eNew York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Governors Island, and Randalls Island - from late December '23, into first 6 days of Jan. 2024
-In no way a complete list of notable birds of the county- The last report for Ash-throated Flycatcher in the county, a lingering bird in Manhattan, was again from the same West Village area but was only seen from within a private courtyard, not at all accessible to any public viewing. In other sites in the region, some rare flycatchers had persisted into colder weather, however we are now experiencing full-on winter -and/or, are about to, in all of the region- and many mostly-insectivorous birds may not make it thru days of multiple storms and days or nights of sub-freezing temps. There are no recent sightings nor any reports lately for a Black-chinned Hummingbird, nor for a Western Tanager each of which were multi-day sightings, particularly the hummingbird, with many observers. It is at least possible that the tanager might be lingering somewhere in the county but also may be long-gone now. A very-rare for this county Black-legged Kittiwake was seen on Dec. 28th, late in that day, by A. Farnsworth in a watch across the East River estuary from mid-Manhattans eastern shore. On Governors Island, some interesting sightings -into this month- have included Purple Sandpipers - one of the known sites that species is somewhat-expected to occur at proper season, while some of that species have continued at Pier 26, into this year, on Manhattans lower west side - this pier is between Hubert and N. Moore Streets in what is most-often called the Tribeca neighborhood, this pier being on the Hudson River waterfront, a newly popular site for birders to observe. Also of interest at Governors Island have been a Dunlin, a very-rare occurrence in this county, however that individual bird seemed not to linger... until a new sighting-report of same, on Jan. 6th, and with a goodly number of Purple Sandpipers, at rocky shores of Governors Island. The shores of Governors Island are not all constantly-watched by any birders; that prior sighting was noted Dec. 27th; more recently, thru Jan. 2nd, both Prairie and Palm Warbler were seen and photographed, each already lingering for some time - any Prairie Warbler in the region being unusual in winter, although there have been some -few- of that species found in various locations in the coastal-northeast, including at some water-treatment facilities in more than one northeastern state in winter. Palm Warbler has been seen in multiple sites in N.Y. County in the past 2 weeks, including recently at Randalls Island, at Central Park and also at Sherman Creek / Swindler Cove Parks, in Manhattan, and possibly at some additional sites. A White-crowned Sparrow in first-winter plumage was seen at Governors on Jan. 2, and due to an often-wished-for mention of the gambelii form - not-confirmed for this individual, and switched-over to White-crowned without subspecific designation as had been first noted - I am attaching 2 links to articles with in-depth analyses of that form, a.k.a. as Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow -form- which is found breeding in more northwestern parts of N. America, relative to other forms of that species as a whole, also going into other forms, in below links. David Sibley has written on this species in his oft-updated blog- https://www.sibleyguides.com/bird-info/white-crowned-sparrow/ and from J. Alderfer, Jon Dunn, and K. Garrett, this comprehensive review-article froim Birding magazine, which is now available in PDF-file, publicly available, this is a -download / upload-, thru the Central Valley Bird Club of California, a long-established org, with the permission of authors and of Birding magazine - this article is recommended to all interested in this species and its various forms - and in potential intergrades bewteen those forms. http://www.cvbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/White-Crowned-Sparrow-Subspecies.-Dunn-Garrett-and-Alderfer.-Birding.pdf There have been a couple of reports of Lesser Black-backed Gull, most recently seen from Governors Island; that species might be found -potentially- in most any location, and should be reported with good details, and ideally with photos as well. >From Randalls Island, a few observers have again scoped to Lawrence rocks to >observe, at some distance, Ruddy Turnstone, another rarely-noted shorebird in >N.Y. County, even -as with Dunlin and even, to lesser extent with Purple >Sandpiper, these are regular/annual species in proper seasons and of course >good habitat, in parts of coastal N.Y. City... New York County is in any >relative sense, rather shorebird-poor overall. At least 2 Ruddy Turnstones >were seen to Dec. 29th and that species might persist in a location that >provides enough shelter and good feeding. Lincolns Sparrows have shown in multiple locations, some of those include Central Park - compost and nursery area- , Union Square Park, and at the landscape-project off LaGuardia Place at Houston St., as well as other locations in Manhattan - still more sites may hold this species, or have, as all noted above were still present to Jan. 6th. Some Field Sparrows have been in a few locations, and Red Fox Sparrows are wintering in a number of places, often amongst larger numbers of White-throated Sparrows. There are still a modest number of E. Towhees about, including at least several remaining in Central Park. Of warblers seen in N.Y. County, the occurrences somewhat paralleled what appears to be / have been a widespread phenomenon of great numbers in the broader region and fairly broad diversity in species, lingering late, some later than are typically seen, with a few species - such as Orange-crowned Warbler - in such numbers as not seen in prior decades or before, in the county / N.Y. City / or perhaps, all of the northeastern portion of North America into winter. It does not seem that this is due solely to increases in numbers of observers, or the fast communications, as well as increase in photos by camera or smartphone, etc. in dispersing info, documentation etc. - the birds themselves seem to be changing some of their species prior phenologies and patterns. Some of the warbler species which have been seen in recent weeks in this county included - Prairie Wilsons Palm Pine Black-and-white Nashville Ovenbird Common Yellowthroat Orange-crowned - multiple locations, perhaps in at least 8 locations in the county in past 2 weeks. Myrtle / Yellow-rumped and a bit longer-ago, Yellow Warbler from 12/17, on the C.B.C. held that day, seen at Central Park. At least of the other warblers in the above listing were present / continuing into January, and at least 7 were seen on Jan. 6th in various locations. It is possible all of the species in the listing are still extant, although after the storm... we may learn, or may not hear of some. A rather-few Pine Siskin as well as Purple Finch have turned up here and there, including in Central Park, into this month. There are also at least a few Red-breasted Nuthatches around and a number of sightings of wintering Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets. Some so-called half-hardy birds are about in select locations, including Gray Catbirds, Brown Thrashers, and fair numbers of Hermit Thrushes. The last reports of any other Catharus thrush are not so recent, but it is at least possible a Wood Thrush may be lingering, as that species has -quite rarely- done in Manhattan, in a few past winters - not sequential. American Woodcock were in some locations in the past two weeks, but reports have dwindled to possibly-none, although if snow is as-predicted north of N.Y. City, we may start to see the chance of some birds pushed south, and possibly some species landing in this county, as has happened at times when winters became, well... wintry, in nearby parts. Monk Parakeets have continued to be found in at least a few locations, with more sightings in the past 6 months in N.Y. County than most-any other previous 6-month period of the past 10 or more years. They also are breeding, but possibly in extremely limited numbers in the county. Sightings have mostly been from the northern half of the county, but some sightings have been farther south. This is a -tickable- species in this local NYC region, with colonies in some areas that are very long-established, also so for some limited areas in adjacent states. Monks have no major problem with a bit of cold, or snow, as their original/native range takes in colder climes in southern S. America. Thanks to many keen observers for a lot of reports and the sightings that brought reports out. Good birding to all, Tom Fiore manhattan -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") 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