Sunday, December 31st - Riverdale, part of western Bronx County, N.Y. City -
IMPERATIVE - early Sunday, some birders who had started to enter the driveway and farther on in to the nursing home grounds, which are to the south of W. 231 St., were asked, then TOLD to leave, immediately and that if they did not leave, the police would be called. PLEASE respect the nursing homes decision to bar outside people from entering their property in the area where the recent sightings where birders --last week-- had come in for some viewing of one warbler by 2 large toy cars painted in blazing pink. THAT area and vicinity is particularly OFF-limits, and NO ONE should walk into that area. Fair warning. The ongoing Townsends Warbler as well as MacGillivrays Warbler were again seen, by many on Sunday, with each bird initially seen rather early in the day, and then the MacGillivrays multiple times at points that are visible from West 231 Street, west of Independence Ave. - with the Townsends Warbler showing by mid-morning, and then for an hour or so, in a prominent pine, just north -other side- of W. 231 St. approx. 40-50 yards west of the junction with Independence, that. being the same pine tree, by 2 adjacent private driveways, where the Townsends Warbler made more appearances on Saturday 12/30. So far, it has seemed the MacGillivrays has been on a semi-regular daily circuit and comes thru patches of habita along and near W. 231 St. - it may be too soon to be sure, but the Townsends Warbler could also be on a bit of a circuit in the trees, moving from off-limits areas in the nursing home grounds and then to the north side trees on W. 231. There may be R.-c. Kinglets, B.-c. Chickadees. and some other small birds at times that are sharing trees and feeding with, or next to, the Townsends Warbler. The MacGillivrays seems not to go with any flocks at all, and just goes on its rounds as it pleases. The latter bird also has been relatively vocal with chip-notes all days of its known occurence - since 12/23 - and it may be that the Townsends is rather less vocal, so far. All of West 231 Street is of course a public NYC street, and all should simply be aware of passing cars and occasional trucks, and on Independence Ave. be aware also of passing city buses, on a re-route detour for the time being, as well as very frequent car traffic. Many local residents have shown curiosity and interest in the rare western visitors, the two warblers and it is hoped all birders continue on best behavior to maintain a friendly feeling from area residents. We must thank Julian Batista again - without his spotting, of the MacGillivrays, we would likely not have had now two rare avian visitors in this particular neighborhood being seen by anyone at all, this is not a typically watched-over area of the larger neighborhood. A location such as Wave Hill Botanical Garden, also in Riverdale, the Bronx, is far better known and often visited by birders and the general public. - and thanks much to sharp-eyed birders who helped get the rest of us on these birds - and other more-typical birds of the season in the area, or flying over. Good luck to all who try for these warblers, and to all for great birding-luck in 2024, Tom Fiore manhattan -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
