Date: Sunday, 1 January 2012 (1:00p-3:40p) 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. The activity was along the Sherman Creek wood chip path and the compost alley. Today the park proper was closed. Very shortly after walking along the path the ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen popping up just east of the Sherman Creek overlook. It fed and moved east to the fencing towards P.S. 5. Afterwards Anne Lazarus' group arrived after finding the Dickcissel in Inwood Hill Park and shortly found the warbler in the same location. Later on in the day I stood around the tree the adult male YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER was working. It was defending this tree from the Orange-crowned as it worked its way up. When it got to the level of the Sapsucker the woodpecker would chase it higher up but the warbler didn't leave the tree as quickly as I thought it would. A BROWN CREEPER was also working the same tree at a much lower level avoiding the Sapsucker altogether. The last birds seen were a pair of PEREGRINE FALCONS. They were diving on one of the local RED-TAILED HAWKS. The pair was together and the male (the smaller falcon of the two) was doing most of the diving. No contact was made between falcon and hawk. Two KILLDEER were very vocal and spent a good deal of time together on the dilapidated building on the SE section of Sherman Creek. ** Total species - 27 ** Last 3 birds seen: Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker & Peregrine Falcon Weather for 1-Jan for New York, NY (12:51p-3:51p) < http://bit.ly/vImGBM >: - Conditions: Mostly Cloudy - Temperature: 51.1 to 48.0 F (Windchill not applicable) - Wind direction: South - Wind speed: 13 - 18 mph (gusts to 27 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 [2 spp]: - Brown Creeper - 1 continues E of Sherman Creek overlook feeding in sapsucker trees - Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 continues E & W of Sherman Creek overlook & feeding sapsucker trees 'Scarce' seen in habitat, but not daily [5 spp]: - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 2 continue (1 adult & 1 juvenile) - Peregrine Falcon - Pair (male & female) diving on Red-tailed Hawk over Swindler Cove Park - Killdeer - Pair seen & very vocal - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1 adult male E of Sherman Creek overlook - Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 continues along Sherman Creek 'Uncommon' seen in small numbers; 1-3 per day in habitat [3 spp]: - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 male E of Sherman Creek overlook - American Robin - 6+ - American Goldfinch - 1 in Swindler Cove Park 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [4 spp]: - Red-tailed Hawk - 3+ incl. both a light & a dark hawk seen from below - Downy Woodpecker - 1 female E of the Sherman Creek overlook - Northern Mockingbird - 1+ - Northern Cardinal - 2 incl. male & female 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [13 spp]: - Canada Goose - 38+ - American Black Duck - 4+ - Mallard - 30+ - Ring-billed Gull - 120+ - Herring Gull - 3+ - Rock Pigeon - 24+ - Mourning Dove - 1+ - Blue Jay - 4+ seen & heard - American Crow - 1 seen & heard - European Starling - 12+ - Song Sparrow - 2+ - White-throated Sparrow - 2+ - House Sparrow - 12+ Taxonomic order: - Canada Goose - 38+ - American Black Duck - 4+ - Mallard - 30+ - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 2 continue (1 adult & 1 juvenile) - Red-tailed Hawk - 3+ incl. both a light & a dark hawk seen from below - Peregrine Falcon - Pair (male & female) diving on Red-tailed Hawk over Swindler Cove Park - Killdeer - Pair seen & very vocal - Ring-billed Gull - 120+ - Herring Gull - 3+ - Rock Pigeon - 24+ - Mourning Dove - 1+ - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 male E of Sherman Creek overlook - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1 adult male E of Sherman Creek overlook - Downy Woodpecker - 1 female E of the Sherman Creek overlook - Blue Jay - 4+ seen & heard - American Crow - 1 seen & heard - Brown Creeper - 1 continues E of the Sherman Creek overlook closely associating with sapsucker trees - Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 continues along Sherman Creek - American Robin - 6+ - Northern Mockingbird - 1+ - European Starling - 12+ - Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 continues E & W of the Sherman Creek overlook & closely associating with sapsucker trees - Song Sparrow - 2+ - White-throated Sparrow - 2+ - Northern Cardinal - 2 incl. male & female - American Goldfinch - 1 in Swindler Cove Park - 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/ --
