Extralimital, south of NY and reported on Tues., Jan. 5th as “headed north”, a nicely-photographed Red-billed Tropicbird off Ocean City Inlet, in Maryland, is quite a sighting for mid-winter especially that far north; report in eBird: https://ebird.org/checklist/S78709999 <https://ebird.org/checklist/S78709999>
. . . New York County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan and Randall’s Islands. It seems there are no newer reports of a Greater White-fronted Goose for N.Y. County since Jan. 7th at Central Park’s reservoir, when more than 50 observers saw this bird at various times. There have been, at times, ongoing good numbers of Canada Geese, in various flock-sizes, moving about Central Park, and also ongoing around Randall’s Island. A good find on Wed., 1/6 was a Lesser Black-backed Gull, photographed by J. Keane at Randall’s Island, off the southeasterern edge; it is possible this gull might be lingering. Both Western Tanagers that have been, respectively (one) near & sometimes on West 22nd St. in the Chelsea neighborhood, and (one, other) mostly in & near Carl Schurz Park off East End Ave. & adjacent to E. 86th St. (nearest park entry to where that 2nd tanager’s been most-often seen) have continued, albeit both having become trickier to find with ease, as each is wandering a bit more with a search, most-likely, for enough food the primary issue at each of the 2 areas (which are separated by several miles). The Carl Schurz Park tanager has, at least several times in recent days, gone to the eastern parts of the park to locate some food, despite the now-available ‘goodies’ such as a suet-block & at least 3 types of fruits, plus food more suited to seed-eating species, in the western edges, all south of the E. 86th St. park entrance. In addition, that tanager has been making ongoing forays not just to trees along E. End Ave. but also up on to buildings there, & possibly on to the nearest streets, at times. Similarly, the 'W. 22nd St.' (other) tanager in Chelsea has been ranging about & has gone across Tenth Ave. as well as up to at least 23rd St. & by the High Line, movements that were also seen by that bird even some weeks ago, if not too regularly then. Thus, the increased difficulty of locating either of these as often as had been previously possible. So far, neither seems to have one particular ‘new’ location that is fully reliable; however I found each on Sunday, 1/10, with a fair amount of effort. The Carl Schurz Park bird was not as tough, but still some several hrs. were put in at that location. The Chelsea tanager was seen on both Tenth Ave. (briefly, where I had seen it a few previous times, not in street trees but in flight) and up along W. 23rd, but then again at W. 22nd, just across from Clement Clark Moore Park (which is primarily a children’s play area). The Eastern Phoebe that was found on the Manhattan (portion of) the Christmas Bird Count turned up in the same area, at Stuyvesantown off First Ave. in Manhattan’s almost-lower east side, on Saturday (1/9), & seen again Sun. 1/10; re-found by Ron Lulov. This is virtually certain to be that same bird from Dec. 20th, a full 3 weeks+ later. A Tennessee Warbler has again turned up on Randall’s Island, after not being seen for some weeks, on Saturday 1/9 (separate sightings by G. Stankovic, D. Aronov), and that warbler was still present at least as of Sunday, 1/10. On 1/8, an Ovenbird was found (C. McRae) at Madison Square Park in Manhattan. At least one Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler is also lingering at Randall’s Island in an area where one had been. There may possibly be a few other warblers around that (so far) survived into this winter’s colder times. A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron has been ongoing at the Little Hell Gate saltmarsh on Randall’s Island. A female-plumaged N. Pintail was found at Swindler Cove / Sherman Creek (east & north of the eastern terminus of Dyckman Street in Manhattan) by G.&T. Plowman on Sat., 1/9, the latter location where a Pintail had been in the fall also. A drake Wood Duck has continued on the Central Park Meer this month, and to Sunday, 1/10. A lone Rusty Blackbird has been regular for some time in the Central Park Ramble. Among other species being seen in the past several days in N.Y. County are: Canada Goose, [Atlantic] Brant, Wood Duck (mostly at the Central Park Meer), Gadwall, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Greater Scaup (rivers), Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye (from Randall’s Island, albeit often in non-N.Y. County waters), Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser (rivers, harbor, etc.), Ruddy Duck, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Great Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle (multiple individuals including flyovers of Central Park, & far more often along Hudson river), Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk (seems to be at least one wintering at Inwood), Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, [American] Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, ['feral'] Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, American Kestrel, Merlin (occasional sightings), Peregrine Falcon, multi.owls, Belted Kingfisher (several locations incl. Randall’s Island), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (dozens are present on Manhattan island now), Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Blue Jay, Common Raven, American Crow, Fish Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher (multiple locations), House Sparrow, European Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Towhee, Slate-colored Junco, American Tree Sparrow (in the multiple, & in multiple locations), Chipping Sparrow (several - wintering), Field Sparrow (1), [Red] Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow (at least 3 wintering in 3 different parks), Swamp Sparrow (multiple), White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and likely at least a few others. .. Back on Jan. 2nd, a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly was found in good condition & photographed by M. Freeman with 3 other observers, at the Conservatory Garden of Central Park. . . . . . 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 now 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/ --
