A GRAY Heron was photographed in Northampton County, Virginia, Nov. 9th - was this the bird from Massachusetts earlier this season (?) A series of photos of the 11/9 Virginia bird are in the observer’s eBird list - https://ebird.org/checklist/S76139031 <https://ebird.org/checklist/S76139031> (n.b., if a bird that came from the northeast, to Virginia- how much time might it have spent somewhere on the coast of s.-e. N.Y.? It has not been re-found, or at least, not reported again from Virgina.) A Northern Lapwing has just recently been discovered in New Brunswick, Atlantic Canada, as of Nov. 15th, this latest find being closer to the U.S./Canada border than a prior N. Lapwing farther northeast in Nova Scotia Canada - this ‘latest' lapwing was also near a Cattle Egret, which do turn up in (especially Atlantic) Canada from time to time, particularly in autumn.
A Loggerhead Shrike has been seen & photographed in Plymouth County, Massachusetts for some days to at least Nov. 12th, now sadly a very rare sighting in almost all of the northeast; the same county in Mass. also just had a male Painted Bunting, photographed at a private home. And also in Massachusetts, a Spotted Towhee had been lingering in Bristol County, while a Bullock’s Oriole has been in Norfolk County, Mass. That adult-male Yellow-headed Blackbird in Queens County, NY has reappeared, same bird’s been around, apparently - at Flushing Meadows/Corona Park, seen Sunday 11/15 by multiple observers who photo’d. it & noted as can be seen in the photos it has lost some brilliance, & also that it’s possibly not in the best shape now. Will it be there to confront CBC-ers when that time rolls around…? And good to see other ‘birds with yellow heads’ in N.Y. City be further confirmed: W. Tanager at Greenbrook Sanctuary in Kings County-Brooklyn, NYC (first found on 11/14 by E. Leonardi, another excellent bird for Brooklyn!) .. Not a great surprise to long-time visitors or regulars there, but some who had not known the Franklin Mountain hawk-watch site at Oneonta, N.Y. will be interested to see the tally of 24 (two-dozen) Golden Eagles counted there for 1 day, Nov. 12th, along with 38 Bald Eagles and a few other raptor species. However that day’s count of Golden Eagle was one eagle shy of the tally from Nov. 3rd this same month when 25 Goldens were placed in the records. And those sightings with more of November still to come. — — — — — — New York County, including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, and the now-closed-to-public-access-until-spring Governors Island - and the skies above & waters surrounding the county. Highlights included: BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, Bonaparte’s Gull (LARGE FLOCK in flight & feeding), Cackling Goose (of the Richardson’s form), BLACK Scoter (rarely found in N.Y. County waters in current era), COMMON EIDER (a very long time since this species had been seen in N.Y. County!), Long-tailed Duck (in-flight flocks), Horned Larks, Lincoln’s Sparrows, Eastern Meadowlarks, Baltimore Orioles, Rusty Blackbirds, EVENING Grosbeaks (several flocks in flight), various American warblers (including ‘late’ Tennessee Warblers in the multiple). -- Wednesday, Veteran’s Day, 11/11 - The end of a stretch of mild days with southerly winds; rain arriving by mid-day and especially Wed. night, with a wind-shift that overnight to northerly wind. The lingering Virginia Rail in Central Park (originally 1st-found & reported publicly by P. Sweet) was still in the same area of the park to at least this day. Green-winged Teal seen in the Central Park Reservoir. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Randall’s Island; also 2 Mute Swans again at Randall’s Island. -- Thursday, 11/12 - A shifting weather pattern but very slow to shift northeast and clear out at N.Y. County; rain previous overnight came back through as some misty-drizzles, sometimes merely as lingering high humidity, under a very low cloud-deck, and increasing winds out of the NE/N & finally NW by evening, when some additional showers also pushed through. Tempertaures dropped through the day from the 50’s (F.) into the 40’s later. The main component of notable migration locally were of waterfowl, waterbirds and birds associated with water. 61 (yes, sixty-one) Bonaparte’s Gulls were seen on the Hudson river! (which moved a bit north of 71st St. pier, then south again). Multiple observers, photos of part of the flock. * This was incidentally part of a widespread movement of this species in the general latitudes, across a good swath of the country where the species is at all regular as a migrant. * Also seen were 21 Long-tailed Ducks - flybys - headed north, quite uncommon esp. in that number for the county (even though common as a wintering species scant miles away off N.Y. City ocean & bay shores) An unusual report of a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher seen inside a market in northern Manhattan, and then brought out to be released to freedom, at night; a late but not at all unprecedented date for the species. ... Friday, 11/13 - Misty-drizzles, winds out of the northeast, and near-normal (40’s-50+ F.) temp’s for the date. A Cackling Goose, photographed with Canada Geese at Randall’s Island, end-of-day visit: https://ebird.org/checklist/S76212241 <https://ebird.org/checklist/S76212241> This find prompted quite the turn-out at that location the following 2 days, with many many dozens of seekers. A late Spotted Sandpiper was seen at Governors Island (closed to the general public now and until spring). At least 2 (photographed) Tennessee Warblers were found on the day, quite late now, excepting this year when so many neotropical-wintering species have been found in the region on later (and some much later) than typical dates on migration. Cape May Warbler was seen in northern Manhattan; that species has occasionally been seen in the county to January, although the latter is of course a rather exceptional late month; the species has been documented on a C.B.C.as well, and have been seen a surprising multitude of times into November in the county, especially in the modern era. A Blackpoll Warbler was seen as well on Randall’s Island, a