Manhattan island & New York County - Tues. & Wednesday, 30 & 31 October, 2018
Tuesday, 10/30 - A Tennessee Warbler was photographed at Madison Square Park; this is getting quite late for the species yet others have been documented recently in various locations in the northeast, & this seems part of what appears to be a rather broad trend of more-than-typical numbers of late stragglers amongst neotropical-wintering migrants thru the northeast, this autumn. Additionally, a Northern Waterthrush was again found, in Central Park, by the AMNH (American Museum of Natural History) bird-walk group & leader; this an individual warbler that has been lingering quite some time often at the so-called “Triplets” bridge area, by a small streamlet that arises just north of the park’s W. 77th St. entrance; the waterthrush not always apparent at the small rustic wooden bridge, but patience and luck may find it. For all of N.Y. County, a minimum of 15 warbler species were found on Tuesday, more than typically expected so deep into the month of October. All of the less-common or less-expected of these species were photographed, &/or were seen by 15-30+ observers including highly experienced leaders. A plethora of various somewhat-expected migrants were seen by a lot of observers spread thru a dozen or more locations, esp. a few of the larger Manhattan parks, as well as a few of the smaller ones. In a season when September sometimes 'under-performed' for local migration-watching, Oct. came thru very nicely! At least 7 E. Bluebirds were seen on the Linnaean Society of New York regular Tues. group bird-walk in Central Park; one was photo’d. at the Great Lawn, while others flew through; there were other sightings (& nice photos) of the species in other Manhattan parks the same day, as well. It’s been quite good in Manhattan for these recently, more so than in a long, long time. (Some E. Bluebirds were also contiuing at Governors Island to the following day, the last of Oct.) The report of from ten to 12 Monk Parakeets flying through Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan is very interesting, & will further be interesting to see if any more are found in Manhattan as the autumn progresses; the species had begun to establish itself rather tenuously, it seemed, on the island over a decade ago, and then those few known breeders were either displaced or moved on due to other causes. It is an established breeder in all of the other counties of N.Y. City (or at least, has been in the present decade), & in various nearby counties, & also in parts of at least 2 states closest to N.Y. City. (The species had long been established in such northern cities as Chicago & vicinity and it is a very cold-hardy species. There was an apparent nesting attempt in 2012 in Watervliet, NY (Albany County), & there are nesting or occurrence records from southern Connecticut, Rhode Island, & Massachusetts, as well as in Wisconsin, & a part of coastal Washington state (& many other more-southern US states; the Florida populations of this species has been estimated in the low-to-mid six-figures range). There was an eBirded report of a single Monk at W. 37th St. near the Hudson river in Manhattan (on a bldg.) for the 31st of Oct., an atypical area as to most previous sightings. Wednesday, 10/31 - A lot of movement took place the night prior, & much of that was exodus, while an influx brought new rounds of sparrows (in particular), kinglets, & some other species. I took a cycle-spin from one end of Manhattan (south) to the other (north) & found both species of Kinglet (but far more of Ruby-crowned) in virtually every little patch of habitat I passed by or spent time birding in - from The Battery to Inwood, & all points between, I’d say I was never more than 50 yards from a kinglet, & this included such “habitat” as the 2-foot or less wide strip of plantings at the Hudson River greenway next to the cruise-ships docks, at ~ 48th-54th Streets & various other marginal bits and pieces. In multiple small green spaces in Harlem (north of 110 Street thru 141 Street, and on 5 of the major avenues there, were more kinglets, again a ratio of about 20 Ruby-crowneds to each Golden-crowned, while there were at least some areas where Golden-crowneds were not so scarce by comparison. Sparrows were seen mostly in larger lawns, and were by far mostly White-throated, with an admixture of Song, Swamp, & in some less-busy areas, many Chipping, plus here & there a Field, White-crowned, & the harder-to-spot Lincoln’s Sparrows, plus many Slate-colored Juncos, occasionally in the triple-digits on a few very large open lawns & fields, & even where some activities (sports or other) were taking place, the juncos simply well off on side spaces that were not in active use. [Red] Fox Sparrows have continued in multiple locations, some having been photographed at various sites, including today in Madison Square Park. The Vesper Sparrow reports included those on 10/31 from Governors Island, & on 10/30 at Central Park’s north end, the latter found by N. Sourigi. Further, there were Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers in a lot of parks & green-spaces, with again just a very modest percentage of Palm Warbler - perhaps 1 out of 75, at best, and other warblers in far scarcer distribution including Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Blue (5 or more, with 2 bright males, and at least 3 females including at Madison Square Park, & at Battery Park), Pine (4 total in the all-day outing in all of Manhattan), Cape May (4 total, including at Central Park’s n. end “knoll”, & also in Central at the east edge of Sheep Meadow, also one at Battery Park near the s.w. ‘corner' lawn), Black-and-white in several lower Manhattan parks, & the lingering & quite late Tennessee at Madison Square Park. There might have been various other warbler species still lingering, and it’s also quite possible the next front pushing thru this area may bring some additional / fresh such very late stragglers - particularly as some warbler spp. were still being seen quite far north of N.Y. City. In flycatchers, all that I found were E. Phoebe, and a fair number were spread all thru areas visited, including at least a dozen along the greener parts of the Hudson river greenway, from north of the Battery to near W. 59 Street. N.B., I had a quick look in the Columbia University campus, & found no unusual birds - it’s not in my typical birding-route, and I did not stay at the site that long. (and, M. Goldstein’s note of 10/30 to this list was apropos, re: a putative Manhattan “Great Crested” flycatcher report, with the nice find of an Ash-throated out at Heckscher S.P. on Long Island one day later; there can be either species in the area into Oct., & quite rarely for Great Crested in Nov. too, in N.Y.C.) but as with many eastern breeding neotropical-wintering migrants, their ‘western' counterparts - as vagrants to the east - can start to get almost as, & then even more likely, as the autumn moves on into it’s final weeks.) A continuing & late 10/31 E. Wood-Pewee was still getting some attention out on Governor’s Island, & perhaps asking for some too, by giving some calls this milder-weather day - thanks to B. Cacace - and to C. Weiner for a 10/31 photographed American Redstart on that same island - as well as a nice basic-plumaged Rusty Blackbird - for those & many other good sightings from that outpost of N.Y. County on the last day of Oct. & also that was the last day of regular ongoing access there via ferry from Manhattan (unfortunately… as that is among the more-likely locations in the county for a variety of uncommon birds, & the chance of some late-season vagrant rarity is also pretty good in such a place, located well for such possibilities.) For late-ness, there were still at least a few Chimney Swifts around, & seen by many observers in various areas in N.Y. County for the last day of Oct.; given some ongoing fairly mild weather, perhaps some migrant species that are less-expected on into November will be still be found in the region, but clearly, onward migration has been on-going. A Baltimore Oriole was hanging in at Madison Square Park, but this is not all that unusual for now & a few of that species have even tried wintering in N.Y. City in recent years. The 1st American Coot has appeared at the Central Park reservoir, & to think, there most likely won’t be a NY Times article on that, nor any television coverage. A shame, as the lowly coot is in fact a lovely bird. (An escaped or released Mandarin Duck continues to get a lot of attention at Central Park’s Pond, while it’s been showing off next or near Wood Ducks & other 'fowls there. It is also not the first time that exotic species has occurred in Central Park - and outside of the zoo’s grounds, with previous finds of this same exotic there able to fly, at least modest distances.) A reminder: some areas, especially in the southern third of Central Park, may be temporarily off-limits or more difficult of access, as prep. for the big NYC marathon is ongoing - this Sunday, 11/4 is the day of that hugely-attended event, the finish-line & some of the final miles being in that park, when most of the park will be even more busy than usual. - - - ALL of the boreal/irruptive passerines have by now been reported from NY state (as well as from other northern areas) & in addition, there are many recent sightings & reports of owls and so forth starting to arrive in the region. Please keep in mind that all of these birds, and in particular owls, need their own space in order to rest, and to be able to feed properly & normally; keep a distance and give the birds a break for their own good, thanks. - - - The occasional legal reminder that playing of any amplified sounds whatsoever in Central Park of N.Y. City, without express permission (that’s a permit from the City of New York) is a violation of the law & this applies throughout all of the park and at all times, & year-round. (Signage regarding this is well posted within this park.) good birding on into November, 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/ --
