For anyone who fancies Tropicbirds, including one that just might need to pass NYS waters to reach a particular site (comment, report & link embedded to photos):
http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=1292708 <http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=1292708> http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=1293015 ----------------- Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City Sunday and Monday, 2nd & 3rd of April, 2017 An annotated list of some species seen mostly on Monday, below. A brightly-plumaged RED-HEADED WOODPECKER continues its lengthy stay in the area of the park just west of East 68-69th Streets, often in trees roughly 60-75+ yards south of the flagpole that is prominent by the park entrance at Fifth Ave. & 69th St. - the woodpecker has been flycatching a little as well as doing its acorn-retriveal thing at times. It can be both active and also inactive for periods. It is actually less-vocal in recent weeks than had been at milder times during the winter. Standing along the small unpaved path to the rustic shelter on the rock-sided hill can be one area to watch for it, from well north of the shelter, however - & look mostly to the north or northwest. This bird sometimes requires a bit of patience to see. An overnight arrival along with the very good push of nocturnal migrants that came in overnight into first light on Monday, a (non-vocal, as far as I heard) LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH was working the Loch, in the park’s northern section, in the morning. This species, now fully-expected, had a flight wherein individuals were noted from at least several other counties in New York City and just to the east, & north including into the state of Connecticut. Today I also checked areas in many other parts of the park where this species might be, & came up with no others, but there may have been, & it can be added that one of the several prime habitat sections within the Ramble where this species is often observed is still off-limits, fenced with tall cyclone fencing as renovation continue in that area. All of the Loch is & has been open to the public for some time, after major work done there (work which, however unintended as such, has reduced by a bit the likeliest habitat for this waterthrush species, as there are now narrow pools of water to a slightly greater extent than fast-flowing channels - that work was intended to mirror the “historic” look of that part of the northern woods of Central Park, & it will be some time before re-planted / newly planted vegetation takes hold; it is modestly encouraging that, at the least, “Prospect Park” style fencing was put up in some areas, although not enough. (that is a reference to fences that are just high enough to more-strongly inhibit those humans who, with or without unleashed dogs, would otherwise hop over lower fencing & potentially ruin sensitive plantings & habitat… better signage is something that Central Park administrators have not yet learned from the experienced Prospect Park folks, however…) N.B., among the first reports of Louisiana Waterthrush this spring were from Staten Island (Richmond Co.) NYC, on Sunday, with finds by a number of that county’s active birders in areas where they very typically may see the first-of-the-spring of that species. One of the individuals was observed by a Linnaean Society of New York field-trip group led by Howie Fischer, at Clove Lakes Park, & other observers have seen the waterthrush there, a very good spring-migrant destination, as well as in the Staten Island greenbelt of high terrain, reported by Dr. Richard Veit. The other 3 Warbler species, all of them seen on prior days, were PALM Warbler (more than 30 were in Central Park today, with at least half of that number in the part of the park north of the 96th Street transverse, which most would consider the demarcation to the “north end”, although well-wooded areas begin again a bit farther north - -the single best area for Palm -all of the “eastern” form of those I observed- was around all of the Great Hill, with scattered smaller numbers in many other areas), PINE Warbler (of which again the most by far were in the northern part of the park, with more than a dozen in that area alone, & likely more than that as individuals or “two-sies” were in some spots that are rarely-birded by anyone; a single MYRTLE [Yellow-rumped if you still go with that taxonomy] Warbler was in a large mixed flock containing many Juncos, at the east edge of Sheep Meadow. A side-note, no other warbler species have been (directly) reported by any observer so far this spring in Central Park. Some of the warblers we await in the coming weeks are still as much as 500 - 3,500 miles south of the latitude of New York City. The clearest evidence for a very good