Since 1 PM, over 900 broadwings. 12 bald Eagles. Regards,
Phil On Sep 30, 2021, at 6:29 AM, Thomas Fiore <tom...@earthlink.net> wrote: Congrat's to A.V. Ciancimino of Staten Island (Richmond Co., NY) for the late-Wednesday find of a N. WHEATEAR, a great bird for anywhere and, obviously so for N.Y. City, state, and the southernmost county of NY state (yes, that’s Richmond Co.), and for all the others who were able to get there as well! (although not, by definition, a vagrant in this region; the species is a *very*-rare, but still regular fall passage-migrant & is found, most-often, by very active, keen observers, especially those in coastal parts of eastern N. America in early calendar-Autumn. If seen again further reports are very warranted and welcomed to this and any other regional list-serves.) - - - Well worth a mention of the Magnificent Frigatebird seen soaring by at least 2 observers at Oneida Shores park, out of Cicero, Onondaga County, NY on the morning of Mon., Sept. 27th; the report is confirmed in eBird, from obs. P. Novak & M. Fitzsimmons. (That bird could show yet again at some other localities, and perhaps in NY state.) …... New York City’s mayor announced on Tuesday that Governors Island will be opened YEAR-ROUND to all of the public this autumn - no more ending of entries to the general public on the last day of October. This is great news for everyone, certainly including all birders. There also may be new-increased ferry services. (The island is part of N.Y. City, and is considered to be within New York County.) One can walk the entire island, if one has the time, and fitness, in less than a day, and there is also the possibility of cycling (on a pedal-bike, no e-Bikes or other powered-vehicles), with pedal-power bicycles & others usually available for rent on the island, and if designated in one’s ferry reservation, the chance to bring your own human-powered cycle or scooter. Another Clay-colored Sparrow for N.Y. County, found at Inwood Hill Park, where later also photographed and seen by further observers; this was in the area of the regenerating-marsh project, near the northern section of that park, Wednesday, 9/29. That bird was still seen later in the day. (Photos of it have been made available on eBird / Macaulay Library archives.) . . . Tuesday, 9/28 - At Central Park (in Manhattan, N.Y. City) on Tuesday, 9/28, a (first-year) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was (again) seen along the Lake shore (this latest at the n.-w. part of the lake, locally called the “upper lobe”), There were also at least several 1st-year Black-crowned Night-Herons in the same area of the Yellow-crowned, so scrutiny is warranted. (Yellow-crowned Night-Heron also continued at Randall’s Island, also within N.Y. County). A "male-plumaged" Hooded Warbler brightened the Ramble area of that park, presumably or at least very possibly same individual as seen in same area some days ago now. And again, it’s at least possible, unless the individual has been **observed** *singing*, (not merely a heard-bird, in that particular location) that the Hooded Warbler being seen is a female adult, as that gender in that species can sometimes show a plumage quite similar to and approaching that of a male in bright adult plumage, even at this season. In the ornithological journal “The Auk”, Wm. Palmer wrote a lot on this subject - in 1894. It may require more than one year, and possibly even more than 2 years for Hooded Warblers to acquire the fully-adult plumage. This has also been studied and written on, in more-recent times by among others, Douglass Morse (author of the excellent “American Warblers”) and also by E.S. Morton, each in the literature and in the more-modern era; interestingly, there are observations of same-gender activity (some at nests) by Hooded Warbler, as well as many other fascinating aspects of this species life-history (and of course also by some other species among the New World, or American warblers, of the family Parulidae). Some aspects of this also were studied by R. Mumme, also found in the literature. The first-of-season Brant (all presumed Atlantic Brant) came through on Tues. 9/28, with many others having been seen to the north of Manhattan as well as elsewhere; these were moving nearly at day’s end. Ruddy Ducks in Central Park numbered at least 12, by Tuesday. There also are at least several Wood Ducks in several locations there. A Solitary Sandpiper was reported from Inwood Hill Park. Both of our species of Cuckoo were again seen on Tuesday: Black-billed & Yellow-billed. There was a noticeable passage of Wood Thrush, in particular, among migrant thrushes; some observers still were finding Veery - in the singular now; and certainly some Swainson’s Thrushes, along with the less-numerous Gray-cheeked (&/or that type!) and some Hermit Thrush as well. There were still at least 22 warbler species in N.Y. County to Tuesday, with many species again being found in lower Manhattan, although also still very good diversity in the larger parks to the north including in both Central and Riverside Parks. - - - Wed., 9/29 - Interestingly, at Governors Island, some of the birds noted there in recent days were still there - a female Blue Grosbeak, and a female Dickcissel, as well as Bobolink, all still in the vicinity of Fort Jay again on Wed., while many new arrivals also appeared. Among those new / further arrivals were many E. Phoebes, both species of Kinglets, thrushes dominated by Swainson’s Thrush but also including Gray-cheeked types, Indigo Buntings, and fair no’s. and variety of sparrows, including White-crowned, Lincoln’s, & far more White-throated Sparrow than on prior days, as well as many warblers, and other migrants. Not that surprisngly, at this location in particular (within the county) there were good numbers of Palm and [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warblers in much habitat supporting them, along with many