Sunday, 2 October, 2011 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City Another morning that featured a fair bit of fresh arrival (and the might before possibly some departure). At about sunrise, in the SW slope of the Great Hill, near W. 103-104 Streets, a 1st-fall-plumgaed (no red in head) Red-headed Woodpecker appeared, seen well for a few minutes by Tom Perlman and I, while a nice variety of other migrants moved or flew nearby. A bit later on, a visit to the southern end of the park, mostly near the Pond and Hallett Sanctuary, showed that migration also was in evidemce in that area as well, with (among other species) 40+ N. Flickers, a goodly number of E. Phoebes, and Lincoln's, Swamp, amd White-throated Sparrow all seen in short order, plus a Solitary Sandpiper, Belted Kingfisher and several Sharp-shinned Hawks, as well as a modest selection of warblers which included Blackpoll, Black-throated Green, Ovenbird, N. Waterthrush, Wilson's, American Redstart and several others, all in just a fairly short look, with the area soon absolutely inundated by tourists (although the sanctuary itself is fenced and provides good cover for many birds in migration, as well as other seasons.) Also seen on the slope west of the Pond were 3 Brown Thrasher and a couple of E. Towhee. The shorebird at the Pond was flushed up by a dog illegally off-leash and romping all over the small mudflat area available there. (The dog;s owner, fully oblivious to any bird, was getting video of their mud- splattered pooch.... don't get me started with the total non- enforcemet of leash-laws in Central Park!)
There were again a minimum of 2 separate Yellow-breasted Chats in the park Sunday, with further sightings of the one lingering about the Maintenance Field are of the Ramble, and a 'north end' Chat reported from the wildflower meadow. Much of the Ramble proper seemed to be somewhat slow-going but there were said to be 'pockets' of activity. The winds working out of the SE and gusting did not make for much of any ongoing raptor flight. One of the several early-moving Sharp- shinned Hawks was encircled by south-trending Chimney Swifts. A female-plumaged Oriole seen on Saturday 10/1, by at least 5 observers and also photographed by one of them, has a look of an Orchard Oriole, which would not only be very late in the tear for anywhere in the United States (the species typically departs in or before August and most are south of the US border by Sept.) - but would if determined to be definitively that species be a couple of days later than the (single) latest record listed in Bull's Birds of New York State (the most recent edition, edited by E. Levine). Tom Perlman was the original finder and Barrie Raik got a few photos, at least one of which may offer enough detail to determine species. Many female and some 1st-year orioles can be a more subtle ID than is commonly realized, especially if one takes in a variety of species, which, after NY's first Scott's Oriole was revealed to be in Manhattan's Union Square not so long ago, include a few possibilities that should be eliminated fro consideration, especially from this time of year (or later... the oriole seen Saturday however is not a Scott's. There are of course still some Baltimore Orioles passing thru which is perfectly within that species expected date range in NY & generally. Also observing the putative Orchard on Saturday were K. Wada, M, Morris and E. Rockmuller. I was not able to re-find the bird & it may not have been seen again Sunday.) Good birding, Tom Fiore Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
