Manhattan (New York City) - Thursday, 8 December, 2016 A Western Tanager was again seen at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan on Thursday 12/8; the 4 warbler species there previously (including a chat) may not have been - but might yet be in the area, if the tanager is hanging on - the coming freeze here is going to be very rough on these and any mainly-insectivorous species!
The report came that came thru of an Empidonax [genus] flycatcher, seen Thursday 12/8, photographed extensively; there is a fair chance that this is a non-eastern (ie, western) species, and it is not known if this bird was heard giving any calls (!!) - the sighting is from birder John Keane, the Manhattan park it was seen in: Inwood Hill Park, and the given location would be a bit south of the "lagoon" area, and west of West 218th Street; it is not far from that street's western terminus, perhaps a 10-minute walk into that 'corner' of this rather extensive wooded northern-Manhattan park - if there are any sightings of this bird for Friday, they ought be posted here, too! A link to the report: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S32922727 In other areas of uptown - northern Manhattan, a couple of Baltimore Orioles have persisted (thru Thursday) at Fort Tryon park in & around the "heather gardens" area- which is a bit north of West 190th Street and Fort Washington Ave. - just inside the southern entrance to that park; there was also a warbler in that garden on Thursday, most likely Orange-crowned, but views were obscured so the ID is tentative, but a plain warbler of dull ochre-yellow color, with no obvious markings. At Riverbank State Park on Thursday, & following up a report of a Wilson's Warbler a few days prior there, I found a number of warblers in the SE quadrant of that park, which is off Riverside Drive & West 145 Street (main entry), & 135 Street (secondary entry, & the latter nearer to where the birds of note were), with several Pine and Myrtle Warblers seen & photographed, but a couple of others getting away, one of them a potential Orange-crowned, & another which appeared brighter & more yellow (the Pine Warblers seen were of varying age &/or sex, with 1 quite bright, & at least one rather drab); also present with these birds were a few Red-breasted Nuthatches, many Juncos (20+), and some Black-capped Chickadees, & perhaps a few other migrant-visitant species. An American Tree Sparrow was seen at the north edge of this park on arrival; there have been very modest numbers of that Spizella type sparrow in Manhattan recently, while (late) Chipping Sparrows are turning up including at least 4 in Central Park on the west side of the reservoir, out in "lawn" areas. Central Park has also had a Rusty Blackbird again seen at the Gill area (stream in the Ramble) and there've been at least 2 warbler species there this week, Common Yellowthroat and Ovenbird, both of which are also being seen in a few "mid" and "down" town areas in Manhattan this week. A report of an Indigo Bunting this past weekend, at the Conservatory Garden area of Central Park is interesting (there has been a well-documented Indigo Bunting in Central many years ago that overwintered and changed from brown to bright indigo as the spring came on; that bird wintered in the outdoor part of the CP zoo grounds, some years back!) - there is also a Red-headed Woodpecker (first-year bird, not red at all) in Central, hopefully around for the upcoming Manhattan (and overall, the Lower Hudson) CBC, the proper name for the count that takes in Central as just one of a good many NY & NJ parks covered for that count; to find "Lower Hudson" in the CBC listings, one may need to search the NJ count tables (& not the NY state CBC listings) - there is no separated "central park CBC", it is 'subsumed' into the full NY & NJ count-circle, as is done each year. - - - - - - - - A citizen’s basic responsibility is to be aware of the consequences of his or her acts. "They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." - DeRay Mckesson, American activist & writer. - - - - - - - - - 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/ --
