New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall's & Governors Island[s] Sunday through Tuesday- Oct. 31st, thru Nov. 2nd - A moderately-late Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was photo-documented (M. Braza, with other observers present) at Central Park's north end on Sunday, Oct. 31st, which appears to be the late record, thus far for the species *this year*, at that park. The 10/31 sighting took place by the outdoor/fenced, plant nursery area which is just west of the Conservatory Garden of Central Park. A photo of that bird on that date-location is now in the Macaulay Library archive: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/384849491
... Tuesday, Nov. 2nd - Two Bonaparte's Gulls were photographed (having been seen & ID'd by N. Sourigi, with M. Ross), at Inwood Hill Park, those seen flying into the channel east of the Hudson River to feed. This general area, at the n. tip of Manhattan has historically produced some. excellent gull sightings, including finds from past C.B.C. observers & watching from both sides of that channel, in years past. 2 Horned Larks were well-photographed (in flight, by G. Hong) at Randall's Island on Tuesday, and also seen (& photo'd, by same keen obs.) were 30+ American Pipits, a Vesper Sparrow, with various other birds, all on Randall's Island Tuesday. Vesper Sparrow was also seen (& photo'd: B. Balliett) at Inwood Hill Park on Tuesday, and Inwood's Dyckman Fields area again featured at least 1 or more American Pipits (also seen there on Nov. 1st). Eastern Meadowlarks were seen again on Tuesday, a minimum of three being found (& photo'd) on Governors Island, in the area near Fort Jay, and with one meadowlark at Central Park's n. end having many obsevers/photographers that day. Wilson's Snipe were also on the move again, with at least one noted from Central Park (flying into the Ramble near Bow Bridge), and some other sightings elsewhere in the county. At least one Baltimore Oriole was lingering at the Dyckman Fields area of Inwood, just north of the western terminus of Dyckman St. in northern Manhattan (this general area, also taking in Fort Tryon Park nearby as well, has in past years featured that species lingering well into winter, and likely overwintering successfully more than once just in the past decade). A Marsh Wren was persisting at Central Park, near Gapstow bridge in the park's s.-e. quadrant, and also lingering on at Central Park (& elsewhere) were at least a few Blue-headed Vireos. An Orange-crowned Warbler was well-described from Central Park's 'sparrow rock' section, which is a bit west of the Great Lawn there; this species has successfully overwintered multiple times in Manhattan, and of course also in other areas in N.Y. City and around the region, and any that seem to be lingering now might be watched-for, in case the bird[s] are still around into December. (An obvious caveat being that a LOT of migration is still underway, and some is likely to continue -however reduced- well into the month of December). Two Nashville Warblers were seen (& photo'd, M. Durand) at East River Park on Manhattan's lower-east shores, on Tuesday 11/2, & at least to Monday, there was one of that species present again at Inwood's Dyckman Fields area. There were reports of some other 'late' warblers in the county, including for Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, and a few more; also included in these also the more-typical lingering (or simply later to move) species such as Pine Warbler (uncommon though, for this county late into the year or in winter), Common Yellowthroat (in numbers still, esp. on Manhattan), Palm (still in the multiple at some locations) and Myrtle/Yellow-rumped Warblers, along with Ovenbird (the latter a known lurker & over-winterer or 'attempter' in various mid-&-lower Manhattan sites in particular, in many if not all recent winters). There may yet be some other later warblers which will turn up. Red-breasted Nuthatches and Purple Finches are among some of the species that have shown some increases again just lately; we're all hoping these just might herald some additional 'irruptive' types of avian visitors. A minimum of 7 Wood Ducks were photographed at The Pool, and others also were in other parts of Central Park, on Tuesday, making for at least ten, and likely more just for that park's n. end & more than a dozen in that park overall on the day. Also still at The Pool in Central were 2 long-lingering Green-winged Teal. C.P Reservoir duckage included drake Hooded Merganser, as well as other long-lingering species such as Pied-billed Grebe, & at least 4 American Coots, & other typical waterfowl, D.-cr. Cormorants, & etc. ... Monday, Nov. 1st - A Black-and-white Warbler was present at Stuyvesant-town (R. Lulov) and that species, while rare anytime in winter, might be watched-for thru the coming weeks as it has (rarely) shown in even December, in the area. There were multiple sightings of Eastern Bluebirds on the day, with observations especially numerous & some in the double-digits for specific locations, around the western half of Manhattan and also seen from Governors Island, all within N.Y. County. (this was also part of a much-larger migration of the species in the region, along with all of the other strong general migration of the start of November!) ... Sunday, Oct. 31st - A Mute Swan was seen moving along the Harlem River which borders Manhattan’s eastern shore north of 125th Street. An Eastern Meadowlark was again seen at Governors Island, in the vicinity of Fort Jay. Nelson’s Sparrow was again found at Randall’s Island. A Black-throated Blue Warbler was seen again at Union Square Park in Manhattan, & this and other warbler species could well be lingering at various sites throughout the county, on into November. --- A Yellow-breasted Chat has by now been observed by more than 1,000 people passing through (or some specifically coming in to view that one bird) at a location just west of Bryant Park, at Sixth Ave. & bewteen 41st & 42nd Streets in mid-Manhattan. This has also been the most-photographed individual bird in the county lately... -- Some insect life was persisting even into the chillier days (& nights) recently, that's included a small number of Monarchs and some other butterfly species, as well as a good many other kinds of insects in many families. 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/ --
