Date: Monday, 26 December 2011 (1:45p-4:15p) Location: Manhattan - Swindler Cove Park & Sherman Creek Reported by: Ben Cacace
This upper Manhattan park is situated along the Harlem River at the end of Dyckman St. & 10th Avenue across the island from Fort Tryon Park. ** Total species - 25 ** A new park bird for me is AMERICAN WOODCOCK which I accidentally flushed from the Oval Loop just north of the Pedestrian Bridge which overlooks the saltmarsh. A pair of KILLDEER flew in together from the Harlem River to the west edge of Sherman Creek. Their calls were heard throughout the afternoon. The ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER continues in the same location since an OCWA was spotted here on 10-Dec. It was in the trees just east of the clearing that opens onto the Sherman Creek overlook where the Stonehenge-like benches are located. This time I had a much better look as the bird kept approaching me as I slowly approached the Orange-crowned. The pale patch at the bend of the wing was easily seen. In this light the underparts appeared more uniformly yellow than the 10-Dec OCWA but this might be due to today's better views. Last 3 birds seen: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Song Sparrow & Brown Creeper. Weather for 26-Dec for New York, NY (12:51p-4:51p) < http://bit.ly/tSGHp2 >: - Conditions: Partly Cloudy - Temperature: 45.0 to 43.0 F (Windchill 37 - 36 F) - Wind direction: WNW - NW - Wind speed: 14 - 20 mph (gusts to 28 mph) Abundance categories from 'The New York City Audubon Society Guide to Finding Birds in the Metropolitan Area' published 2001. Abundance season is 'Winter', December - February, and applies to all of New York City. 'Rare' seen a few times each season [3 spp]: - American Woodcock - Flushed 1 in the Oval Loop N of Pedestrian Bridge off the saltmarsh - Brown Creeper - 1 along compost alley off Sherman Creek - Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 continues along Sherman Creek E of the overlook along the wood chip path 'Scarce' seen in habitat, but not daily [3 spp]: - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 2 incl. an adult & a juvenile - Killdeer - 2 flew in to Sherman Creek - Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 seen near Pedestrian Bridge & along Sherman Creek 'Uncommon' seen in small numbers; 1-3 per day in habitat [2 spp]: - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 vocal female along Sherman Creek - American Robin - 24+ 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [3 spp]: - Downy Woodpecker - 1+ male seen many times throughout the park - Northern Mockingbird - 2 seen together S of compost alley - Northern Cardinal - 2 seen separately (male & female) 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [14 spp]: - American Black Duck - 12+ - Mallard - 100+ - Ring-billed Gull - 125+ - Herring Gull - 8+ - Great Black-backed Gull - 4+ - Rock Pigeon - 12+ - Mourning Dove - 6 S of compost alley - Blue Jay - 2+ seen & heard - American Crow - 10+ seen & heard - European Starling - 50+ & very vocal close to sunset - Song Sparrow - 1+ - White-throated Sparrow - 12+ - House Finch - 2 E of Bat House installation - House Sparrow - 12+ Taxonomic order: - American Black Duck - 12+ - Mallard - 100+ - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 2 incl. an adult & a juvenile - Killdeer - 2 flew in to Sherman Creek - American Woodcock - Flushed 1 in the Oval Loop N of Pedestrian Bridge off the saltmarsh - Ring-billed Gull - 125+ - Herring Gull - 8+ - Great Black-backed Gull - 4+ - Rock Pigeon - 12+ - Mourning Dove - 6 S of compost alley - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 vocal female along Sherman Creek - Downy Woodpecker - 1+ male seen many times throughout the park - Blue Jay - 2+ seen & heard - American Crow - 10+ seen & heard - Brown Creeper - 1 along compost alley off Sherman Creek - Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 seen near Pedestrian Bridge & along Sherman Creek - American Robin - 24+ - Northern Mockingbird - 2 seen together S of compost alley - European Starling - 50+ & very vocal close to sunset - Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 continues along Sherman Creek E of the overlook along the wood chip path - Song Sparrow - 1+ - White-throated Sparrow - 12+ - Northern Cardinal - 2 seen separately (male & female) - House Finch - 2 E of Bat House installation - House Sparrow - 12+ -- 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/ --
