey was seen again today near the south edges of the park, and close to the Seventh Ave. park entrance there. At least 7 species of warbler were present & these included a first-of-spring (in Central) Ovenbird, as well as Yellow Warbler, N. Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, modest numbers of Palm, many (35+, park-wide) Myrtle (a.k.a. Yellow-rumped), and Pine (one in north end) Warbler[s]. Also found in at least several locations were Warbling Vireo, another first-of-spring migrant here in Central, although that & Ovenbird have been found elsewhere, in N.Y.C., & in points north by now. A singing Rose-breasted Grosbeak was present late in the day in the Hallett Sanctuary at the south end of the park. Although (native) sparrow numbers were fewer than in recent days, there were still hundreds )park-wide) of White-throated, & numbers of Chipping, as well as some Field, Swamp, Song, & Savannah Sparrow[s] (latter near compost area) today. Some other migrants have been at least mentioned word-of-mouth, that might be first-of-spring for Central... A Red-headed Woodpecker in bright plumage continues its lengthy stay, still in the area of the park just west of East 68th Street. It can require some patience to spot this bird, which has often been quite high in upper branches. A Red-necked Grebe was still present on the reservoir, increasingly bright in plumage & quite late now, as we come into the last week of April. A very large group of observers, including students from the South Bronx, watched the grebe this mid-day. Much later on, another peaceful, quiet & inherehently-ethical birding group was seen, moving towards the Ramble, led by Gabriel Willow, among the many exemplary leaders who give walks for the NYC Audubon, or NYCAS. Thanks to Ardith Bondi for the news on a rehabbed-&-released Clapper Rail, at the Loch in the n. end of Central Park. Thanks also to (among others), Erika Piik, Tony Gaszo, and Jordan Spindel, for individually noting some of the migrants in the park later on in the day. My own visits there included early morning, mid-day and near & thru end-of-day, in all parts of the park. - - - - - "Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good?" - Rachel Carson (1907-1964; marine biologist, conservationist, author whose books include ‘Silent Spring’. Sir David Attenborough has remarked that that book may have had an effect on science second only to Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”.) good -and 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/ --