Very interesting, Alan, and thanks for sharing. Bryant Park is evidently an excellent study site for winter bird dynamics, as well as for migrants.
Jacob Drucker summarized some of the variables affecting bird occurrence in urban micro-parks here: http://linnaeannewyork.org/birding-resources-rba/bird-micro-parks.html In view of his analysis of the spatial arrangement of habitat patches in NYC, I am curious to know if anyone has been tracking winter numbers in more isolated micro-parks, like St. Johns Park in Tribeca. Given Bryant's relative proximity to Central Park, it seems quite likely that some birds might simply have moved over to the larger park when conditions deteriorated at Bryant. If anyone has effort-corrected data for Central Park, it would be great to see how the numbers of various species changed across this generally mild winter season. Swamp Sparrows in particular seem to have fared well this winter, being present in most of the likely winter habitat patches I've checked during the past couple of weeks--a pattern in stark contrast to those of the last two, very severe winters, when swampies were almost completely frozen out of most wintering sites on Long Island. In terms of spring arriving, each species has its own fairly stereotyped migration phenology. Although blackbirds and robins are already "in" and Eastern Phoebes will be arriving any minute now, any Swamp Sparrow or Hermit Thrush you see through the next couple of weeks will be one that wintered here or not far from here (it will be at least six more weeks before we hear the tromp-tromp-tromp of thousands of Catbird feet on the march). But we've been learning over these past few years that individual birds that survived the winter north of their usual range, for instance at feeders or micro-parks, often go missing in mid-March--probably because the longer days and milder temperatures allow them to explore the broader landscape. The flip side of this is that this wandering about brings some of these birds in front of birders for the first time, so mid-March to early April has become a new window for searching for western vagrants in our area. Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] on behalf of Alan Drogin [[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 12:10 AM To: NYS Birds Subject: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park As the Christmas Bird Count attests, Bryant Park had a very decent population of winter “hardies” - Catbirds, Fox Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, a Hermit Thrush, and even a Common Yellowthroat in the Grace Plaza - most staying well into January until the first blizzard hit. Still, with a few ice rink food concession stands staying in business, the numbers declined relatively slowly. The last Swamp Sparrow, which liked to huddle over the air vent grate along the northern edge of the rink finally disappeared by the second ice storm in early February. Except for the typical populations of House and White-throated Sparrows, two Catbirds remain. The only species I’ve observed every winter that tends to slowly increase in these last weeks of winter are Song Sparrows. That, and the forecasted unseasonably warmer temperatures are a sign things will only get better. Happy City Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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/ -- ________________________________ Support CSI students each time you shop with Amazon Smile<https://smile.amazon.com/ch/13-3683723> -- 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/ --
