**Extralimitals** - A Eurasian Marsh Harrier was **reported** on Thursday, Aug. 25th, from *an island* just off ‘mid-coast’ *Maine* (U.S.A.) - on North Haven island, which has regular public-ferry access. This is from an eBird report, and was *not* confirmed as-of very early the next morning; the report includes some photos: https://ebird.org/checklist/S117527547 <https://ebird.org/checklist/S117527547> There ARE other birders looking for this bird, now - and some new reporting is likely (even if of a negative-search-effort) as well as some update to the status of the identification, and any potential further confirmations. Harriers are not a particularly easy group of raptors in the world for some species (and some plumages) being well-distinguished (ID-issues) from certain others; also, this is a species that is known by some checklists / books / etc., as Western Marsh Harrier, and this is also a “spilt” from what once included a diverse set of harriers found around the planet, now split-out mainly in geographically-defined regions & taking in up to 5 species now, including this referenced above. There is also a sub-species, or form, of this noted species which is believed resident-only in parts of northern Africa. Records of the now-noted species have come from the Caribbean region; I am unsure what other records have been documented in N. America or in all of the western hemisphere (or, nearctic and neotropical regions of the world).
A Steller’s Sea-Eagle, the long-lingering mega-rare bird for N. America, was continuing on eastern *Newfoundland (Canada)* thru Aug. 25th, and a photo taken by boat, in the same area - Trinity Bay - of this bird’s recent stay, is in the Macaulay Library: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/478249031 <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/478249031> Also, it is possible that a *Gray Heron* which was staying a good long while on Prince Edward Island (one of Canada’s Maritime provinces) has moved on, last report for now was Aug. 24th from there. — A single Piping Plover at Sodus Bay/Sodus Point area of Wayne County, NY is notable, from at least Aug. 21 (T. Lenz, et al) thru 24th; multiple reports have appeared in eBird and elsewhere. Of course much other good shorebird and other migration occurred all around the state including many areas of the central and western parts of N.Y. state this week. ——— There has been/is a strong passage of migrants again, as was on Thurs. morning, for the broader northeast region. New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, and Governors Island Tuesday, Aug. 23 thru Thursday, Aug. 25: On Tuesday, 8/23, although a fair amount of migrant-departure had occurred from Monday night, there were also a modest further push of some species, esp. as observed diurnally, such as (among others) Hummingbirds (with all presumed, and many ID’d as, Ruby-throated), Chimney Swifts, Barn Swallows, and some blackbird-family movement again including Baltimore Orioles, while Red-winged Blackbirds and Brown-headed Cowbirds again made up the visible bulk of the Icteridae seen on the move, also at-least detected by calls, some Bobolinks. Of warbler species, mainly the most-common (in flight, very early) for the mid/late August period, these including N. Waterthrush, Yellow Warbler, and perhaps above all on the day, American Redstart, along with a light miscellany of other warblers. A few Indigo Buntings also jumped-off to head 'south-by-southwest’. - - - Yet more 'passed-thru' migrants on Tues. night into Wed., good numbers again getting south-southwest of N.Y. City in the night. Good numbers of Killdeer were the most noted species of shorebird on Governors Island into Tues., although other shorebirds have passed -or stopped-in there - in recent days. On Wed., 8/24 Common Nighthawks picked up their pace, with at least 14 passing by Manhattan, including 4 or more from Central Park, and others from n. Manhattan, and the Hudson river viewpoints north of 59th Street. Sightings, as mostly-expected for timings, were after 5 pm & most after 6 pm. Although also notable in late-day movement, as there were some Chimney Swifts moving in numbers, these also of course seen thru the day and quite early, as well as near-dusk. Also still moving were some hummingbirds. Osprey continue to be seen, and this being a ’start’ of prime period for their movements of late summer and early fall, their numbers are up a bit, with some passage occuring regularly by now. A number of those migrating may also stop in to fish in areas where that seems promising. While some observers found the birding a bit ’slow’, there were still a fair number of lingerers amongst migrants, and some flight as well of mostly-nocturnal migrators. At least one Pine Warbler was found in Manhattan. - - - Thursday, 8/25 brought a much stronger passage (starting from Wed. night) with a wide variety of migrant species on the move. This was anticipated on the winds and mostly-clear skies of later Wed. night into Thursday morning. Some of the migrants moving in numbers included Barn Swallows, E. Kingbirds, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, & warblers of various species led by American Redstarts, plus some blackbird-family movement including Bobolinks, Red-winged Blackbirds, B.