[nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 3/22

2017-03-22 Thread Thomas Fiore 
This U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service article links to many wonderful tributes to a 
great American ornithologist -
https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2017/3/21/Renowned-FWS-Ornithologist-Chandler-Robbins-Dies
 


- - - - - - - - - - - -
Wednesday, 22 March, 2017 
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City 

On a 2nd (full) day of spring, that wind-chill & actual air temperature felt a 
bit wintry even as snow piled up just a few days before has been melting, most 
gone from this melting-pot-city park… (those under a certain age may look up 
“melting pot”) - 

4 Killdeer were out on the south side of the Sheep Meadow in afternoon, at 
least one either ‘standing guard’ or simply transfixed by the views of an upper 
Manhattan sky-line… while the other three fed, somehow in rather chilled, but 
not entirely-frozen (at that hour) ground.  The number of American Robins in 
the southern third of the park was approximately 100 times that of these 4 
killdeer - yet as I made my way, against a lot of the wind, thru the park 
towards the north and then west, the numbers of robins seemed to diminish, a 
lot.  In keeping with that theme, overall in the past few days, it seemed a 
great many birds that had been arriving, and perhaps a few of those wintering, 
have pushed on, after the storm loosened it’s snowy grip a bit. There are 
certainly few if any E. Phoebes in the past several days, & no signs of Pine 
Warblers I’ve been able to detect again, & precious few[er] Fox Sparrows, or 
Juncos, or of course - woodcocks… as so many of the latter, for which there 
were survivors and at least some that gained a bit - fed & fattened a little - 
and managed to move on, towards or to breeding grounds.  Of waterfowl, many 
ducks seem to have moved on as well - oh, there are N. Shovelers galore still 
to be seen, and also a fair number of Ruddys, and even still today, an American 
Wigeon, a few Wood Ducks, a Pintail, & assorted others, as well as coots, a 
pied-billed grebe or two, and a motley few more waterbirds… but that next 
‘wave’, the one that shows spring really has arrived here, will await… lots of 
buds and blooms are waiting as well… & with any bit of warmth beyond the freeze 
we are (briefly?) in now, many insects are awaiting emergence too.

The Red-headed Woodpecker ,now in good coming-of-age color, is continuing in 
the area just west of East 68th Street within the park; in mid-afternoon today, 
its’ chatters seemed to be saying “enough with this wind, already”…   A (lone?) 
Purple Finch sat & gave some song (in a female-type plumage) from a perch in 
the eastern edge of the Ramble.

———
"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." - 
Frederick Douglass, American.

Good birding,

Tom Fiore,
manhattan
--

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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--

[nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 3/22

2017-03-22 Thread Thomas Fiore 
This U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service article links to many wonderful tributes to a 
great American ornithologist -
https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2017/3/21/Renowned-FWS-Ornithologist-Chandler-Robbins-Dies
 


- - - - - - - - - - - -
Wednesday, 22 March, 2017 
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City 

On a 2nd (full) day of spring, that wind-chill & actual air temperature felt a 
bit wintry even as snow piled up just a few days before has been melting, most 
gone from this melting-pot-city park… (those under a certain age may look up 
“melting pot”) - 

4 Killdeer were out on the south side of the Sheep Meadow in afternoon, at 
least one either ‘standing guard’ or simply transfixed by the views of an upper 
Manhattan sky-line… while the other three fed, somehow in rather chilled, but 
not entirely-frozen (at that hour) ground.  The number of American Robins in 
the southern third of the park was approximately 100 times that of these 4 
killdeer - yet as I made my way, against a lot of the wind, thru the park 
towards the north and then west, the numbers of robins seemed to diminish, a 
lot.  In keeping with that theme, overall in the past few days, it seemed a 
great many birds that had been arriving, and perhaps a few of those wintering, 
have pushed on, after the storm loosened it’s snowy grip a bit. There are 
certainly few if any E. Phoebes in the past several days, & no signs of Pine 
Warblers I’ve been able to detect again, & precious few[er] Fox Sparrows, or 
Juncos, or of course - woodcocks… as so many of the latter, for which there 
were survivors and at least some that gained a bit - fed & fattened a little - 
and managed to move on, towards or to breeding grounds.  Of waterfowl, many 
ducks seem to have moved on as well - oh, there are N. Shovelers galore still 
to be seen, and also a fair number of Ruddys, and even still today, an American 
Wigeon, a few Wood Ducks, a Pintail, & assorted others, as well as coots, a 
pied-billed grebe or two, and a motley few more waterbirds… but that next 
‘wave’, the one that shows spring really has arrived here, will await… lots of 
buds and blooms are waiting as well… & with any bit of warmth beyond the freeze 
we are (briefly?) in now, many insects are awaiting emergence too.

