A young or molting-to-adult male Blue Grosbeak is now at Battery Park, near the south end of Manhattan, for Monday, May 11. More details in a further report for all-Manhattan birds.
. . . . New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Governors, Randalls, and Roosevelt Islands and some other smaller isles, as well as the surrounding waters and skies above - The past weekend provided fairly good to excellent conditions for bird observing, and modest or better conditions for birds stopping in, or passing by in close-enough encounters for observations. Some of the rarer species came earlier this month, a few just-barely before the 2-day weekend. For warbler diversity, at least 28 warbler species were noted, with just one of those species - Prothonotary - not noted for Central Park or any other part of Manhattan, solely at Randalls, as noted previously and below. A modest number of migrants were best left identified to genus, such as some distant and unheard Calidris-genus and a few other-larger sandpipers or shorebirds, some Empidonax-genus flycatchers, and perhaps a few of Catharus-genus thrushes. Some reports for species not listed at all below may have not been confirmed, which may take time, or not receive confirmations by review, which can happen for a multitude of reasons. Many but not all of the sightings have been placed on eBird, and some contain associated media archived in the Macaulay Library. Numbers of -total- observers run to well over 500 for the weekend. Birds of the past weekend, for May 9th and 10th in New York County. Brant - ongoing in numbers here. Canada Goose Mute Swan Wood Duck - scarcer now. Gadwall Mallard American Black Duck Mallard x American Black Duck - hybrids Green-winged Teal White-winged Scoter - in NY Harbor only. Bufflehead Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Wild Turkey - an ongoing individual. feral Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Cuckoo Common Nighthawk N.B., - - Chuck-will's-widow and Eastern Whip-poor-will, each well-documented in the prior week. - - Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird American Coot - a bit late for here. American Oystercatcher - NY Harbor migrant or area-breeder. Semipalmated Plover - few. Killdeer Least Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper American Woodcock Spotted Sandpiper - still common in the county. Solitary Sandpiper Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs -Greater or Lesser- Yellowlegs-species, when seen distantly and not heard. -larger shorebird sp., and shorebird sp., particularly Calidris in flight at some distance and not heard. Bonaparte's Gull - found at and along Randalls Island, with a few reports out in NY Harbor, single for Randalls - not an unprecedented county-date for the species, NB, records of birds generally, go back farther, much-farther in time, than the modern-eBird era with observations from -all- of the twentieth century, and rarely, even earlier. Laughing Gull - numerous in some locations at times. Ring-billed Gull - numbers have been dropping. American Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Common Tern - growing numbers, with up to 25-plus around Governors Island, still growing, and also some elsewhere in the county waters - a breeding species. Forster's Tern - confirmed sighting from along Randalls Island. Others likely earlier in this spring. - large tern sp.- distantly over NY Harbor, on May 10th. Red-throated Loon Common Loon Great Cormorant - scarce by now. Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - thus far this year, the only fully-confirmed sightings -adult bird- were and are for Randalls Island, starting by this past weekend. Black Vulture - most regularly seen from n. Manhattan. Turkey Vulture Osprey Sharp-shinned Hawk - also see below note. Cooper's Hawk - Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawk - some sightings best placed in this dual-possibilities category. Bald Eagle Red-tailed Hawk - owls of multiple spp. are ongoing. Belted Kingfisher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - scarce, but a few may summer-over, esp. first-spring individuals, and are never breeding here. Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Northern -Yellow-shafted- Flicker American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon Monk Parakeet - scarce breeder. Olive-sided Flycatcher Eastern Wood-Pewee Acadian Flycatcher - in part, by vocalizations heard. Alder/Willow Flycatcher - in past also known as Traills Flycatcher - both of these Emopidonax-genus now a possibility. Willow attempts breeding in this county. Least Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe - decreased in this past week. Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird - increased in this past week. White-eyed Vireo - good spring for this vireo in this country, found in multiple parks. A potential breeder in this county, breeds annually in New York City. Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-headed Vireo - still passing thru. Warbling Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Common Raven - breeds in this county, including on Manhattan. Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse Northern Rough-winged Swallow Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Barn Swallow Cliff Swallow - the scarcest of the 5 annually-occurring swallow spp. in this county, breeds in low numbers. Has now been seen as a likely pair at Randalls Island. Ruby-crowned Kinglet Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Blue-gray Gnatcatcher House Wren Winter Wren - scant now, but a few still lingering. Marsh Wren - most recently found on Governors Island. Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher Northern Mockingbird Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush - multiple, but still-more are likely… and see next - -Gray-cheeked or Bicknell’s - thrushes with grayish cheeks, and not heard at all. Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush - scarcer but still some around, including some in such parks as Bryant Park in mid-Manhattan. Wood Thrush American Robin Cedar Waxwing - increases. House Sparrow House Finch Purple Finch - ongoing in multiple locations. Pine Siskin - few, and mainly-only from Central Park in recent days. American Goldfinch Chipping Sparrow Clay-colored Sparrow - one, photographed at Randalls Island on May 10. Field Sparrow Dark-eyed -Slate-colored- Junco - scant, and late, for this county. White-crowned Sparrow - in multiple locations thru the weekend. White-throated Sparrow - - Seaside Sparrow - seen and photographed May 8.- - Savannah Sparrow - still numerous and in many locations. Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Eastern Towhee Bobolink Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Rusty Blackbird - scant now, and getting slightly-late here. Common Grackle - Ovenbird Worm-eating Warbler Louisiana Waterthrush - scarcer now, and by now, best confirmed if photographed or video-recorded with audio. However, there are rare records here to June. Northern Waterthrush - Louisiana/Northern Waterthrush - indefinite sightings of waterthrushes, with Northern far more likely and common now. Blue-winged Warbler Golden-winged x Blue-winged -hybrid- Warbler some sightings of blue-winged pertain to these hybrid assemblages. Not counted as an additional species. Black-and-white Warbler Prothonotary Warbler - one, at Randalls Island by May 10, with photos and multiple observers. Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler American Redstart Cape May Warbler Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Blackburnian Warbler Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Palm Warbler - rather late in this county, but not unprecedented - few, seen at Central Park and elsewhere to May 10, and after that. Pine Warbler Yellow-rumped -Myrtle- Warbler Prairie Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Canada Warbler Wilson's Warbler - Scarlet Tanager Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting - and some other species also reported, not listed above, with some additions fairly likely. - - - Thanks to so many keen and energetic observers and photographers for many-hundreds of sightings, alerts, reports, tips, etc. and to all of the leaders and helpers on many not-for-profit guided walks organized by and with non-profit organizations and institutions, which are ongoing this spring in this county - and all around N.Y. City. Many species are already nesting or preparing to nest in this county, and many more soon will be. Please allow those and all migrants some space as you observe and do nothing that might jeopardize the nesting efforts. Thank you. Good birding, Tom Fiore manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Visit: http://LISTS.cornell.edu for more information Posting Address: [email protected] Archives: The Mail Archive: https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html Sightings: Please submit your observations to eBird at http://www.ebird.org --
