[nysbirds-l] Greenwood Cemetery, Kings County
DATE: April 15, 2011 SITE: Greenwood Cemetery LOCATION: Brooklyn, NY Canada Goose Double-crested Cormorant Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Rock Pigeon Monk Parakeet Red-bellied Woodpecker Northern Flicker Blue Jay Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Hermit Thrush American Robin Northern Mockingbird European Starling Palm Warbler Northern Waterthrush Chipping Sparrow Song Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Northern Cardinal Common Grackle House Finch House Sparrow 27 species Michael S. Zablocky Brooklyn, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Hempstead Lake State Park & Oceanside MNSA Birds (Nassau Co.)
It was a disappointing morning of birding at most locales we visited this morning. Robert Moses State Park was very quiet, as was WestEnd/Jones Beach. We stopped at Hempstead Lake State Park in mid-morning but no one we talked to had seen the previously reported Yellow-throated Warbler. We did observe Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers, in addition to Barn, Tree and Rough-winged Swallows over the South Pond. At a windy Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area there were Greater (8) and One Lesser Yellowlegs, two Glossy Ibis, a single Laughing Gull, and five Forster's Terns. A photo of the Yellow-throated Warbler and a few spring migrants can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com.photos/kfeustel/5620221066/in/photostream Ken & Sue Feustel -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 4/14-15 incl. Varied Thrush
Thursday-Friday, 14-15 April, 2011 - Manhattan, N.Y. City The Central Park VARIED THRUSH looks to possibly hang in for a full 5 months - if it stays on into the last week of April... it's still present today (Friday) in the area on the north side of the East 79 St. transverse road and roughly opposite the SW corner area of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the building projects well into the park itself at that point) & in the trees & shrubs along & near the transverse - it's been frequenting this general area more in the past month, rather than the previously favored areas of the west side of the East Drive of the park. It also might be sought around Cedar Hill, on the south side of the transverse and east of the park's E. Drive as it has sometimes moved around that area. Indeed, later on Friday (after 1 p.m.), I found the Varied thrush again, but at Cedar Hill, ranging around quite a bit as various human activities intruded on its feeding, as first noticed in the above location. This thrush is hardly very vocaland I've almost always found it visually, rather than by calls. Central Park's first-year RED-HEADED WOODPECKER may be a bit easier to find, near & lately more often north of the 66 Street transverse road & in trees on the south side of Sheep Meadow or nearby - as it was Friday morning. It now has a good amount of red, making it a bit easier still to locate. It seems not to be particularly vocal. I find that standing well to the east and scanning 'bare-eyed' works for me in seeking this bird. The vantage point I choose is often a bit to the west of the SE corner of Sheep Meadow, looking mostly west or south, as the Red-headed may also go back to working trees on the south side of the transverse, just west of &/or adjacent the Carousel. Friday seemed a bit quieter still (than any previous day this week) but there were certainly lingering migrants from the nice push that took place earlier in the week, and likely some new birds also dropped in as a good deal of migration has occurred even when local weather didn't seem quite as likely to produce flight. The upper lobe of the lake & a bit into the western ramble area, such as north of the outlet of the Gill (stream) to the lake were somewhat active in afternoon and by standing at Bank Rock bay & a few other points just into the Ramble for a total of 45 minutes I was able to see a Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Pine Warbler (male), a few Palm & Myrtle [Yellow-rumped] Warblers, plus E. Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglets a- plenty, a few Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers & assorted other species. A very narrow section of newly seeded grass north of Bow bridge held a Field plus 25+ Song Sparrows, but the prime spot for an afternoon sparrow-watch happened to be on a rock near the Mineral Springs pavillion (food court) north of sheep Meadow where someone had dumped out a hefty supply of what appeared to be mainly cracked corn, which initially was attracting Passer domesticus in numbers (House Sparrows) but from all directions came: Chipping (several0, Field (1), Savannah (1, until a Song chased it down to ground), Song (several), White- throated (3 or 4) and Slate-colored Junco (6+) - all these seemed quite willing to elbow up to the larger more aggressive House Sparrows; and only an unleashed small dog running right up the rock got the flock to disband. Another spot with multiple sparrow species was in the north end this a.m., a larger area newly-seeded & held several Savannah, Field, & many Chipping, Song, & white-throated Sparrows. This was on the SE part of the Great Hill. The north end was, in my experience, a little less active than had been although there were pockets with plenty of Hermit Thrushes, N. [Yellow-shafted] Flickers, and some other migrants. I saw 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets in the n. end, & also saw a total of (only) 3 "red" Fox Sparrows in all the park from C.P. South to 110 St. The reservoir held a couple of Laughing Gulls as well as modest numbers of the 3 more usual gull species (Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed) and there are still well over 120 N. Shovelers there, along with some Buffleheads and Ruddy Ducks. On Thursday there was a single drake Wood Duck out in the middle in the mid-day period. The reservoir on Friday appeared to be devoid of any swallows, while at the Meer in the a.m., there were the 3 most regularly-seen species of Central - Barn (mainly) and N. Rough- winged & a couple of Tree Swallows, all very actively feeding over the entire Meer. At least 2 Green Herons were still present Friday. - - - - - - - On Thursday at Central Park, my impression was that more birds had departed than had arrived, with numbers of migrants such as flickers, kinglets, hermit thrush, warblers and sparrows all much lower in overall numbers than the previous few days. So it's not too su
[nysbirds-l] Mitred Parakeets return to Hillcrest
As of yesterday, April 14, the Mitred Parakeets have returned to Hillcrest, Queens County to feed on cherry blossoms. Today I met Bob Adamo there. We observed 8 birds (there have been as many as 12 so far). Most significantly, we observed a pair copulating. Also of note is that there were no immature birds among the 8, and all the birds had some orange or yellow feathering on the face or body. This unusual plumage may be due to inbreeding or an avicultural morph. I would expect the birds to remain for another couple of days, until the blossoms are spent. The location is 166th St., on the block north of 82 Rd. The trees that the birds feed in are on the left about 3/4 way up the block. If you go, I would appreciate any observations, especially an accurate count. Please respect private property. Seth Ausubel Forest Hills, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] elsewhere in Manhattan, NYC 4/15
In my previous post I used the subject header of Manhattan - I had also visited some smaller parks - as well as Riverside, which did have a fair number of migrants on Friday mid-day. I'm about to head back there - and would post if anything of special note is found - many of the more-common species, including 3 warbler species were present today, along with good numbers of Chipping & other sparrows, & juncos. In some smaller parks in mid-town, a smattering of common migrants on several different days. Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] 46 SNOWY EGRETS @ Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge...
