A brightly-plumaged male Yellow-headed Blackbird was continuing into Thursday/24th, in Queens County, N.Y. at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park site where previously seen regularly, sightings a bit south of the boathouse at Meadow Lake; thanks to all the many observers-reporters over this bird’s stay, including D. Schulman & others for updates on this (& other) forums. (N.B., some patience had been required to set eyes on this bird at times although it had been very obliging; a lingering bird that's by now been viewed by hundreds of observers over 1 week.)
Interesting that the Say’s Phoebe [on private property!] being seen in a central-NYS county was discovered nearly concurrently with one of the same species in southern Maine; there have been some others of that species also on the move east of their usual breeding areas in the past week+. All flycatchers that are not easily determined to species or seen initially with difficulty / at distance, etc. should, if possible be scrutinized for potential unexpected / vagrant species. It’s also a good time to watch out for the remote chance of an austral-migrant species showing all the way from south of the western hemisphere’s equator, such as the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher of recent in Los Angeles County, California - a species which could potentially show up anywhere in North America, along with other slightly less-rare vagrant species. There are some at least good signs that Pine Siskin is a species to watch for locally in coming weeks & months; they have been seen in a number of locations across the continent outside of known breeding areas, increased a bit in the past week or so, & this includes locations in New England, and with recent flights having an uptick right nearby. A few more-northern & well-inland locations have made 1-day counts into 4-digit no’s. of this species moving south. *Also, keep an eye on Chickadee [species], should [m]any appear in areas not regularly-seen.* Around the region, numbers of Connecticut Warblers being found are as impressive as I can recall in many years of regional birding; not clear if (a large) part of that is simply persistent effort. - - - New York County, including Manhattan, & Randall’s & Governors Islands (in N.Y. City) - A Saltmarsh Sparrow was reported from Randall’s Island (n. side) on 9/19, where the species is rare but regular on migration. However, it might be added that other Ammospiza [genus] sparrows should not be entirely ruled-out from possibility (from any locations!) at this season. A 1st-fall RED-HEADED Woodpecker flew through at Riverside Park next to the s. edge of Riverbank S.P., headed south, but not re-found - possibly continuing on its way along the Hudson river, on 9/23. Other highlights include GOLDEN-WINGED Warbler, & Connecticut Warbler, part of the 25+ warbler spp. for this 4-day period, in New York County (and 22+ spp. just in Central Park, Manhattan.) That Golden-winged in Central Park & seen only on Tues., 9/22. ... Monday, 9/21 - Continued winds from the northeast, with very cool overnight low temp’s all around the region. Strong migration out of eastern Canada & through northern New England; in the local area much was slowing by the pre-dawn hour. A great deal of exodus took place, with just moderate (relative to prior recent nights & days) migration influx, in Manhattan. One of the sites with high potential in the county, Governors Island had a good diversity of species again; visits by several birders (incl. C. Weiner; also L. Goggin) found 4 spp. of lingering shorebird: Killdeer, Least, Spotted, & Solitary Sandpiper; no’s. of Y.-s. Flickers, E. Phoebes, & smaller multiples of E. Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Gray Catbird, with a Golden-crowned & 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, & at least 15 spp. of warblers which were led in no’s. by Magnolia, followed by Am. Redstart & N. Parula, and also included Canada, Blue-winged, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, & Prairie Warbler[s]; sparrows included a Lincoln’s as well as Swamp & Savannah Sparrows, & Dark-eyed Junco. A walk totaling 14 participants led by G.Willow for the [non-profit org.] NYC Audubon, at Bryant Park (midtown Manhattan) revealed among other birds a male Mourning Warbler, N. Waterthrush, male-plumaged B.-t. Blue Warbler & a high no. of Ovenbirds (which seem to typically become somewhat numerous at that site), plus E. Wood-Pewee, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Swainson’s Thrush, a heard R.