Back in the 1970’s there were as meny as seven Iceland Gulls on the reservoir at one time.
Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 14, 2021, at 6:32 AM, Thomas Fiore <tom...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > > Wednesday, Jan. 13th: > > As it turns out, there were 2 different Iceland Gulls visiting the Central > Park reservoir (in Manhattan, N.Y. City) on Wed. 1/13, with an earlier > sighting being documented & photo placed in the Macaulay archives, thanks to > M.B. Cooper: > https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/297338771 > > And shortly later on, the other Iceland Gull was being seen, 2 photos > included in an eBird report thanks to D. Aronov (with others of us also there > to observe in afternoon): https://ebird.org/checklist/S79180087 > > Plumage appears to age these as a 1st-year (first sighting & photo above), & > then also, a 2nd-year (with 2 photos in checklist above), both are presumably > of the sub-specific form ‘kumleini'. Serious larophiles may have additional > comment. > > At the site, the reservoir in Central, some thin (melting) ice had formed, > and gulls also had been using a central dike that is often-submerged, but > will attract various birds including sometimes many gulls. Gulls were > actually down in overall numbers from high no’s. observed late Tues. 1/12 at > the C.P. reservoir, but there were still well over 200 others, many of them > Ring-billed Gulls, as is the usual in winter. A drake Ring-necked Duck was a > less-common addition to the duckage at the reservoir, and many other ducks > continued, as previously. > > . . . . > Over at Carl Schurz Park, off East End Ave. from 84th - 90th Streets, a > Western Tanager was again seen, albeit not so easily, and an Orange-crowned > Warbler continued as well, the warbler generally close to the fence about > Gracie mansion (the mayor’s official / family residence) and sometimes in the > fenced grounds of that mansion, that being closer to E. 88th St., > approximately. It may be interesting to see if there might be any additional > less-common species lurking about the area of Carl Schurz Park and vicinity. > However, the habitat inside the fence at the mansion is not open to the > public. Tanager sightings continue in the area of the Catbird playground, > which is just south of the 86th St. entrance, but the tanager can be in many > locations, & often favors some trees just n. of the NW section of the > playground. There’ve been some suet & other goodies placed near the w. edge, > also south of E. 86th in that park, potentially attracting a few other > species of interest. There’ve been roughly 3-dozen species (including the > above 2 as noted) found in & from Carl Schurz Park so far this year, most > reasonably regular, but including such as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Gray > Catbird, & Hermit Thrush. > > …. > On a personal note, having 2 Iceland Gulls at the Central Park reservoir > brings memories of the late, great all-around naturalist Lambert Pohner, who > so-often bird-watched at that reservoir in the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and into > the 80’s, with a scope at times, and was perhaps the most regular > gull-spotter at that site especially in the later years of his life. Even > though we lacked all the rapid-notifications of modern times, his sightings > would get around & others sometimes were able to spot a rarer gull or other > bird he’d found there. (I knew him, but not well, & was more acquainted with > some of his rather younger peers of his later life). Mr. Pohner was the > principal of the book, “The Falconer of Central Park", by Donald Knowler, and > he was also mentioned by Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Barlow-Rogers (the founder of the > Central Park Conservancy) in her book, “Saving Central Park”, and has further > been mentioned in books by Marie Winn, an author of many books. We have on > occasion since those earlier years had 2 Iceland Gulls at the same time at > that site, but not all that often. > > good birding to all, > > Tom Fiore > manhattan > > > > > > > > > > > -- > NYSbirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > ABA > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- 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/ --