overnight flight having occurred in & past Manhattan was that, in the morning hours, there were more - far more - freshly-arrived migrants in the most-northern parts of the park, than seen a bit later in other areas, such as the Ramble & vicinity. The reason? Mainly, that a vast majority of the nocturnal migrants actually overflew Central & kept right on going, into perhaps more-favorable stop-over points & for some, even straight into nearby breeding areas in the region. Those birds that did stop off found that the northern wooded & green areas of the park were suddenly met by the ongoing metropolis of manhattan island, at the edge of Harlem, and some chose to drop in at the park. There did not seem to be a great deal of evidence for ‘morning flight’ despite a bit of the usual overexcitedness of freshly-arrived birds, however I was not out at first-light as I had hoped to be. Of all the species showing in even greater numbers today, it was perhaps GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET that outnumbered most of the small passerines (&/but, some in the sparrow tribe were again very numerous, with Dark-eyed Junco in the many, many hundreds park-wide again now); there were easily more than 100 G.-c. Kinglets in the park, & that is still likely a very conservative underestimate. I observed that species in a few situations where I don’t regularly find them in migration, such as along the CP reservoir’s rock-shore edge, or next to the handball court inside the recreation center at the North Meadow (that is, inside the complex’s fencing, NOT in a building), and on the side-wall of the Boathouse Cafe restaurant which forms a southeast entry to the Ramble area. Modest numbers of Hermit Thrush, & again the evidence for a good migration, with by far the most in the farthest-north areas, most of those at the nw corner sector where there are more quiet wooded areas, overall perhaps 25-30+ in the park, with 2/3 in the north end. E. Phoebes, Yellow-shafted Flickers, a few new Winter Wrens, many hundreds of Dark-eyed Juncos (one flock in the area of East 101st-103rd in the park was of 100+), a few Field Sparrows (& one heard singing), multiple Chipping, some Swamp, & still [Red] Fox Sparrows moving (and singing) but again, the native sparrow reigning over all was Song Sparrow, despite many hundreds of White-throated (there was a flock of near-single species Song, of 35+ on the Great Hill’s south side in early morning, and many other concentrations of Song - now at peak or even a bit past it). On Sunday, a (single) 3rd swallow for the spring appeared at the Meer, later in the day - Barn Swallow, modestly early, but others have also appeared in the region; the others which had been seen in a few areas over the past week were Tree, & Northern Rough-winged Swallow, the last of these the only one in any number at one time (more than as singles). Many other species were also seen on Monday or recently, and a list with some notes is below: Common Loon (at least, the non-breeding-plumaged individual was still at the reservoir today; this has been seen by others & some have seen more than one on some recent days, while most observers have focused on, and reported, the near-breeding-plumaged individual that I did not happen to see this day. It also can be noted that loons, Common Loons in particular, may come & rest on the CP reservoir in this early-spring period, then take off and not return, with others arriving to stay for a day, a week, or rarely a lot longer; max. numbers of loons at one time on this waterbody have occasionally been in the double-digits over recent decades, meaning more than 10 - & very rarely, even more than 15. It’s more typical however to see one or perhaps two at any given time - or none at all.) Pied-billed Grebe (lingering, although of course migrants may be passing now & ‘replace’ those that had wintered) Red-necked Grebe (still on the reservoir, and even though there seemed to have been a period of a week or so when there were no reports of this species in the park, I like many others am starting to lean back to thinking this may be the same, rehabbed & released individual; that thinking now based in part on that the species probably would not continue lingering here through several periods of good migration, were it in full-flight mode and in top condition. However, we shall see if this bird moves on, as it ought to, in the coming weeks from this fish-filled waterbody. It is, as reported and widely-photographed, coming into bright alternate (summer) plumage.) Double-crested Cormorant (multiple and being seen in & over the park in increasing no’s.) Great Blue Heron (several, ongoing as well as a modest number of fly-overs, low & high) Great Egret (several n. end fly-overs, in addition to the one that’s been visiting a lot & in a few areas the past