-br. Grosbeak, & some Blue Jays (on a day with a strong B.Jay movement region-wide), and some other migrant & resident species. Central Park highlights were noted previously, & included a Connecticut Warbler in Central Park (lingering at least from the prev. day), & 20 or more other warbler spp. across the county. The first White-crowned Sparrow sighting of the season (in N.Y. County) showed in Central Park (n. end), also in a later report [see: 9/24], from Fort Tryon Park; both of these photographed. ... Tuesday, 9/22 - By Mon. night, winds were lowered & began to turn more from the NNW, while humidity reached some of its lowest readings of the summer - a few hours ahead of the autumnal equinox, which occurred at just after sunrise locally. As the day progressed, a strong N. wind developed. Far out to sea, but nonetheless having some effects at our local shores, Hurricane “Teddy” was moving up towards Nova Scotia at a fast clip. A female (poss. first-fall) Golden-winged Warbler was at the ‘maintenance meadow’ area of the Central Park Ramble (the eastern-most lawn there); not easily seen for much of the day & uncooperative for photos, but was observed as late as 6 pm a bit later. This has been a fairly good month for the species in N.Y. City as migrants stopped in at least several counties, at various dates this season. This bird was first noted by J. Wooten w/M. Binion, & later fully-confirmed by L.Brock & J.Wooten, & still later, 10+ more observers, incl. A. Burke; into nearly evening. Some managed a few fairly nice photos. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was also noted in the park’s n. end. A morning bird-walk on behalf of the Linnaean Society of New York in Central Park had a wide diversity of migrants for the first hours of this autumn and a nice turnout. At least 4 Y.-b. Sapsuckers were noted during the walk, as well as 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, and a wide diversity of warblers - Cape May, Bay-breasted, and Wilson’s Warblers among them. Y.-b. Sapsuckers already were being seen in a variety of smaller parks & greenspaces, through Manhattan. Brown Creepers less so, but were also being found outside of the larger parks by this date, & around the county. Diurnal movement of Blue Jays was again noted, many hundreds just in the a.m. hours, all moving generally SW. At least 2 Common Nighthawks were on the move also in the morning, as were moderate no’s. of Chimney Swifts. A few Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and many other migrants also were part of the above bird-walk’s sightings. Common Nighthawk in flight, over the Ramble of Central Park, late in the day, w/mult. observers. A White-eyed Vireo, & White-crowned Sparrow each continued in Central Park’s n. end, however a Connecticut Warbler from the previous 2 days was not re-found again. Although relatively minimal, there were some raptors & Turkey Vultures on the move through the day over & past Manhattan island, these included Osprey, B. Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel, & poss., a couple of others. A morning birding group walking at The Battery (southernmost point on Manhattan island) found more than a dozen warbler spp., with Canada & Cape May, also multiples of Blackpoll & Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers, and other migrants. Higher no’s. of Blackpoll, & Palm Warbler[s] (latter of both forms), and Common Yellowthroat were found on Governors Island, by at least several observers. The island's terns appear to have all departed, as was so from other sites in the county. One (or more) observers noted a putative Clay-colored Sparrow in the same area where one had been for a few days recently; it is possible that that bird was lingering, however there also have been at least a few Chipping Sparrows in the same general area, and more Chippings are / will be arriving, as expected. Common Ravens are being seen &/or heard increasingly (again) and sightings have come from all around the town, including by the East river, near the Hudson, & points in the interior of Manhattan, with the max. no. in the last few weeks being 7 at one time, which is a bit higher than the usual one or two noted! (This species is known to disperse & undertake some migratory type movement, and has been seen widely in recent weeks, & esp. at hawk-watch locations around the wider region.) ... Wed., 9/23 - Winds shifted even more directly from the NW, & in some local areas went a bit light for a while; migration appeared to be strongest earlier in the night, with pronounced fly-over past N.Y. City, but some still ongoing as the day began. The NW wind continued all day. First full day of autumn on the calendar, yet a high temp. of 80 F. was achieved. Note that many birders, or anyhow myself & some others, were initially ‘fooled’ by some weather-radar signaling that suggested very light migration towards the pre-dawn hour. However, the