New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, and Governors Island Friday, Sept. 9 thru Monday, Sept. 12, and with notes on some prior dates’ sightings -
Now confirmed in eBird, the adult Brown BOOBY noted flying by from Governors Island in the morning hours of Sept. 7th (D. Gochfeld) - and just possibly, or *potentially*, a bird that could be, or had been, lingering in the general area, has been added to the rare sightings of that Sulid species for the area. Any sulid is exceedingly rare *in N.Y. County* (N. Gannet recorded only rather exceptionally from there, despite it being of common occurence in proper seasons for the parts of N.Y. City with Atlantic ocean facing shores and of course also off-shore in same proper seasons. It seems plausible that Governors Island should be about the best (land-based) location in N.Y. County to attempt to find & view any sulid. (It also could be added, a good amount of skill, patience, and plain old work does not impede the odds of finding a member of this genus in this county.) Also noted by the same observer on 9/7 from same location were 2 Semipalmated Plovers, and 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, the latter at least occasional there although not at all frequently. At least one adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was somewhat regular for multiple observers in recent days at Randall’s Island, where a single has shown along the Bronx Kill off that island’s north-NW edge. In other observations and more-generally, the numbers of both Snowy and Great Egrets in the area have dropped off significantly in the past week. Still being seen are Green Herons, Black-crowned Night-Herons, and good numbers of Great Blue Herons. Two Semipalmated Plovers also were (again) seen at Inwood Hill Park’s northern mudflats on Sat. 9/10, and Solitary Sandiper reported as well at that location and also in at least one or two other sites and thru 9/12 at Central Park. Spotted Sandpipers and numbers Killdeer also continue to be noted, at some mostly-‘typical' sites. 2 (presumed-Glossy!) Plegadis-genus Ibis were photographed on Sat., Sept. 10th, in the morning, flying past Randall’s Island, perhaps a first-photo-docemented record of the species at that location (or that genus - Plegadis), and a very uncommonly-recorded species for the county, of which in the past also have been more-so of flyovers. It’s reasonable to suppose that these 2 Ibis also flew (somewhere) over Manhattan, perhaps continuing on over / into New Jersey, if they also crossed the Hudson River on a west-ward flight. Odds favor Glossy as the species, of course relative to the other plausible, but far less-likely, choice which would be White-faced Ibis. Some Savannah Sparrows have been showing again at Randall’s Island, not the first of season, but perhaps on the slow increase & still seeming a bit early for the more-usual arrivals. (Some Savannah Sparrows are breeding in N.Y. City.) Perhaps the first Blue-headed Vireo of the season for Manhattan was noted on Friday, Sept. 9th (in Central Park). Also seen on 9/9 were a very few Winter Wrens, and while not the first-of this season here, still rather early. Marsh Wren was again found on Randall’s Island, on 9/10; a few of that species already having moved thru the county. One esteemed observer of birds in Manhattan has turned in a sighting-combo that not many will have in their experiences (most anywhere), a N. Harrier seen on the move, as a Cockatiel (surely an escapee pet of someone’s) was also getting away, on Mon., 9/12. The harrier, anyhow, not that unexpected by season. (Cockatiels are harder to place any seasons on here; they have shown before in the county -only as ‘escapees’.) There were still good numbers of Chimney Swifts in the county and on the move, thru Mon., 9/12, and the same would be so for Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, finding a decent array of flowers to feed at in a number of locations, including not only around Manhattan, but also in some parts of the 2 outlying islands of the county. Numbers of Raven sightings for the county, esp. from multiple locations in Manhattan, have continued with some of these seen from Central Park, but still more from the northern, southern, east and west sides of Manhattan, & by a fair number of observers lately. Rather low but slightly-increased numbers of Y.-s. Flickers have been moving, on some early-mornings a bit noticeable at some locations. And, in looking at woodpecker species, it is worth the note that it is not at all too-soon to be watching for Red-headed Woodpecker migration-movement (with a few sightings in the region, including one photographed in Brooklyn / Kings Co., N.Y. City just recently. And also seen in Brooklyn, on 9/10, a nightjar presumed to be & ID’d as, an Eastern Whip-poor-will, a nice city-sighting for the southbound-season). Common Nighthawks have been pushing thru, on most evenings and also some early mornings, in small (as far as I am aware) numbers here, with a number of observation-points, all from Manhattan. One sample of a photographed individual: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/483663711 <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/483663711> And at least modestly-more were on the move, in addition, by Monday 9/12, from a fair number of locations around Manhattan, which included low-multiples seen by seekers in / from Central Park, and elsewhere. Both Cuckoo species we have breeding in the northeast etc. were found in the county in this report’s period, with a modest number of Yellow-billeds showing, including within Central Park and elsewhere, and on into Mon. 9/12. On Sunday, Sept. 11th, at least 22 warbler species were still being seen in Central Park alone, and at least that many were seen for the county overall into Monday, 9/12. This was a slight diminution of diversity in warblers from the earlier days of the prior week. A small number of Palm Warblers, of both the ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ forms, were ongoing. The Orange-crowned Warbler (quite early in the season for this area, at least by all well-documented occurrences, combined) seen at Randall’s Island by 2 keen observers, who described the bird thoroughly, has been confirmed in eBird, for (only) Sept. 7th. A very strong migration had occurred on the night of Thursday, 9/8 into Friday, 9/9. Many, many migrants had the chance to get far-south of N.Y. City and thus, south of NY state, on that night. Vast numbers of warblers were among the migrants that passed through. Even so, a decent number of drop-ins and stop-ins also occurred in the county. Once again, it was American Redstart that led the charge, both in departees, and in those that dropped in or were lingering in the county. There may be a bit of drop-in at some locations on this Tues.. 9/13 with the storms that rolled in regionally, as a good many birds were in-flight, migrating in the pre-midnight hours. Peaceful 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/ --
