On Newfoundland, the reports just get more & more impressive... the (up to 2) Common Redshanks are an extreme rarity for North America... and none of the other recent finds there is exactly 'shabby'...!!!
Black-tailed Godwit - 9 Common Redshank - 2 European Whimbrel - 1 Dunlin (probably Icelandic origin) - 1 European Golden Plover - (+ / -) 150 Northern Wheatear - 16 Bonus Bird! Ross's Gull - 1 more about the above can be followed at: http://brucemactavish1.blogspot.com/ -------------------------------------- Congrats to Richard Veit, PhD, who found a Black-necked Stilt at the Goethal's Bridge Pond in Staten Island (Richmond County, N.Y. City) on Sunday, the bird being seen there again this Monday by multiple observers. The area may be accessed by an S40 bus from the Staten Island ferry terminal, in addition to car. It may be best to look in a mapping app. for directions - I have not been to the site that recently. (It is in the vicinity of the bridge for which the pond is "named") ............................................. A male Townsend's Warbler was photographed in Sussex County New Jersey on Sunday 4 May 2014, by observer Alan Boyd, at the "Walpack Valley I.B.A. = Important Bird Area. Mentioning this not so esp. as a suggestion to look for this individual as much as to be aware of this possibility in NY State at this time of year... we can hope. ............. ................... ...................... Monday, 5 May, 2014 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City Sections of the park continued to have excellent variety & some obvious highlight birds... while some areas seemed relatively quieter, particularly as the day went along. A KENTUCKY Warbler remained in... (well, to read on about that little escapade, & a definite 'rant' on illegally UNleashed dogs, which is about their owners, and about the managers of the park - see below****) - and there were some other warblers that were either highly cooperative &/or more difficult, but at least were seen. Among these an Orange-crowned Warbler was at times seen well, even superbly while often singing, at the Ramble's maintenance meadow. At least 21 additional warbler species were seen today (& I heard a rumor? that the Yellow-throated Warbler was found yet again south of the Tavern on the Green... which if so would add another to that tally by many observers. Of less-expected species as the season progresses, male Pine Warbler & Louisiana Waterthrush were both still present in the Ramble, and a number of Palm Warblers as well. Obviously a Chuck-will's-widow makes the highlight list, a life bird for at least some who had quite good views at various times, mainly in the Maintenance Meadow area, although initial sightings included some in-flight views. Those views allowed viewing of the relatively pointed wingtips, as compared with the blunter-ended wings of an Eastern Whip- poor-will, which this bird decidedly was not. In addition to that feature (pointed out first by Alan Messer, thanks Alan), the bird in sight was very obviously large, having wingspread greater than a female Merlin & so much larger than any whip-poor-will ever would or could be; also this bird was almost richly rufous-reddish brown in overall coloration. There were many hundreds of photos taken. The Chuck-will's-widow was reportedly in place for almost the entire day, through - whatever hour certain folks may have awaited it's evening fly-off & potential hunting forays, or, its potential departure flight on to, where next! A male Summer Tanager was quite the crowd-pleaser for many observers, often in trees near the lake shore from just east of Bow Bridge. A singing Tennesssee Warbler (perhaps several) gave some quite good views in some of that area as well as just north of the Point. In the north woods, 2 male (singing at times) Hooded Warblers were occasionally being seen simultaneously, mostly in an area of higher ground well north of the Loch. There were many other avian highlights for a lot of observers, in various parts of the park. A Golden-crowned Kinglet was running a bit late, as have a modest number of other usually-April migrants, locally this spring. An excellent report from the Stuyvesant-town Manhattan building complex and green-space within, located east of First Ave. in the teens (streets), includes a male HOODED Warbler that has been seen there for at least several days including today, Mon.; this is not an expected or regular migrant in this location (thanks to Anne Lazarus for the detailed report & historical records for this oasis of bird- habitat in downtown Manhattan - as well as to all who make observations in less-well-known such locations); also being seen recently in the Stuyvesant-town grounds have been, among others, Great Crested Flycatcher, Gray Catbird, Veery, Wood Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, White-throated Sparrows, & Dark-eyed Junco (the latter at least to 3 May). [In case any are unaware, sharp- eyed observers at this building complex have also in the recent past found rare Varied Thrush, and Connecticut Warbler, at different times & other years...] Riverside Park in Manhattan had some nice migrants, on Sunday 4 May, as noted by esp. Karen Fung who dropped in at the northern portion of that park; while no rare species were found, it was a good sign that more of the typical May migrants were in, and also in good view. Also hosting some great birds in the last few days has been Inwood Hill park, in n. Manhattan, with on some days about as many of the regular migrants as Central Park has been hosting, & perhaps more of some species, the reports from there by a number of dedicated and experienced observers. **** At the location in the Ramble where Sunday's late-day sighting of a Kentucky Warbler (which was seen by a multitude & photographed then), I heard this bird sing, softly but clearly, one time as the sun arose into that area of the Ramble, about 6:25 a.m. - and, immediately (as in, 10 seconds or less after that), an illegally off-leash & out- of-control rather large dog ran in and fully through ALL of the fenced flower-shrub-native & other plant sections of the Ramble in which the warbler had been seen Sun., as well as where it sang from this a.m. - & that one large dog visibly caused over 50 small birds to flush & fly in every which way, immediately upon it's romping thru the fenced-off areas. After a minute or so, the owner of that dog appeared, & perhaps noting my intensely harsh gaze directed at that perpetrator, got the dog on-leash, and also exited the area post-haste. The majority of dog-owners who bring dogs into Central Park are surely responsible & reasonable, or we would be far more aware of preventive measures against offenders. The fact is, the frequency of outrageous & outlandish behavior & actions by some dog-owners has increased drastically in the last several years, in part thanks to simple math - there are more dogs being brought into city parks than ever... but also due to a near-total lack of any enforcement, ever - enforcement of the rules, regulations, laws many of which are very clearly posted in many many locations, for all park visitors to see. Now, back to the early-birding: the Kentucky was neither seen nor heard again all day long as far as I am aware... & while I did not see that individual fly out along with dozens of White-throated Sparrows, several Ovenbirds, and some thrushes, catbirds and other ground-loving birds at that time the unleashed & uncontrolled dog ran thru the fenced-off areas, it seems quite possible it was among the birds that fled. All that said, the Kentucky may well still have been in the general area and not been much of a songster. It also might possibly still be around in coming days and with luck & skill, some birder[s] will re-discover it. But if dogs are allowed to romp through the most delicate plantings and areas which are fenced, there may be a lot less hope that such shy birds will find a welcome place to rest & recover & re-fuel from their thousands of miles migrations... (Thanks NOT, to those who allow such lax regulation & enforcement of such basic rules of a truly civilized public park and green space - the park management, certain city official-dom, and also the relatively few dog-owners who are to put it mildly, irresponsible to such an extent... law-breakers, to state it more bluntly and accurately...) 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/ --
