>From our neighbor-nation to the north it has been something to see the reports >of species such as Black Vulture, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tufted Titmouse, and >even N. Mockingbird (all just within the province of Quebec) & all in recent >days, along with more expected-in-Quebec (province) species of the >boreal-northern forests. The Montreal birders have been keeping a good watch >on a Pine Warbler - as with others of that species in a number of >northern-wintering locations, visiting feeders with available suet. As more & >more ’southern’ species show up in what were once-unheard-of more northerly >latitudes, changes in the climate appears in ways that can be striking to many >who observe.
. . . . Some sightings by other watchers from Randall’s Island (in N.Y. County-NYC) on Sunday/13th included 2 Snow Geese, Mute Swan, Common Goldeneye, American Woodcock, at least 4 Killdeer, Great Cormorant, Merlin, Cedar Waxwings, Chipping Sparrow, [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warblers, & [at least] Black-crowned Night- and Great Blue Herons, along with a good many other species. No unusual or high numbers of gulls were reported there by those who gave reports for Sunday. . . . . Manhattan, N.Y. City - Sunday, Feb. 13th: Mute Swan (1, reported off the Battery, in N.Y. Harbor; T. Olson), Snow Goose (continuing at Inwood Hill Park - Muscota Marsh area off W. 215th St.), Red-breasted Merganser (multiples around Manhattan’s salt & brackish waters, multiple observers in varied locations from the n. tip of Manhattan to its’ south end), N. Pintail (pair continuing at Sherman Creek (n.-e. of the eastern end of Dyckman St. along the Harlem river), Common Loon (several sightings, on both East & Hudson rivers), Double-crested Cormorant, Ovenbird (near E. 20th St.; thanks to A. Lazarus and all Stuy-town area observers), and some additional species to those listed for Central Park below. - - - Central Park (in Manhattan) - also Sunday, 2/13: The Bald Eagle which made a pass over the Central Park reservoir after 4 p.m. (multi. observ.) may have panicked some gulls, however even later, including after 5 p.m. there were gulls returning and some 150+ settling on the reservoir (on water, with virtually all ice having melted for the day - but n.b., it’s possible skims of new ice may again form as nights return to sub-freezing). A Bald Eagle was also observed at Central Park in the early morning. After 4:30 pm, no unusual-for-winter gulls were noted, indeed the majority appeared to be Ring-billed Gull as of 5:15 pm, but there were at least a few Herring & Great Black-backed Gulls as well which were settling, with more also flying in circles both high & low near and over the reservoir. I did not remain quite to dusk to observe there. The late p.m. mass of gulls was perhaps the highest number on the day; it’s fairly typical that gulls depart that reservoir just ahead of and in (some) snow events and also at times in or ahead of other weather. 2 Turkey Vultures were reported [as observed, multi. observ.] from Central Park, & Common Raven was seen (as well as heard) by a number of snow-day visitors at various times there, in addition to being found elsewhere in Manhattan. At least 15 observers saw both Iceland and Lesser Black-backed Gull at the Central Park reservoir during the a.m.; there was one report made in eBird adding a brief note that the *Slaty-backed Gull* was seen, with potential photo[s], and of course based on recent history the Slaty-backed may well have made a shorter reservoir-visit, at some point, again - we’ll hope it might show yet again. Further sightings at Central Park - Sunday, 2/13: Great Blue Heron Canada Goose Wood Duck (multiple, ongoing) Gadwall American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler Green-winged Teal (ongoing) Ring-necked Duck (*drake, on the Lake, well seen & photo’d. by multiple observers*) Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Bald Eagle Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon American Coot American Woodcock (at least 2 encounters in opposite ends of the park; also 1 reported in Ramble area) Ring-billed Gull [American] Herring Gull Iceland Gull (reservoir, from early morning) Lesser Black-backed Gull (also as above) Great Black-backed Gull (also as above) ['feral'] Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Blue Jay Common Raven American Crow Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch (n. end, and Pinetum east areas) White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Carolina Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet (in several locations) Ruby-crowned Kinglet Hermit Thrush American Robin (140+ through all of Central; add’l. others in other parts of Manhattan) Gray Catbird (ongoing) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (ongoing) European Starling House Sparrow Cedar Waxwing (2 flocks) Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow (ongoing at n. end of Central) Field Sparrow (as above) [Red] Fox Sparrow (14+ thru all of Central Park) Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow (ongoing) White-throated Sparrow Slate-colored Junco Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird (ongoing, Lake) Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch 50++ observers out in the snow and later, end-of-day brightening-up-a-bit. (with a few additional species, not noted now.) Happy healthy-heart day to all and good birds, 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/ --
