A White Wagtail being seen Monday, 4/24 at a location in *Ontario, Canada*, is also a reminder to be alert to really ‘unexpected’ species in this period of spring migration movement. The individual being seen by scores and scores of Canadian birders in Ontario was found by W. Span on Sunday, 4/23 at same location - which is roughly a 2-and-a-half-hour drive, not adding in cross-border timings, from Niagara Falls, in N.Y. state.
________ New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, and Governors Island thru Monday, April 24th - For 'uncommon-ness’ - even if *potentially* an annual visitant to the county, the 5 Purple Sandpipers seen from Governors Island (by at least 3 keen observers) on Sunday, 4/23 were welcome additions to the county’s progression of spring-season arrivals; also noted for Governors Island, as of Sat. 4/22, were Least Sandpiper, the latter perhaps not lingering there - sadly the island has lost it’s locally well-known former “puddle”, a very shallow pond of water that was impounded and increased with good rains, near the southern tip there; various work had finished off what had already become an increasingly-tough site to bird with any ease or pleasure. (Despite some sections of that island in a bit of management that can include working on behalf of wildlife, birds and various insects (pollinators and such) included, vast swaths of the island are given over to habitat that is not as conducive to birds lingering at all or staying on to nest - and having dogs allowed to show there, via the ferries which are the only way of reaching this island, is just a small part of that. That island nonetheless continues to have excellent potential for bird sightings, including possibilities for species tough to see elsewhere in the county, or (as occasionally proven) which have not been found at all elsewhere in the county thus far, or only very-historically. As more birders perhaps continue to visit, and the keen observers who have been semi-regular there continue watching, more may be found. The note on sighting of a dowitcher-species from Governors Island also is one of interest in the county, where any dowitcher sighting is decidely “rare” even as a fly-by - another example of a species-group which may (could) be even annual, but mainly perhaps as fly-by migrants, rather than sitting, or feeding birds, except in conditions that are at least uncommon or unusual for the county. The potential changes to some of (N.Y. City-owned and mainly, managed) Governors Island will be apparent in coming months, as the (valued at) 11-billion-dollar consulting company comes in to assist in the ‘climate-campus’ planned in association with the City, and with several major universities and other parties. (that project is projected as taking at least 6 years to have some degree of completion, and permits are not yet assured.) An additional nice sighting off Governors Island, in the N.Y. Harbor as viewed from the island on Sunday were a large-ish flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls, which have been reported in that area in the past months, but not much lately. (and, in waters south of N.Y. City at least, multiple species of terns have been sighted in recent days, and especially by 4/24, including Common Tern, etc. and any tern[s] might be watched-for. Indeed, Common Tern has been confirmed as arriving to Suffolk County [Long Island] near New York’s eastern end, as of at least 4/24.) There are of course many, many other shorebirds on the move recently, and a good many of those have made it through to as far as some of Canada’s eastern regions, and have been seen in western, central, and northern NY state, as well as (some) in Long Island’s 4 counties (which are, west to east, Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk), the former 2 of course counties included in New York City, and also in our state’s southern-most county, Richmond - a.k.a. Staten Island (also a part of New York City), and in the Bronx (county) which is the only county of N.Y. City connected by land directly and naturally with the full mainland of North America. Another nice (even if slightly-suspected) discovery made on Sunday, 4/23 was that the Painted Bunting lingering at Central Park’s northern realm (at the Loch) *IS A MALE*, going by the description of it’s giving song, and - if it should linger just long enough, perhaps by visual observation of changes in plumage sufficient to see signals there for being of male gender. This fact was already slightly-suggested by a number of observers describing a “female-type” or female-like plumage seen over the days that bunting had been reported. (To my knowledge, none of the various past Painted Buntings in Central Park or anywhere else on Manhattan, of that type of plumage, lingered long enough in spring to start to see a change to plumage; Central has had Painted Bunting in full-alternate (breeding) male plumage in the past, and also has had a pair (much later into spring season) come in (and observed as a pair, together) with many observers. It is very-far from being even a semi-annual visitor however, in the county (as far as we know!!) Thanks in particular to A. Cummingham for making this observation. For warblers - just for Sunday - all day on a day when bright sun emerged by mid-day and temp’s warmed to seasonable norm’s - there were a minimum of 18 warbler species seen within Central Park on the day, and many of those in the central sector, including the Ramble area, of the park, while the park’s more northern parts also enjoyed many species of these. As had happened also on prior days (or rather, nights) there was some departure and moving-on of some of the migrant birds, in strong migration, although that as well as arrivals may have been rather limited on Friday night, in stormy-rainy weather. (However, it should be added even in such weather and at night, many migrants with the urge to move north at this season, may do so both in very short or modest-distance movements, and this can include movements in daylight hours - even with rain, drizzles, or fog (esp. in the latter weather condition) onwards, sometimes in relieving particular spaces of habitat where “too many” migrants and the resident birds are in competition for the food resources available. This can and does happen on what could seem a massive scale, as well over not just some single park or green-space, but area-wide and on a much-broader scale. In some places and at certain times (most regularly in very early mornings) this may be observed and even recorded for visible records. And in N.Y. County at the least, the morning-movement of migrants of spring is virtually always trending north, or more broadly, in a generally-northerly direction - including towards the east-northeast, northeast, true-north, north-northwest, etc. (again, applied here to N.Y. County, not always so in all locations of the region as to the phenomenon). Here, from a report of 4/20, I had submitted to this list is a sighting/date, perhaps first and/or even then not “FOS” (i.e., first-of-season) and/but anyhow, the: "Not extremely-early, Ruby-throated Hummingbird showed at Central Park as of Mon., 4/17.” (and, incidental to that was w/ multiple observers at that date.) In the same vein, a few Baltimore Orioles were seen in Central Park and elsewhere by 4/18 - with a few also found in Manhattan by 4/17 - as well as earlier. By 4/24, some Baltimore Orioles have reached locations hundreds of miles north of N.Y. City in at least several states and in a province or two of eastern Canada. (As have many, many more species of neotropical wintering migrant birds this month, particularly recently.) On Sunday, 4/23 at Central Park, several Baltimore Orioles were active and singing-calling in the northern end of the park at first light and on thru the day, as noted by a number of observers. On Monday, 4/24, at least 4 species of ‘brown-backed’ thrushes are found in Central Park alone, all being migrants with one also a breeding species there - Wood Thrush, the others include Swainson’s Thrush (a bit early, like so many other neotropical-wintering species that have been appearing in this and the past week), Veery, and still many Hermit Thrushes, which are still the only of these 4 thrush spp. which can be called ‘common’ right now. Also Monday, 4/24, Virginia Rails were occurring in Manhattan; some might be watched for even in totally-unexpected (and ‘inappropriate’) locations for that typically-skulking species, as well as, potentially the Sora, another species of rallid also on the move in the wider region. Further reports to follow in the upcoming days, thanks as always to so many keen active observers out and about all through the county, on various days and at many, many locations. 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/ --