Blackpoll Warblers. Thanks to G. Willow for some of the mid-morning sightings and to others also on watch there! I knew a nice (and seasonal) arrival of migrants was on, having heard the songs of White-throated Sparrows under the waning moon, well before first-light in the wee-hours of Wednesday - that species was later seen in a twenty-fold or better increase from the day prior. The further migration came through, and even with 99%+ being flyovers at night plus further-flyovers in the earliest hours of morning, there were many freshly-dropped-in birds on the ground for Wednesday - and spread far & wide all across the county (& rather clearly all around the wider region). Some that made it past, were nonetheless recorded for NFC - nocturnal flight calls, and proved to include (as parts of the broad range of species) both Bicknell’s and Gray-cheeked Thrush calls, and of course other thrushes, as well as many other passerine and non-passerine species. There were ten-times more Y.-b. Sapsuckers in various locations on Wed. than had been in same locations for the day before. And same or similar was so for a number of other migrant or visitant species - Golden-crowned Kinglets, & (at least in some local-local places) also Ruby-crowned Kinglets (of which, some were also seen in street-trees in a few neighborhoods on Wed.) - with warblers of some species such as Common Yellowthroat (again) further increased. Several additional (i.e., almost certainly just-arrived) Connecticut Warblers were found, in what has to be one of the better fall seasons for the species in this county in some time - at least one of these, in the Ramble of Central Park, had from 40+ to as many as 60+ observers who at least glimpsed, and many much-more-than glimpsed the "big-foot" warbler walking around at edge of 'Maintenance Meadow', as called by most park-regulars - that bird was seen from early to later on (thru 6pm at least) at that location, with a plethora of photos taken by many. (And many of the earlier obs. had thanked D. Hannay for finding, in their reports. In other locations with the species, one perhaps had to be there early, and be lucky, as is often the situation with many CT Warblers!) An Eastern Meadowlark at Randall’s Island was found in the morning by M.B. Kooper, and an impressive (even for that location) 40+ Savannah Sparrows seen there as well, by some observers. Later on, again at Randall’s Island, 2 Snowy & 1 Great Egret[s] were seen (C. Quinn), getting a bit late esp. for Snowys in N.Y. County (although they can be regular much later at times in areas not very far from there in other counties). Hooded Warbler was among the many migrants found at Inwood Hill Park. That species also was again reported from elsewhere. Multiple Blackpoll Warblers were seen in so many locations around the county, these including some quite-small greenspaces, as well as all of the larger parks & many, many smaller parks. Also pretty impressive were the sightings of as many Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers in a lot of locations, although perhaps no species group gave as much to the effort in being-abundant as the 2 Kinglet species; in some places, the 'Rubys ruled’. And, as is often seen in very good migration-passages, various migrant species were seen at some locations in good numbers, elsewhere few, and the mix of species was rather varied among a lot of the passage birds taken as a whole, in looking from one (small or larger) area to the next (such as in some of those smaller parks & greenspaces noted, lower to mid-Manhattan, where I was a part of Wed., and in other areas as well). Possibly the first-of-season American Coot has arrived on the Central Park reservoir, & there were also multiple Wood Ducks dropped-in there, on early Wed. morning. N. Shovelers were still around, including small no’s. on the Meer, where the Wood Duck has also continued. At least modest further Brant arrivals occured in the early morning; possibly ongoing on passage - there will be many more coming along as the season continues. There was a strong movement of Yellow-shafted Flicker in the first few hours of the day, with some observers reporting more than 100 in the early hours alone (not at all unusual for a strong migration overall at this season). Although still in low no’s. overall, Slate-colored Juncos were seen far more widely on Wednesday, with all the rest of the sparrows that have been arriving. Red-breasted Nuthatches and Purple Finches continue to show, and the raptor show over the county included at least 11 species, with a couple of Red-shouldered and more than a couple of Broad-winged Hawks as seen from n. Manhattan, plus the usual NYC-resident species of Red-tailed Hawk & Peregrine Falcon (7 other spp. of raptors also seen migrating, on Wednesday); some raptors got quite high on the steady NW wind and decent thermal activity later in the day. - - N.B., it’s time to scrutinize those Leiothlypis [genus, & newly assigned generic name, Sansgter, 2008] warblers well, as there are now at least some Orange-crowned turning up, along with the recently-seen no’s. of still-passing Tennessee Warblers. (This note also could apply much more-strenuously to any particularly paler-looking “Nashville”-types of warbler.) .. .. .. I photographed a bright Fiery Skipper in Central Park (at the Dene slope meadow) on 9/29, and a few others of that species have been seen around N.Y. County just-recently; there can be some (other) interesting “southern-affinity” butterflies &/or skippers in the later parts of the season all around our region, if weather permits the ongoing insect activity - which, through Wed., was still very apparent for many families of insects. (Where flowers are still in good shape & numerous, esp. native flowers, chances of good insect-diversity may be highest.) 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/ -- -- 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/ --