several days; gawked at by many tourists today at Turtle Pond - as well as by birders.) Black-crowned Night-Heron (several locations, & more in evidence for those who go birding at dusk!) Turkey Vulture (several on both Monday & Sunday, most were moving north) Canada Goose Wood Duck (at least 2 drakes continue) Gadwall (modest number on reservoir & the Meer) American Wigeon (a long-lingering female at the Meer, into Monday) American Black Duck (few noted) Mallard Northern Shoveler (70+ still on the reservoir, multiples also elsewhere in the park) Northern Pintail (drake remains at The Pond, often likes the east shore of Hallett Sanctuary, sometimes sitting there with more-common ducks) Green-winged Teal (gorgeous pair at the NE edge of the reservoir, early morning, my ‘fave' sighting of the entire productive day) Bufflehead (multiples continue) Hooded Merganser (pair still on reservoir, not noticed elsewhere for Monday - ?) Ruddy Duck (numbers on the Meer perhaps more than on reservoir, some are in bright alternate plumage now) Osprey (several, and seen in recent days by some other observers as well - all noted have been fly-overs) Red-tailed Hawk (resident in city, & a rather common sight now - rare 25+ years ago) American Kestrel (resident in city) Merlin (observed & photographed by several observers recently including today) Peregrine Falcon (resident in city) American Coot (ongoing singletons at the Pond & the Meer, multiples on the reservoir) Laughing Gull (at least 1 on reservoir, later in day; a scan there earlier produced none) Ring-billed Gull (many, reservoir) [American] Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull ['feral'] Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Belted Kingfisher (Pond, irregular there, but migrants may also now be moving through) Red-headed Woodpecker (spring plumage as noted above, same area as prior months) Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (several in wooded north end; perhaps 10+ in total, park-wide) Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker (1) Yellow-shafted Flicker (multiple, including freshly-arrived migrants, perhaps 25+ in all of park) Eastern Phoebe (40++ in all of park, some areas had multiples in view at once) Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow (Meer, Sunday & few prior sightings of fly-overs) Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Meer, some prior sightings at Lake as well) Barn Swallow (1, Meer, Sunday) Black-capped Chickadee (few) Tufted Titmouse (fair numbers) Red-breasted Nuthatch (ongoing at Ramble, & 1 female at the pines at the A.H. Green bench, n. end of park) White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper (8+ noted, perhaps more, as some may have been undercounted, where just 1 was penciled) Carolina Wren (2) Winter Wren (3, all in n. woods but probably one in Ramble which got away into an inaccessible fenced area) Golden-crowned Kinglet (largest push of the spring, very good numbers in many areas, esp. so in north end) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (few, one singing at Hallett Sanctuary in mid-day) Hermit Thrush (many in n. end, scattered elsewhere; arrivals have been coming thru for a few days or more) American Robin (many) Gray Catbird (1, that overwintered here) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Myrtle [a.k.a Yellow-rumped] Warbler (1) Pine Warbler (20+ over all of park, but by far most numerous in north end) Palm Warbler (30+++ over all of park, also by far most numerous in n. end) Louisiana Waterthrush (1, Loch - very shy, not vocal during hours I was in) Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow (not abundant, some dozens or so) Field Sparrow [Red] Fox Sparrow (6 or 7 noted, Ramble & N. Woods) Song Sparrow (many, many hundreds in all of the park) Swamp Sparrow (12+ park-wide) White-throated Sparrow (many hundreds) Dark-eyed Junco (many hundreds) Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird (not many) Rusty Blackbird (Ramble, a breeding-plumaged female) Common Grackle (fewer than in past weeks) Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow ———————— "When I would recreate myself, I seek the darkest wood, the thickest and most interminable, and to the citizen, most dismal swamp. I enter a swamp as a sacred place – a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength, the marrow of nature. The wild-wood covers the virgin mould - and the same soil is good for men and trees." - Henry David Thoreau, naturalist, jailed tax-resister, pencil-factory-worker, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, development critic, etc.; died of tuberculosis in 1862, at the age of 44. Good -and ethical- birding, and thanks to those who respect the birds & all their observers, Tom Fiore manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
