[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC, 5/4
Wednesday, 4 May, 2011 - Central, Riverside, & Morningside Parks, Manhattan, N.Y. City On a rather damp, overcast and increasingly chilly day, after a big "fall-out" as happened the day before, I spent a few hours early in Central's north end, then later on a few more hours starting there and moving into Morningside & Riverside Parks, and ending up again in Central... it was a lot less hectic for migrants than the frenzy of Tuesday, yet in Central Park's north end early on, there were a good number of birds about. I was able to come up with 16 species of warblers in 2 hours of the early morning (5:45 - 7:45) which on a weather day as this was isn't so bad - the more rare and/or uncommon species went missing, although I did find a young (1st spring) male Summer Tanager which was calling quite a bit, in the woods just east of the Great Hill's e. edge (not far south of the Blockhouse) - in contrast to the several male Scarlet Tanagers that were singing (rather than just calling). The farthest north sections of the woods were quite active with the most common migrants, while a bit farther south seemed to contain a better mix of species. In Morningside Park, pickings were thinner, or seemed so, but the weather was already starting to look less productive with the temperature falling even by about 7. I quickly "ran" thru and heard or saw a very modest variety of the most common migrant species, then a rather abbreviated visit to Riverside Park's farthest north fringes - including the area of woods above & past the tennis courts, to about 122 St., which held modest numbers of birds, but most noticeably at least several singing Scarlet Tanagers. Farther south in Riverside it seemed quieter. Then it began raining rather steadily with an increasing NW wind and temp's. back into the 50's. I didn't fare too much differently later on in the day, with the focus again on Central Park, going from north to south, but at least there were birds in a lot of places, and a bit of activity throughout, to the end of the day. It's pretty hard to compare this day with the one before, with perhaps only one-tenth the number of birders out & about, and the weather as it was. Even so, it seemed likely that a great many birds moved on Tuesday night & yet, the day was still quite good under any circumstances, for fair numbers of migrants. It seems that the few who searched came up empty on re- finding the most rare new migrants of Tuesday - such as Kentucky Warbler or Yellow-throated Warbler as seen on Tuesday... & in a really brief look about for the varied thrush, I had no luck on that mega, which could have moved on with the huge wave, although it surprised once or twice already in staying on thru earlier & modestly strong migration nights here. A Red-headed Woodpecker was still present in the same area it's been in, south of the southeast part of Sheep Meadow, just a bit west. I know that a few folks were on the Great Hill specifically seeking Kentucky with no luck; I had tried those same sections a short while before and also later on in the day, also to no avail. (That particular bird could re-surface, as the species has sometimes stayed on in Central for many days, and occasionally began to become more vocal after a number of days of silence.) - - - - - - Some interesting "elsewhere" bird reports of note include a current report of Black-bellied Whistling Duck[s] in Massachusetts, and ongoing reports of a male Garganey in southwest Ohio (with no one yet chiming in on the bird being other than wild). There was a Purple Gallinule in the Washington DC area, in addition to one found a few days earlier on the southeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Pennsylvania - still being seen there Wed. A female Ruff (also called a "reeve") was found in a restricted section of a national wildlife refuge in Stratford, Connecticut. A number of Brown Pelican sightings have surfaced far north of their typical range - a few in the Canadian Maritimes amongst these. A lot of terns (of several expected species) were moving today, as evidenced by many reports, from a lot of eastern North America. Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Linnaean Society Meeting Announcement
THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY OF NEW YORK SPEAKERS PROGRAM Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 7:30 p.m. The American Museum of Natural History, Linder Theater Speaker: Bridget Stutchbury, Professor of Biololgy and Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology, York University, Toronto Title: Investigating the Private Lives of Birds Prof. Stutchbury was the first person to realize that a geolocator--a device that stores data about the times of sunrises and sunsets and can weigh as little as a paperclip--could be used to track birds on their migrations. In the breeding season of 2007, she and the research team she led affixed geolocators to 34 birds--14 Wood Thrushes and 20 Purple Martins--in one location in Pennsylvania. When 5 thrushes and 2 martins were trapped back on the breeding grounds the following summer, the recovered data provided the first look at the complete migratory route of any bird, a look that changed many long-held assumptions. In her talk, she will discuss these findings and the latest information gained from this research. Scott Weidensaul says of Prof. Stutchbury's recent book, The Bird Detective, on which this talk is based, "With her trademark clarity and humor, Bridget Stutchbury--'bird detective' extraordinaire--reveals avian lives of uncommon drama, rife with adultery, divorce, sibling rivalry, lying, social climbing and life-or-death marathons--a peek into a world at once familiar and wonderfully different from our own." In her role as detective, Prof. Stutchbury uses every available means--high tech and low--from DNA analysis and geolocators to the old gumshoe standbys of stakeouts and trailing to snoop into the lives of birds because, she writes, "Studies of bird behaviour are fascinating in their own right but also help us to understand if and how birds can adapt to our modern world. Trying to save birds without understanding what makes them tick is a shot in the dark. Birds are highly social, and their social needs are at least as important as their physical needs." Bridget Stutchbury completed her Master's of Science at Queen's University and her Ph.D. at Yale and was a post-doctoral fellow and research associate at the Smithsonian Institution. She is affiliated with more than a dozen organizations that seek to preserve bird habitat. She has published numerous papers in scientific journals and is the author not only of The Bird Detective but also Silence of the Songbirds and co-author with her husband, E.S. Morton, of Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Songbirds. The meeting is open to the public, without charge. Please join us for what promises to be a very exciting talk. Enter the Museum at West 77th Street. If you would like to meet Prof. Stutchbury before the talk, join us at Gazala's Restaurant, 380 Columbus Avenue between 78th and 79th Streets, at 6 p.m. The reservation will be in the name of Geoffrey. Geoffrey Nulle, Vice President -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Sullivan County -Great Birding
I have been touting South-southwest storms for years, and they didn't disappoint today. I got out very early and hit all the water spots first, knowing if the rain stopped things might pull out. Great birds were in many locations. I birded Kiamesha Lake, Morningside Park, Neversink Reservoir and Swan Lake. Later I finished up with warblers at the Bashakill. Each had its own nice assortment of birds. I called a few of my birding friends and they got out in spite of the weather and we all made out very well. Here is a list of the highlights by location. Kiamesha Lake: Red-necked Grebe Mourningside Park: BLACK TERN (1), Gadwall, Double-crested Cormorants Neversink Reservoir: Ring-billed Gulls (75-80), BONAPARTE'S GULL (7), BLACK TERN (1), Double-crested Cormorants, Bufflehead Swan Lake: Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, BONAPARTE'S GULL (1) Bashakill: BLACK TERN (1), 16 species of warbler highlighted by TENNESSEE, Nashville, CERULEAN and WORMEATING (the later two seen by Scott Baldinger) this brings to 23 the number of species of warblers seen in the last few days. Once I warm up and it hopefully stops raining, I'm heading back out. John Haas -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
