Sat & Sunday, 27 & 28 February, 2010 Central Park, Manhattan, N. Y. City
There have been some early but expected arrivals after the storm, which in Manhattan was hardly as huge as some weather reports made it out, and already melting away by Saturday - even if its effects linger. The early-movers include American Woodcocks which were in both the Ramble & north end of the park Sat. & at least two in the northernmost area on Sunday. In the coming week it's likely more will be on the move! Not as regularly-seen in spring, a quartet of Eastern Bluebirds stopped off, perhaps just briefly, at the west edge of the park not far from an entrance at W. 90 Street & Central Park West, 3 males & a female, with the males calling a bit. In the same area- but also scattered widely through the park - were American Robins, as many as 150 in all and a few flocks of 20+, including some crammed into very small patches of bared grassy or muddy ground & others in trees still containing last fall's fruits. Cedar Waxwings: a few in the Ramble as well as by the edges of the Great Lawn, & a couple near the reservoir/former bridle path. Also, in modest numbers, Common Grackles including a few small flocks in flight, plus a very small number of Red-winged Blackbirds - not more than 8 in all, whereas grackles numbered over 80 (not including the fly-overs). A small but interesting variety of "half-hardy" species, presumably all having wintered either in or close to the park, including all 3 "mimids", Brown Thrasher still around the Winterdale Arch & vicinity, a Gray Catbird near the zoo (outside the s. section), & at least 2 N. Mockingbirds. Also, at least 2 Hermit Thrushes continued, in an area just west of the Pond near Central Park South at about 6th Ave., & also near the Pond's north side, a Swamp Sparrow along with more usual Song & multiple White-throated Sparrows. A few Fox Sparrows continued also, among them a couple that were singing, at the Ramble & north end, & a few quiet at the time I observed, including one at the south end near the Pond. I turned up one Carolina Wren near the zoo but some others may have hung on. Also hard to come by, but present, were Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and N. Flicker, plus a lingering Hairy Woodpecker at the park's far north end. The reservoir & other water-bodies have actually been more iced-over in the past few days than before but some ducks linger, including Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, Bufflehead, and Hooded Merganser. The several Wood Ducks seen a few days ago may have moved on, or are just shy & I missed them this weekend... one has been seen occasionally at the Lake as well as the Pond at times. Also at the reservoir, an "additional" Mute Swan supplementing the pair that continue at the Meer, plus many hundreds of the "usual 3 species" of winter gulls. About 20 minutes after my 8 hours birding Central on Sunday wrapped up, a young Bald Eagle was seen & photographed flying over Central's east side, by Lincoln Karim. And later still, at Riverside Park on Manhattan's west side, a young Red-shouldered Hawk moved along the river in the 90's streets "latitude", also an early migrator most likely. Riverside also featured a small but noticeable influx of robins, grackles, and perhaps some other species on the move Sunday. Many birds were singing or calling in good form from first light onward. The witch-hazel are in bloom. Good birding with more thawing out at least in the southernmost parts of New York as March arrives. Tom Fiore, Manhattan. -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
