Manhattan, N.Y. City - As of Monday, 17 December, there were at least 5 species of warblers accounted for on Manhattan island with the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) week ongoing, including a majority of those seen on count day, despite poor weather for most of the day Sunday, the 16th. There may have been more than this total, & of course the area of the overall count includes part of another state - New Jersey, from where there are often at least a few warbler species &/or individuals added to the full circle’s tally - as well as any number of other species & loads of additional individual birds there...
The warblers found for Sunday on Manhattan include - Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler, Ovenbird, & Common Yellowthroat. At least one additional species was found Monday 12/17: Cape May Warbler. Details of some of these sightings below - (note that none of the sightings noted herein are from Central Park, & all are from Manhattan island, all of which is a part of the Lower Hudson circle, the CBC’s official name for the count-area that includes (in part) N.Y. County & Manhattan (and of course, Central Park, plus multiple other parks with many birds in them. This count is also in a 2-state circle, shared with N.J.) An Orange-crowned Warbler has lingered at Morningside Park, as first found & photo’d by Terry Zahner on Sat./15th; this bird was present on Sunday & was still in the same area as of Mon./17th. It has favored an area at & near a large flat outcrop of rock in the lower portion of that park, closer to Morningside Ave. at the eastern edge, rather than the higher ground up by Morningside Drive, & the rock is fairly near to W. 120-121st Streets, within the park; a small set of steps is also in the area, and mostly to the north, some obvious conifer trees. Other than the Y.-b. Sapsucker in the area, which has provided some flowing sap for that warbler, it did not appear to be following with any specific flocks or other birds, & may not be esp. ‘loyal’ to the sapsucker, either, but that has been the 1 bird it’s slightly associated with. It’s also been flighty & could take a lot of patience, effort, &/or luck to see, and of course also may have moved on by this time. And there’s also been a lingering E. Phoebe in Morningside Park, which has been around the small pond therein (there’s just one in that park) at about W. 113th St.; this is almost surely the same phoebe there for some weeks (or much longer) by now. It’s been seen on count-Sunday & was reported by T. Zahner on Sat.; in addition, I photographed it for Mon./17th. We’ve had a lot of E. Phoebes regionally lingering thru much of Nov., so this was not a tremendous surprise but it is an unusual find in December in Manhattan, and it’s possible it may try to stay on, & be a “year” bird as of January 1st, although a lot can happen in 2 weeks & at this time of year. A bird apparently not found on the day of the count on Sunday - Cape May Warbler, a species that has been seen multiple times quite late in the year in Manhattan, & even has had a January appearance some years ago in Central Park - this found in Union Sqaure Park by Rob Bate, seen at the western side of that park, in the middle section between south & north, but slightly more north within the park itself - “15th-16th” Sts., for latitude. It’s worth keeping an eye out for any ‘late’ migrants, as the push of yet another cold front could still usher in some surprises. Since I was one of those counters who helped with the northern Manhattan section of the CBC, I’ll just note 1 warbler that was seen, a [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warbler spotted by the party I was with (& thanks to B. Inskeep for the insta-ID), seen by all in our section-party; that along the Hudson river path, immediately south of Dyckman Street. There have been more than a couple of Ovenbirds & Common Yellowthroats in at least several locations in Manhattan over recent days, and at least a few of these have already been seen & reported during the count-period so far; more might be discovered by those still watching for warblers & whatever other late-lingerers are about or which could yet pass through. It’s become somewhat regular that the latter two warbler species will linger at least into early winter in Manhattan, some also attempting to stay on. As with any C.B.C. anywhere, the full results will be known sometime after the count-week period is past; in the case of a 2-state count as is that which includes Manhattan, there will be some birds that would be unusual if not almost-unheard-of for Manhattan, added to the Lower Hudson CBC tally, thanks to dedicated birders and also some very special habitat, across the Hudson from NYC, in the adjacent region of New Jersey. - - - The occasional legal reminder that playing of any amplified sounds whatsoever in Central Park of N.Y. City, without express permission (that’s a permit from the City of New York) is a violation of the law & this applies throughout all of the park and at all times, & year-round. (Signage regarding this is well posted within this park.) good CBC-ing & last few days of calendar autumn, 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/ --