lingering individual. And various other warblers were also lingering on or still pushing through as what in most years would be termed stragglers - in that sense, many of the recent warbler sightings are, as the majority of their species, according to the more-usual departure periods per various species, have not only left this region but have arrived to their respective wintering grounds, some into South America. -- Saturday, 11/14 - A modest cold-front with winds from WNW & later more W, but shifting Sat. night, and becoming less cold by Sat. afternoon; sun & some scattered clouds at times - fairly good weather for diurnal migration - & for eager birders being out. BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, a possible first photographed record for the county (that is, above & beyond archives of eBird, where not all bird-records reside.) This sighting came from and by keen observers at Inwood Hill Park’s sector right on the Hudson river off northern Manhattan. (Interestingly, another kittiwake was seen at the Oradell reservoir in northeast New Jersey’s Bergen County on 11/13 - that’s just a short way from the Hudson river to the west; the Bergen Co., N.J. kittiwake was also photo’d, & incidentally was -also- a first-county record [at least in eBird!] for there.) AND, that CACKLING Goose (of the Richardson’s form) was seen for the day by many - again on Randall’s Island. Horned Larks were on the move (region-wide) and a minimum of 15 were seen, likely more in total for the day, at Randall’s Island, with varying (lower) no’s. by many observers. Also moving in numbers this day were E. Bluebirds and a good number, well into double-digits, were seen from various locations, & by multiple observers in the county. There were multiple warbler species found in a variety of locations around the county. -- Sunday, 11/15 - Increasing clouds, increasing temperatures (into the 50’s & nearing 60 F.), on winds out of a southerly direction, which also increased later, and by about 8:30 pm local time, a tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service local office. A BLACK SCOTER (from Inwood Hill Park’s Dyckman ballfields, on the Hudson river) was found, seen by multiple observers, & photo’d - another rarely-recorded sea duck for the county. Also, a flock of 15 Common GOLDENEYE on the Hudson, from the same area (this is not as ‘rare' as some might think on the lower Hudson, nor for N.Y. County. The latter species has occurred even in Central Park, albeit rarely there - and is near-regular, with a bit of effort, in winter from Randall’s Island off to the east.) A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron continued at Randall’s Island. A Blue-headed Vireo was seen at Fort Tryon Park (in the heather garden). A Baltimore Oriole was seen & photographed at Battery Park City Park. And a flock of 15 Rusty Blackbirds at Fort Tryon Park. A Lesser Scaup was seen by some who came to observe the lingering Cackling Goose, at Randall’s Island. (also arriving recently have been Greater Scaup in the general area.) Great Cormorant also have been around in at least a few ‘usual’ areas, including on the E. River. EVENING Grosbeaks again! - and this day in (at least) several flocks, one of 6 birds seen in flight reported from Inwood Hill Park, at least 4 in-flight later in morning at Riverbank State Park, & flock of 5 at Fort Washington Park, all these near the Hudson River in the northern half of Manhattan, and not all at same times - very likely, separate small flocks. --- Monday, 11/16 - After some big winds (& the tornado warnings not far north, the prior night) and then a shift to a westerly wind, with near-normal November temperatures, the day was eventually just calm and relatively quiet for most of the recent diurnal migrants. Another great sea-duck for the county was seen in the first hours of the morning: COMMON EIDER, from the long pier into the Hudson River at about the latitude of W. 70th Street. Confirmed in eBird as all of the above birds had been, this species had not been seen and photographed in the county, at least, in a very long time. (there are some older records, however… if anyone has those handy, perhaps they’ll share.) Even with a day of lowered migrants and migration at least 85 species of native birds were seen in the county on the day (and likely some number higher than that were present). Rusty Blackbirds have been around in low numbers, some of which could potentially stay all fall & into winter. And there are still a lot of migrants that may pass through or come to visit; this may include some truly-late stragglers of species that have mostly already arrived in far-south destinations for winter, & also potentially any untold variety of surprising visitors. … Not a whole lot of insect sightings lately, but still easily into triple-digits on species, including some of the ‘wee’ ones. One 'mini-hot-spot' had been the chrysanthemum plantings in the Central Park Conservatory Garden, where at least 14 species of flower-flies (family Syrphidae), in various genera, were identified on Sat., 11/14, and some of those continued at least into Monday. And there have been scattered butterfly sightings around the county, with (few) Monarchs among the more visible, still at least a few which can straggle on for some time, even in days with air temp’s just a slight amount above the freezing-mark, so long as the sun is out for them. …... With the viral pandemic still very much all around us, please do use and take all possible precautions to keep yourself and all others around safe -Thank You. - - - - - "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” - Teddy Roosevelt (26th president of the U.S.A.) "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." - Frederick Douglass (1818-1895; U.S. statesman, orator, writer) Good birding to all - and thanks to the many who also keep the birds’ best interests at heart when out in the field - and limit any possible disturbances to the birds’ requirements for food, shelter, & safety, including for the many migrants a safe passage on their often long journeys as well as birds on roost sites. 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/ --