-h. Cowbirds, and a ‘smatter' of both of our usual 2 species of oriole, almost all being Baltimore Orioles. There was also an interesting fresh incursion (and passage) of Red-breasted Nuthatches, with at least 2 Purple Finch showing, which still remains to be seen whether any of the movements of those 2 species, this mid-year period, will increase further and also if any other so-called “winter” irruptives will appear this period, where it is still calendar-summer (pre-autumnal equinox) although very much of course south-bound migration time (in all of the northern hemisphere of the entire planet). Just in Central Park, there were a minimum of 14 Red-breasted Nuthatches all through the park, and quite-likely more than that, and for the county on the day, at least double that number - probably into the treble-dozen or more. Two Semipalmated Plovers were noted on the Bronx side of the water separating Randall’s Island (in N.Y. County) from the Bronx (mainland of North America, not an island - Bronx County, to name it more formally). Otherwise in shorebirds seen landed in the county, the selection was rather similar as for other recenr weeks, a Solitary Sandpiper or two, a modest number of Least and Spotted Sandpipers, and Killdeer in areas where they most-often can be seen in the county. For the county in total, there were at least 27 American warbler species seen on Thursday, 8/25 and of that total, a minimum of 25 species were in Central Park alone. The list below shows all of these for the county, with a notation of an asterisk and “CP” to indicate that it was also within Central Park on the day. (To my knowledge no single observer tallied all of these species on the day, including at Central; many observers out at many hours of the day came up with these birds, and some were found in areas where not as much attention is paid in general, or more specifically, when morning-migration is somewhat “hot”.) By far, the species of warbler seen by more observers and in more locations all through the county, on 8/25 was American Redstart. Ovenbird (multiple, & *CP), Worm-eating Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Louisiana Waterthrush (Riverside Park, North Sector), Northern Waterthrush (many, and *CP), Blue-winged Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Black-and-white Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Tennessee Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Nashville Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Mourning Warbler (*CP), Common Yellowthroat (many, & *CP), Hooded Warbler (at least 2, including *CP), American Redstart (many in many locations, including multi-dozens throughout *CP), Cape May Warbler (at least several in several locations, including a mininum of two at *CP - one of these at the Shakespeare Garden in the early morning), Northern Parula (multiple, & *CP), Magnolia Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Bay-breasted Warbler (multiple, although not very many, & *CP), Blackburnian Warbler (at least 2, including *CP), Yellow Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Chestnut-sided Warbler (multiple, & *CP), Blackpoll Warbler (multiple, although not very many, & *CP), Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple, & *CP), [Eastern/Yellow] Palm Warbler (multiple, although not very many, & *CP), [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warbler, Prairie Warbler (multiple, although not very many, & *CP), Black-throated Green Warbler (multiple, although not very many, & *CP), Canada Warbler(multiple, & *CP), Wilson's Warbler (*CP) - and a lot of fly-through warblers that may have consisted of up to 80-90% American Redstarts, as well as modest no’s of N. Waterthrushes and Yellow Warblers. Additional to warbler species-diversity (and a small number of those species in fair to high numbers) there were also at least the following over the period, especially for some by Thursday, 8/25, and again, with added notes as above, a (*CP) for the many species also noted in Central Park on 8/25 alone. Some of those of course also present in the prior 2 days of thsi report’s 3-day total period. Canada Goose (*CP), Wood Duck (*CP, at least 2), Northern Shoveler (*CP; reservoir), Gadwall (*CP), Mallard (*CP), American Black Duck, Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid) (*CP), [feral] Rock Pigeon (*CP), Mourning Dove (*CP), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (*CP), Common Nighthawk (multiple in multiple locations, but possibly not all that many, including over *CP), Chimney Swift (*CP), Ruby-throated Hummingbird (*CP), Semipalmated Plover (Randall’s Island; E. Schumann), Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper (*CP), Solitary Sandpiper (*CP), Laughing Gull (*CP), Ring-billed Gull (*CP), [American] Herring Gull (*CP), Great Black-backed Gull (*CP), Common Tern (NY harbor area and lower-rivers), Double-crested Cormorant (*CP), Great Blue Heron (*CP), Great Egret (*CP), Snowy Egret (*CP), Green Heron (*CP), Black-crowned Night-Heron (*CP), Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Black Vulture (severa sightings, esp. from n. Manhattan), Turkey Vulture (*CP), Osprey (*CP), Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk (*CP), E.Screech-Owl, G.H. Owl, Belted Kingfisher (*CP), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1), Red-bellied Woodpecker (*CP), Downy Woodpecker, (*CP) Hairy Woodpecker (*CP), Yellow-shafted Flicker (*CP), American Kestrel (*CP), Merlin, Peregrine Falcon (also seen from *CP), Olive-sided Flycatcher (*CP), Eastern Wood-Pewee (*CP), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (*CP), Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's Flycatcher (*CP)), Least Flycatcher (*CP), Empidonax [genus] species - possibly any of the 5 northeastern-breeding species (*CP)), Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher (*CP), Eastern Kingbird (*CP), Yellow-throated Vireo, Warbling Vireo (*CP), Red-eyed Vireo (*CP), Blue Jay (*CP), American Crow (*CP), Fish Crow (*CP), Common Raven (multiple sightings, incl. n. Manhattan & *CP, n. end), Black-capped Chickadee (*CP), Tufted Titmouse (*CP), Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Tree Swallow (*CP), Barn Swallow (*CP), Red-breasted Nuthatch (30+ in county on 8/25; minimum 14 in *CP on same day), White-breasted Nuthatch (*CP), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (*CP), House Wren (*CP), Carolina Wren (*CP), European Starling (*CP), Gray Catbird (*CP), Brown Thrasher (*CP), Northern Mockingbird (*CP), Veery (*CP), Swainson's Thrush (*CP), Hermit Thrush (lingering, *CP), Wood Thrush (*CP), American Robin (*CP), Cedar Waxwing (*CP), House Sparrow (*CP), House Finch (*CP), Purple Finch, American Goldfinch (*CP), Chipping Sparrow (*CP), White-throated Sparrow (various areas of county, including at least several in *CP), Song Sparrow (*CP), Swamp Sparrow (*CP), Eastern Towhee (*CP), Bobolink (early a.m. passages), Orchard Oriole (v. few), Baltimore Oriole (*CP), Red-winged Blackbird (*CP), Brown-headed Cowbird (*CP), Common Grackle (*CP), Scarlet Tanager (*CP), Northern Cardinal (*CP), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (*CP), Indigo Bunting (*CP). Likely there were some additional species. Thanks to the 100++ observers out and about locating and reporting on many and various of these migrants and other birds. - - Both the prior week, and this week, have featured low numbers of migrant thrushes, with Swainson’s Thrush and Veery around, and also the breeding thrush (besides the near-ubiquitous American Robin), Wood, the latter still showing some fledged-young activity, as well as family groups; there are also likely a few migrants of the latter species around on days with some modest-or-stronger migration detected. One or two Hermit Thrushes that were seen (in separate locations) in Central Park in recent weeks may well be birds that lingered all through the summer, as non-breeders. One (of a number of) image[s] of the Golden-wingedXBlue-wineged [hybrid] Warbler seen in Central Park on Monday, 8/22 (C. Khoo) is archived in the Macaulay Library: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/477895441 <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/477895441> A sighting of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Manhattan beginning-recently, on 8/22, at Union Square Park, is confirmed in eBird’s records. It will be interesting to see if any other of that latter species surfaces in this county, where it is possible a very few sapsuckers may summer (as *non-breeders*). -- Some butterfly sightings in N.Y. County this warm week have included: Black Swallowtail, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, Cloudless Sulphur (Governors Island, at least, poss. elsewhere), Gray Hairstreak, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Summer Azure, American Snout, Variegated Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, Question Mark, Eastern Comma, American Lady, Painted Lady, Red Admiral, Common Buckeye, Hackberry Emperor (including in Central Park), Monarch, Silver-spotted Skipper, Horace's Duskywing, Common Sootywing, Fiery Skipper, Peck's Skipper, Sachem (in numbers), Zabulon Skipper, Dun Skipper, a minimum of 28 species for the week, & perhaps also some other (uncommon) species. Other insects also have been seen in good to excellent diversity this week. Peaceful 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/ --
