While known now to possibly most readers of this list, a Swallow-tailed Kite has lingered on in a remarkable stay in one area in Yates County, NY, with by now many many observers over its’ visit there. In Quebec, Canada, a Common Shelduck lingering recently has been observed by many there, & might be presumed of natural occurence, at least by the many who went to see, & awaiting the determination of the local-regional avian records committee. A good way farther west (and also very-obviously well out of the normal range), a Mexican Violetear (a hummingbird species typically found in, well - Mexico, & in Central America) had been seen and confirmed in Illinois, thru last week. That species has been documented rarely before in more-northern places, including into Canada, while just-slightly more so in some Texas locations. And again for NY state, it’s been wonderful to read of such great shorebird sightings as Baird’s Sandpiper reports literally from one end of the state to the other - from the western NY frontier to the East End (Long Island) & from far-northern counties, to several in N.Y. City & yet more of New York.
.. .. .. .. .. New York County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan, Randall’s & Governors Island[s], and surrounding waters & sky: Friday, Aug. 27th thru Monday, Aug. 30th - At least 24 species of warblers were present through the period, and a minimum of 21 species for both Friday & Sat., 8/27-28, with all of those on those 2 days present within Central Park (& many also in other locations in the county). A minimum of 19 warbler species were present in Central Park on Monday, 8/30, with all of those species also found in the Ramble & its immediate vicinity (i.e., next to the Lake shore, Turtle Pond, Shakespeare Garden & Beleverde Castle areas, and the ‘triplets’ and oak bridge areas on the west side.) - plus fair no’s. of warblers and some other migrants in other areas, also in other parks of course. All of the warbler spp. had been present already (none new-to-season), some in modest to goodly numbers, some from the stronger migrant arrivals of days just-prior. On Sunday 8/29, there were at least 8 warbler species at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan, and various small parks in lower Manhattan also held some migrants - with warblers, in particular. Governors Island as well as Randall’s Island have been receiving some migrant warblers at times. Parks such as Union Square, Washington Square, Tompkins Square, Corlears Hook (section of E. River park & promenade areas), and several others all have had 5-8+ warbler species & at least a few other migrants within this report’s period. A minimum of 8 species of flycatcher have been present in Central Park alone (with many also in other larger parks), in this report’s period. There seemed to be a small influx of fresh migrants from Sunday to Monday, of warblers, this was noticeable as an at-least modest increase in Common Yellowthroat no’s. There also was a fresh influx-and-passage of both Great Crested Flycatcher, and E. Kingbird, the latter in active early-a.m. passage. A Blue-winged Teal was again found at Governors Island on Sun. 8/29 (C. Weiner) - just possibly same individual bird as found there on 8/21. 3 Green-winged Teal were seen dropping into the Central Park reservoir on 8/28; thanks to E. Gaillard for putting word out on those; the 2nd appearance of the species for the season there, but very much the first time for more birders to catch up on the season. Few birders have yet made note of the two N. Shovelers recently present (after a short period when none had been present), the latest had been at C.P.’s ‘the Pool' for a few days already; also continuing in Central Park, at least 2 Wood Ducks, which have often been fairly well hidden, but will show if patiently sought. A single Monk Parakeet has continued at a location in n. Manhattan. One Semipalmated Plover was still on the mudflats at Inwood Hill Park (photo’d: D. Karlson) as of Fri., 8/27; other shorebirds on subsequent days and various sites around the county include the more-regular Spotted, Least, and Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a few Solitary Sandpipers in select sites, including on Randall’s and Governors Island[s], with numbers of Killdeer on both as well. On Randall’s Island, up to 4 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have been present, although some observers are finding 1 or 2, depending on day / time of visits. Numbers of Snowy & Great Egrets are down slightly in recent days (including those seen as fly-overs), while plenty of Black-crowned Night-, and Great Blue Herons are being found in some locations. With only several exceptions all of the more than 120 species -listed below- in the report-period were