The Red-headed Woodpecker ,now in good coming-of-age color, is continuing in 
the area just west of East 68th Street within the park; in mid-afternoon today, 
its’ chatters seemed to be saying “enough with this wind, already”…   A (lone?) 
Purple Finch sat & gave some song (in a female-type plumage) from a perch in 
the eastern edge of the Ramble.

———
"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." - 
Frederick Douglass, American.

Good birding,

Tom Fiore,
manhattan
--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm
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ARCHIVES:
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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/

--

[nysbirds-l] Rough-legged Hawks Suffolk

2017-03-22 Thread d Futuyma 
For about an hour late this afternoon, i watched two Rough-legged Hawks at 
Epcal property, presumably the same birds that were reported yesterday. The 
dark morph was repeatedly seen along the runway just west of the cross-drive. 
The light morph was seen from Line Road access point, kiting and hovering a 
considerable distance to the east. Probably the same bird was later beat the 
dark bird, well to the east.
Doug Futuyma

Sent from my iPhone
--

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ARCHIVES:
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3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] Rough-legged Hawks Suffolk

2017-03-22 Thread d Futuyma 
For about an hour late this afternoon, i watched two Rough-legged Hawks at 
Epcal property, presumably the same birds that were reported yesterday. The 
dark morph was repeatedly seen along the runway just west of the cross-drive. 
The light morph was seen from Line Road access point, kiting and hovering a 
considerable distance to the east. Probably the same bird was later beat the 
dark bird, well to the east.
Doug Futuyma

Sent from my iPhone
--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm
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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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--

[nysbirds-l] Chandler S. Robbins: 1918-2017

2017-03-22 Thread Joe DiCostanzo 
Ornithologist and birding legend Chandler S. Robbins died yesterday at the age 
of 98. Birders are probably most familiar with Chandler Robbins as the author 
(with Bertel Bruun and Herbert Zim) of the groundbreaking Birds of North 
America: A Guide to Field Identification, illustrated by Arthur Singer, 
published in 1966 - often called by birders, the "Singer Guide" or the "Golden 
Guide". Chan joined the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a biologist in 1945 
and retired in 2005 from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel 
Maryland, after sixty years with the Service. He organized and for decades ran 
the annual North American Breeding Bird Survey. He was also an active bird 
bander and in 1956 banded a Laysan Albatross on Midway Island in the Pacific 
that has come to be nicknamed "Wisdom". The albatross is now the oldest banded 
wild bird in the world and in 2017 was still nesting on Midway. Since the bird 
was an adult when it was banded, it is at least 66 years old. Chan was awarded 
the Eisenmann Medal by the Linnaean Society of New York in 1987 for "excellence 
in ornithology and encouragement of the amateur". Since Chan was based in 
Maryland for most of his career, many New York birders may not have known him 
personally, but all have been influenced by his life and work, whether they 
knew him or not. Those who had the fortune to meet him know what a great person 
he was. A true legend.

--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm
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ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/

--

[nysbirds-l] Chandler S. Robbins: 1918-2017

2017-03-22 Thread Joe DiCostanzo 
Ornithologist and birding legend Chandler S. Robbins died yesterday at the age 
of 98. Birders are probably most familiar with Chandler Robbins as the author 
(with Bertel Bruun and Herbert Zim) of the groundbreaking Birds of North 
America: A Guide to Field Identification, illustrated by Arthur Singer, 
published in 1966 - often called by birders, the "Singer Guide" or the "Golden 
Guide". Chan joined the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a biologist in 1945 
and retired in 2005 from the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel 
Maryland, after sixty years with the Service. He organized and for decades ran 
the annual North American Breeding Bird Survey. He was also an active bird 
bander and in 1956 banded a Laysan Albatross on Midway Island in the Pacific 
that has come to be nicknamed "Wisdom". The albatross is now the oldest banded 
wild bird in the world and in 2017 was still nesting on Midway. Since the bird 
was an adult when it was banded, it is at least 66 years old. Chan was awarded 
the Eisenmann Medal by the Linnaean Society of New York in 1987 for "excellence 
in ornithology and encouragement of the amateur". Since Chan was based in 
Maryland for most of his career, many New York birders may not have known him 
personally, but all have been influenced by his life and work, whether they 
knew him or not. Those who had the fortune to meet him know what a great person 
he was. A true legend.

--

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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/

--

[nysbirds-l] Massapequa Goshawk (Nassau County)

2017-03-22 Thread Robert Taylor 
I saw the continuing  immature Northern Goshawk again a little while ago at
the preserve.  Was in the dense woods a little north of jersulalem ave,
seen from the west trail.

Rob in Massapequa

--

NYSbirds-L List Info:
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ARCHIVES:
1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/

--

[nysbirds-l] Massapequa Goshawk (Nassau County)

2017-03-22 Thread Robert Taylor 
I saw the continuing  immature Northern Goshawk again a little while ago at
the preserve.  Was in the dense woods a little north of jersulalem ave,
seen from the west trail.

Rob in Massapequa

--

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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/

--