actual movements of birds were either not captured well (by radar imagery) or were disparate enough to appear and to be dense in a few localities, much less so in others, including perhaps nearer the actual ocean shore of N.Y. City. A first-fall-plumaged Red-headed Woodpecker flew through an area in Riverside Park & although possibly continuing on, also might have landed & could linger anywhere, including the areas south of 125 St., or in any reasonable patches of habitat on the Hudson river waterfront corridor. It also should be a species to watch for in any of the local parks. The rather more-surprising species this early in the fall was Pine Siskin in double-digit no’s., and not accompanied by any esp. evident flights of Amer. Goldfinch. However, the siskin flights being noted in any number of states by now are showing that an irruption has already begun. At least 2 obsevers noted as many as 18 Pine Siskins at Central Park, & at another location near the Hudson River, more than 1 dozen were seen, all in flight, although there were some at least briefly landing in a variety of conifer trees at both parks. A few Common Nighthawks were also seen from Central Park, continuing the trend of daylight (rather than twilight) observations now as the species’ migration really winds down. Several Blackburnian Warblers were seen on the day, in at least 3 widely separated parks in Manhattan. Some birders were searching for the possibility of a re-find of the Golden-winged Warbler seen the previous day in Central Park’s Ramble, but there was no joy had on that. A putative male Connecticut Warbler was reported at the n. end of Central Park, but not seen again after early morning, as far as known. A small number of Empidonax [genus] flycatchers were still being seen, & there were also a few reports of slightly-late Olive-sided Flycatcher, while the widespread increases in E. Phoebe have been fairly evident, along with other more-autumnal migrants and even a few winter-resident species. There was 1 report of Great Crested Flycatcher, from 2 observers in Central Park. The warbler flight was impressive in the first 45+ minutes of daylight, with Common Yelowthroat, American Redstart, N. Parula, Palm (of both forms), & Magnolia Warblers all well-represented, but a good diversity of other species as well. Other species in early flight included Scarlet Tanager & Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Depending on location in the county, diurnal movement also included a modest fresh passage of Yellow-rumped Warbler, as well as some Cedar Waxwing flight; later on, also adding Turkey Vultures in the multiple, and such raptors as Bald Eagle, Osprey, Sharp-shinned & Cooper’s Hawks, American Kestrels, and a Merlin or two. On the lower end in numbers were Icteridae, with a few Baltimore Orioles, but mainly small groups of Common Grackles as well as a few mixed blackbird flocks that from a distance, appeared to be mainly Red-winged Blackbird as well as B.-h. Cowbird. A few observers in the county noted singles of E. Kingbird. The other flycatchers, as is expected, were mainly E. Phoebe and E. Wood-Pewee in flight & of course, also many of these also ‘on the deck’ for lingering birds. The only sparrow species with any modest evidence of a ‘flight’ were White-throated, but in (so far) minimal numbers, esp. for that species. ... Thursday, 9/24 - Winds went a bit lighter, and began to shift from the W to SW. Low temp’s. within the city were not as low as in previous recent nights. Migration overnight seemed to perhaps increase in the small hours of the night, from a slower start on Wed. night. Haze, again from the western-U.S. wildfires, was evident and reported again in the region, on the shift in wind direction. An Olive-sided Flycatcher was noted at Inwood Hill Park, one of a few sightings going into this report’s period. And a Marsh Wren was seen at Inwood Hill Park (J. DiCostanzo), at least the 3rd in recent days for the county. Blackburnian Warbler, although scarcer, was still present in more than one location. At Madison Square Park, & later in the day, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo was photographed, as well as Swainson’s Thrush, and at least 6 spp. of warbler including Chestnut-sided were found, as well as Y.-b. Sapsucker & more (all, E. Goodman). Species-variety was quite good at Fort Tryon Park, also & the park received its first-of-season White-crowned Sparrow (M. & P. Waldron), also photo’d. as was the early individual in Central Park 3 days earlier. Also seen in Fort Tryon (northern Manhattan) were a number of warblers highlighted by multiples of Black-throated Blue, Blackpoll, American Redstart, Black-and-white, & esp., Common Yellowthroat, plus singles of N. Parula and Magnolia Warbler, as well as multiple Scarlet Tanagers, singles of R.