seen by more than 1 observer, & single-observer sightings were photographed. Many of the species below had multiple to many observers; one example would be Common Ravens seen in this period in multiple locations, and in a few such, by 10-20+ observers for one sighting. Pied-billed Grebe (ongoing, Central Park reservoir) Canada Goose (common) Mute Swan (scant sightings, almost all from E. River) Wood Duck (few; all? lately in Central Park) Gadwall (slight increase in recent days but mostly for Central Park; no’s. overall not much changed) American Black Duck (regulars) Mallard (common) Northern Shoveler (2 at Central Park most-recently; including by 8/30 on the reservoir; not first-of-season there) Blue-winged Teal (1 photographed, Governors Island, 8/29) Green-winged Teal (3 at Central Park most recently) Double-crested Cormorant (common) Great Blue Heron (many at times in select sites) Great Egret (fewer than in the week prior) Snowy Egret (few) Green Heron (ongoing at multiple locations) Black-crowned Night-Heron (many at times in select sites) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (up to 4 on Randall’s Island; at least 2 to 8/30) Black Vulture (from n. Manhattan) Turkey Vulture (relatively few but multiple sightings) Osprey (regular now, & including multiple sightings in Central Park’s n. end) Bald Eagle (few reports; somewhat ‘expected' on days featuring cold fronts) Cooper's Hawk (several locations, continuing lately) Red-tailed Hawk (fairly common residents all around the county) Semipalmated Plover (to at least 8/27, Inwood Hill Park; photo’d: D. Karlson) Killdeer (numbers increased at selected sites) Solitary Sandpiper (few) Spotted Sandpiper (modest no’s.) Semipalmated Sandpiper (small no’s.) Least Sandpiper (fairly high no’s. for just one site; otherwise, mostly rather small no’s.) Laughing Gull (regular in the county, & at least irregular in / over Central Park recently) Ring-billed Gull (greatly increased all this month) [American] Herring Gull (common) Great Black-backed Gull (regulars) Common Tern (few still around NY harbor areas, including at or near Governors Island) ['feral'] Rock Pigeon (extremely common) Mourning Dove (common, also some light movements in this month) American Kestrel (ongoing residents; poss. a few migrants appearing) Peregrine Falcon (residents) Monk Parakeet (one, long-lingering) Black-billed Cuckoo (several sightings in the report-period) Yellow-billed Cuckoo (several sightings in the report-period) E. Screech-owl (Manhattan residents) Common Nighthawk (very few in this report’s period, yet more came thru eve. of 8/30) Chimney Swift (good no’s., including passages of 50++ at a time from some locations) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (multiple, some in active diurnal migration, southbound) Belted Kingfisher (modest no’s. now including recent arrivals &/or passage migrants) Red-bellied Woodpecker (ongoing residents) Downy Woodpecker (ongoing residents) Hairy Woodpecker (small no’s., ongoing) Yellow-shafted Flicker (modest no’s. with a very low component of 'local migrators' in this month) - Olive-sided Flycatcher (several, from at least 3 locations) Eastern Wood-Pewee (modest no’s., now including a few more likely migrants as well as ‘locals') Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (small no’s. in this report-period) Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher (multiple sightings, of possibly all 5 northeastern regular-breeders) Least Flycatcher (at least a few ID’d to this species by calls &/or excellent photos) Eastern Phoebe (several) Great Crested Flycatcher (multiple, with even a few sightings in smaller parks for this report-period) Eastern Kingbird (multiple, and a modest amount of diurnal migration ongoing but lately diminished) - White-eyed Vireo (a slight surprise at Governors Island, Friday, 8/27) Warbling Vireo (multiple) Red-eyed Vireo (multiple) Blue Jay (many) Common Raven (multiple sightings from various locations; including several birds seen by 40++ observers from Central Park) American Crow (common) Fish Crow (good no’s. ongoing from a few locations, in particular, at Randall’s Island, at early & late hours) Purple Martin (Friday 8/27, one female or young bird, on migration at Hudson River) Tree Swallow (modest no’s. in this report’s period) Barn Swallow (good no’s., including plenty on passage) Black-capped Chickadee (few, ongoing) Tufted Titmouse (small no’s., ongoing) White-breasted Nuthatch (regular) Carolina Wren (regular) House Wren (regular; a very slight increase seen in last few days) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2 lingering, 1 continuously from around August 15th; & also a few more by Mon., 8/30, multiple sites) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (modest