Just to add a bit more as to southern (and very southern) breeding-species having moved up into ‘northern’ areas in the U.S. over this year, esp. in summer-2021, there was a Snail Kite *fledgeling* tracked in early August 2021, having come up into the (both South & North) Carolinas (and again, as a son-of-the-South, let me say that there is a hang-dog-x-a-dozen’s worth of difference - and distance! - between the Everglades, and the Carolinas, true even for S.C.) - a remarkable and extremely-rare occurrence northward, for that kite species… which is essentially a true subtropical and tropical species in terms of its’ total ‘new world’ range. Here’s a link to an article (from a southwest Florida non-profit, PBS-affiliate radio-TV broadcaster) that has some specifics on things-Snail Kite that were happening in light of the above and perhaps, some effects on those kites. How much anything of the sort (changes in habitat & etc.) have impacted all the many other water-birds and various other southern-breeders which have been seen increasingly to the north of their traditional Gulf Coast or (in the case of Snail Kite in FL) Florida ranges, is still up in the air… and water, and - worth some more discussion. See - https://news.wgcu.org/2021-07-16/snail-kites-move-north-as-health-of-lake-o-the-everglades-wane . . . Not on the same subject as above, but an interesting and rare-record for the state of Vermont, a Bell’s Vireo has been documented in *that state* recently, and is a further reminder of the possibilities for a wide range of unexpexted species in the region, in this and the next month in particular, and also well into the "winter-season" on the ‘birding-calendar’ which in our area is often considered to start with the first of December. . . . New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s, and Governors Island[s] Sunday Oct. 17th, and Monday, Oct. 18th - -- Sunday, 10/17 - A Clay-colored Sparrow was found & photographed (B. Sadock, A. Perkins) at Swindler Cove Park / Sherman Creek Park off the eastern terminus of Dyckman St. (& to its north & south) in northern Manhattan, a nice discovery at that somewhat-smaller park - which has often shown its' potential for interesting birds in all seasons; near to it is the northern end of Highbridge Park, which also has a lot of potential, and-but can be tough to bird thoroughly due to (among other factors) very steep slopes, and limited pathways. The Governors Island Dickcissel was again found & also photographed (A. Dinu) - with patience - near Fort Jay, with that photographer noting a wait ‘of over 3 hrs.’ to see & chance those photos obtained; also seen among various other species was an E. Meadowlark, perhaps also a lingerer there. Among slightly-late warblers in Manhattan was a Magnolia Warbler seen at Stuyvesant Cove Park (A. Lazarus), where some new refurbished plantings have been made. (That species has occurred even to December in Manhattan, and is not exceedingly late yet, although most of that species had moved on). Among the fairly-high numbers of somewhat-late Blackpoll Warblers some were still lingering but again, the majority of that species had by Sunday already moved on. American Redstart was also seen on Sunday, and the same comment applies - most have certainly moved on by now (& yet, this is another species for which there are even rather-rare December records in N.Y. City). And there were yet again sightings of a long-lingering N. Waterthrush at Central Park’s n. end, an individual which by now has been viewed many hundreds of times by at least scores of birders over many, many days; this is late too, & yet again, there are some far-later records of that species, including from the same park, in past seasons. The same applies for Cape May Warbler (and that species has, somewhat extraordinarily, been documented into early January in the same park, after having been noted for a local C.B.C.! ) Other warblers still being seen included Nashville, N. Parula, Black-throated Blue, Ovenbird, Black-and-white, Pine, and the more-expected trio of Common Yellowthroat, Palm (of 2 forms) and Myrtle / Yellow-rumped Warblers. That’s 14 warbler spp. on Sunday, and there might well have been a few more late-lingering species in the county. All of these noted have been either photo-documented and-or also seen by very experienced and careful observers. A nice mix of raptors, with plenty of Turkey Vultures as well - and Bald Eagles among the larger birds seen on migration for Sunday, through the day and from various locations. Easily more than 30 Bald Eagles passed thru the county’s airspace over all of Sunday, and the numbers of Turkey Vultures over twice, perhaps thrice that number, in all of Sunday. A Marsh Wren was reported from along the Hudson River greenway south of Houston Street. There are dwindling reports of Chimney Swift from the county, perhaps now down to just a few, which is as-expected. - - Monday, 10/18 - There was a good further push of migration, again both diurnal, and (probably stronger and more-substantial) nocturnal movement by migrants from Sunday night into Monday. Among the arriving birds were goodly numbers of waterfowl, including some Snow Geese (as fly-overs), many [Atlantic, at least all presumed of that form!] Brant in their many hundreds, and at least one Cackling-type amongst the many many hundreds of Canada Geese all seen as fly-overs on the day. There were also other assorted duckage on the move, with fresh, further arrivals of already-present species such as N. Shoveler, Ruddy Duck (esp.), & probably a few other species. A large migration of Turkey Vulture was noted by many, with some tallies by day's end reaching well into triple-digit numbers of the species; also seen were many Bald Eagles, along with some other expected raptors of the season, on migration. At Randall's Island, at least 3 Nelson's Sparrows were seen (G. Hong), along with at least 3 lingering-continuing Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, and a Marsh Wren was also again found (A. Dinu) on the day. At Governors Island, at least 4 E. Meadowlarks appeared (many observers there finding at least one individual), and a lot of other migrants again were found, including some flying-through. Magnolia & Black-throated Green Warblers were highlight species seen at Carl Schurz Park, with those 2 warbler species also seen elsewhere on the day, including at Central Park. Fresh arrivals on the day included Rusty Blackbird, including some showing in Central Park. An uncommonly-reported sight at Central Park, at least 3 American Pipits were noted, that species certainly more-regular at peak-migration times than is realized, but usually-mostly as fly-overs, & detected most readily that way through recognition of the calls when in flight. Many smaller parks & greenspaces continued to hold migrants of a variety of species through this report's period. Monarch butterfilies were still being detected, but in lowered numbers now. good birding to all, 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/ --