-br. Grosbeak, Swainson’s Thrush, Brown Creeper, Blue-headed Vireo, & other migrants, with at least 3 R.-thr. Humminmgbirds there. At Stuyvesantown, which contians green-space on Manhattan’s east side not too far from the E. River, such later-arriving species as G.-c. Kinglet, Y.-b. Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, & Dark-eyed Junco were all found, as well as a selection of warbler species, including Pine Warbler (A. Lazarus, & others). Many other green spaces or smaller parks around Manhattan had a variety of migrants on the day, and can potentially continue to provide birds of interest all through the coming fall. (“Stuy-town” had a visiting Varied Thrush once, & has seen many other interesting species stop in, over the years. Similar stories can be found for a lot of other such smaller habitat-zones in the big city. Migrants turn up in church-yards, even in Manhattan… and so on.) Some of the relatively light flight in the first 2 hours of daylight included Y.-s. Flickers, Blue Jays (fewer than in prior days), & Yellow-rumped Warblers, as well as an even-lighter movement of American Goldfinch. Overall less of any freshly-arrived migrants, while a fair number of lingering visitors continued, these still comprising among the warblers as many as 22 species through the county, with some of the same spp. again the more-numerous, including Common Yellowthroat, N. Parula, Magnolia, & (esp.) Palm Warblers, plus multiple others, incl. an uptick in Black-and-white Warbler numbers. Chimney Swifts continued to pass with some flocks upwards of 50 individuals. For migrant thrushes, there was still a diversity of species with a very few Veery & Wood Thrush being seen as well as small no’s. of Gray-cheeked (& just possibly the close relative of the latter), while more Swainson’s Thrush than all of those others were still being seen, and finally more Hermit Thrush had started showing, some of which may attempt to winter in the city. There have also been modest movements of American Robin, which may comprise local movement. Brown Thrasher have begun the annual fall program of finding themselves in odd small green-spaces, as well as in the larger parks, while Gray Catbird no’s. have thinned a bit over the past week. As Winter Wrens began to arrive, so House Wren has greatly diminished in the county. A few Indigo Buntings have continued to pop out of skulking-mode here & there, virtually all in dull plumage. Also, continuing and slightly more widespread the past 2 days were such species as Blue-headed Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (with a few Golden-crowned as well), and Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, and particularly, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. (Incidentally, many, if not all of these later-moving and sometimes-wintering species are reaching the outer barrier beach scrub & such of Long Island, NY & also New Jersey’s shores, as have -in minimal no’s., so far- Pine Siskins.) And - those Red-breasted Nuthatches also are continuing to be found all around, & deep into the center of the eastern U.S. & also beyond as their irruptive movements continue. Waterfowl diversity had not increased, but there are still at least some 7 native species about, including N. Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Wood Ducks (in Central Park), & N. Shovelers along with the long-lingering / resident species. Modest numbers of Great Blue Heron have been on the move & some stopping in to feed; also continuing are at least several Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at Randall’s Island, & more widespread Black-crowned Night-Herons, while Green Heron is becoming even tougher to sight. The ‘usual’ 2 egret species of summer have essentially all moved on, even if still being seen in other parts of the same city. Monarch (butterfly) migration continues apace, and a modest no. of other butterfly species have continued to be seen as well. Less well known as partial migrants, there have been small no’s. of Mourning Cloaks moving south recently (even as some of the adults will over-winter in the area as well). Various other insects are buzzing along with the recent warmth, although a drought may also have been affecting some species, in some areas. - - - - - "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” - Teddy Roosevelt (26th president of the U.S.A.) "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." - Frederick Douglass (1818-1895; U.S. statesman, orator, writer) good birding, thanks to the many observers who also go birding ethically, with the birds’ best interests at heart, 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/ --