no’s. passing thru now) Veery (very slight increase over this report’s period and occ. misidentified as other thrush sp.) Swainson's Thrush (2 photographed as of 8/27, and one lingering, Central Park; slightly early) Wood Thrush (small no’s. including a few likely migrants, in addition to the local family groups) American Robin (ubiquitous, and still offering up fledglings after some 3rd-brood successes) Gray Catbird (common) Northern Mockingbird (quite common for all the fledgelings and young of the year) Brown Thrasher (uncommon, ongoing, and very-barely noted, by most observers) European Starling (extremely ubiquitous) House Sparrow (hugely overabundant) Cedar Waxwing (small no’s. moving about, & some seemingly ongoing passage) Scarlet Tanager (modest increases, but not yet above the earlier moving arrivals) Eastern Towhee (very scant, and shy all this summer, as this species can be for breeding periods) Chipping Sparrow (very few, but at least a few family groups) Song Sparrow (regulars) Swamp Sparrow (one; perhaps 2, continued on in Central Park, merely summering as for the next species) White-throated Sparrow (*NONE* have just ‘arrived’, all sightings this month are birds that summered here) Northern Cardinal (regulars) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (increased slightly in this report’s period) Indigo Bunting (few, this report’s period, mainly on early morning flights) Bobolink (good no’s. on early a.m. flights, esp. as seen near NY harbor; also multiples at Governors Island) Red-winged Blackbird (modest no’s. still on the move for the early-moving portion of this species migration) Common Grackle (regulars continue, no recent appearance of any moving) Brown-headed Cowbird (small no’s. on passage, & a few lingering here and there) Baltimore Oriole (ongoing passage, reduced by 8/29; still also lingering near nesting-sites in some locations) House Finch (regulars) American Goldfinch (small no’s. in general, with pockets of slightly higher no’s. and still some nesting activity) .. - 24 warbler species for the period: Blue-winged Warbler (multiple in multiple parks) Tennessee Warbler (multiple, esp. Friday, 8/27) Nashville Warbler (several- including Central Park) Northern Parula (multiple; & by Sun. 8/29 in some smaller parks & greenspaces) Yellow Warbler (multiple; a recent re-infusion of arrivals) Chestnut-sided Warbler (multiple, in multiple parks and some other greenspaces) Magnolia Warbler (multiple, with at least a few showing in smaller parks as well) Cape May Warbler (multiple, esp. noted from Central & Riverside Parks) Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple; showing in smaller parks as well) Black-throated Green Warbler (multiple, but not that many yet) Blackburnian Warbler (several as of Fri., not noted for Sun.; found again Monday 8/30 at Central Park) Prairie Warbler (multiple Friday, incl. at least 3 in “the Hills” at Governors Isl., 8/27; yet more around on 8/30) Pine Warbler (relatively few, including to 8/29 at Randall’s Island) Bay-breasted Warbler (several definitively ID’d in the period, also some ‘Baypoll’ types seen far into canopy) Blackpoll Warbler (few, more by Sat. 8/28) Worm-eating Warbler (through Sunday, 8/29 in the Central Park Ramble, with multiple observers) Black-and-white Warbler (multiple, in many smaller parks & greenspaces as well as the larger parks) American Redstart (by far the most common warbler around the region now, & generally in N.Y. City) Ovenbird (multiple, but not that many; some already showing up in some smaller Manhattan parks) Northern Waterthrush (multiple, good passage continues and at least a few in ‘odd’ urban locations) Common Yellowthroat (increased, & found in multiple smaller parks & greenspaces, as well as the larger parks) Hooded Warbler (two not in adult-male type plumage; & a fully-plumaged adult in the Central Park Ramble on Monday, 8/30) Wilson’s Warbler (few; ongoing to 8/30) Canada Warbler (multiple but decreased in this report’s period) .. At least 24 species of butterflies were seen over this report’s period in N.Y. County, with a preponderance found & photographed on Governors Island, esp. on Friday, 8/27. (not an unusual number of species, as this is the time of year when butterfly diversity is near-peak in the county, particularly thanks to many "more-southern” species appearances, such as Cloudless Sulphurs, Common Buckeyes, & some of the skipper species, along with some less-common species now being seen &/or expected.) Many larger garden areas in the county also have featured some good variety, with many other insects in addition to butterflies - many additional insects in a lot of different families have been identified this month as well. good 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/ --