I spent the afternoon at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, birding both East and West Ponds as well as the gardens. Land birds were scarce and nary a warbler was seen or heard. My highlights, were the following: *46* SNOWY EGRETS, *27* GREAT EGRETS, *9* LITTLE BLUE HERONS, **5 TRI-COLORED HERONS**, *28* GLOSSY IBIS, *14* BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS and *2* YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERONS. Also pleasing was the sight of FORSTER'S TERNS in the bay, I counted *15* of them. Other notables included 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS foraging around the shores of the West Pond, with one GREATER YELLOWLEGS loafing nearby for good comparison. Good Birding! Andrew Baksh Queens NY www.birdingdude.blogspot.com -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] NYC Area RBA: 15 April 2011
- RBA * New York * New York City, Long Island, Westchester County * Apr. 15, 2011 * NYNY1104.15 - Birds mentioned VARIED THRUSH+ (+ Details requested by NYSARC) KING EIDER Red-necked Grebe Northern Gannet Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Green Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Broad-winged Hawk BLACK RAIL Clapper Rail Semipalmated Plover Piping Plover Spotted Sandpiper Lesser Yellowlegs Pectoral Sandpiper Iceland Gull Forster's Tern RED-HEADED WOODPECKER Yellow-bellied Sapsucker White-eyed Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow House Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet Ruby-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Hermit Thrush Brown Thrasher Northern Parula Black-throated Green Warbler YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Louisiana Waterthrush Chipping Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Seaside Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Indigo Bunting Rusty Blackbird Boat-tailed Grackle WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL - Transcript If followed by (+) please submit documentation of your report electronically and use the NYSARC online submission form found at http://www.nybirds.org/NYSARC/goodreport.htm You can also send reports and digital image files via email to nysa...@nybirds.org. If electronic submission is not possible, hardcopy reports and photos or sketches are welcome. Hardcopy documentation should be mailed to: Jeanne Skelly - Secretary NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC) 420 Chili-Scottsville Rd. Churchville, NY 14428 Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert Number: (212) 979-3070 To report sightings call: Tom Burke (212) 372-1483 (weekdays, during the day) Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126 (Long Island) Compiler: Tom Burke, Tony Lauro Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County Transcriber: Ben Cacace BEGIN TAPE Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, April 15th 2011 at 10pm. The highlights of today's tape are VARIED THRUSH, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, BLACK RAIL report, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, KING EIDER, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER and Spring migrants. The Central Park VARIED THRUSH, still present today, has birders wondering how long it will stay though it is still being enjoyed as it spends more time now just north of the 79th Street transverse and south of the museum than it does around the maintenance area on the south side of the transverse. The RED-HEADED WOODPECKER also remains around the 66th Street park transverse south of the Sheep Meadow. But Central Park, like other city parks, is also producing an increasing number of Spring migrants. Species appearing now include GREEN HERON, YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, BARN SWALLOW, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, HERMIT THRUSH, BROWN THRASHER, HOUSE WREN, both kinglets with the RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET replacing GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, PALM WARBLER, PINE WARBLER, BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER, CHIPPING SPARROW and SWAMP SPARROW. But the surprise in Central Park was a male BOAT-TAILED GRACKLE, photographed last Saturday in the north end of the park at the Meer. SPOTTED SANDPIPER was also noted in Central Park and some LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSHES are being found in the area. Certainly the warbler of note however this past week was YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER appearing in 4 different New York City area parks. First, a Yellow-throated was spotted last Sunday and Monday in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. This was followed by a Yellow-throated Tuesday at Wolfe's Pond Park on Staten Island and another at Alley Pond Park in Queens on Wednesday. Hempstead Lake State Park produced a fourth Yellow-throated on Thursday near the lower parking lot and also on Thursday the same, or another individual in Prospect Park, was found near the Maryland Monument. Neither of Thursday's Yellow-throateds were seen today. Other Prospect Park arrivals have featured PRAIRIE WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER and INDIGO BUNTING. A NORTHERN PARULA was in Kissena Park in Queens Tuesday and Hempstead Lake State Park has also produced WHITE-EYED VIREO and BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. In Forest Park Queens a LOUISIANA WATERTHRUSH at the waterhole last Sunday joined 5 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS hanging out there. Recent arrivals at the Oceanside Marine Nature Study Area featured YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON, CLAPPER RAIL, LESSER YELLOWLEGS and SEASIDE SPARROW. At Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge herons have included a small number of TRICOLORED HERON and LITTLE BLUE HERON as well as YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and some FORSTER'S TERNS were back as of Sunday. On Saturday 2 NORTHERN GANNETS were in the bay south of the West Pond and it's worth noting that this species is not included on the refuge checklist. Two PECTORAL SANDPIPERS were reported at the bay Wednesday. A couple of nice surprises out on the Jones Beach strip Sunday featured a drake KING EIDER with about 10 Common Eider east of the West End jetty and 4 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS present in pines at the east end of Gi