[nysbirds-l] Bicknell's Thrush, NYS-protected species (in Central Park NYC, & to 5/18/'18)
Also, a 'last-minute' note that all 5 eastern-breeding swallow species are current (as of p.m./Friday, 5/18) on the C.P. reservoir, esp. as seen from east & northeast portions of the surrounding running-walking track. It’s also worth noting that in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, these ‘5' swallows had been appearing at the Lake in Prospect (King’s County - Brooklyn, N.Y. City) as found & reported & documented by multiple Kings Co. birders afield; in addition, Prospect & their regular & keen observers have had excellent migrants in the past week, with a lot of similar species as widely-reported to this list in Manhattan, also in Brooklyn’s best birding areas; similarly a lot has been found in each of the other N.Y. City boroughs, all of which are individual counties - Queens, Bronx, & Staten Island a.k.a. Richmond Co. and as found esp. by fine birders of each respective county; a collective tally of the hundreds of species seen in the past week in ALL of N.Y. City alone would be mightily impressive indeed, that is, as seen by hundreds & hundreds of quiet & keen observers and well-documented by many. (Tip ‘o’ the hat to Tom Stephenson & all of the B’klyn birders who came out to see many birds in rain & coolth, Thursday in Prospect/Kings County.) There are some super sightings from a number of smaller parks & green-spaces in Manhattan (& surely in other boroughs / counties, also) lately, with some being seen by many many birders, & other, shyer species only at intervals & with luck, patience, & a degree of skill, of course… it is very much worth some time at any smaller greenspace, in particular if any migrant species at all are being found, to “investigate” for additional, & potentially, unexpected birds, at this time of the year, & with the recent type of weather in the (esp., as noted, in southeast N.Y.S.) region. - - - - Friday, May 18th, 2018. Central Park (Manhattan) N.Y. City - a Bicknell’s redux, & etc. For at least a third day in a row (N.B. - also present in the same wider area have been, & still are: Gray-cheeked Thrush C. minimus, as well as Swainson’s THRUSH, Veery, Wood Thrush, & even [quite late for here, now] Hermit Thrush, as was a 'globally-threatened' species, a (single) BICKNELL'S Thrush, Catharus bicknelli — which nests in NY state, in the Catskill Mountains (at high elevation spruce-fir habitat there, for the southern-most global breeding-range of the species) and more regularly and somewhat more widely-distributed in the Adirondack Mountain region of New York state - a single (singing) male of this species, Catharus bicknelli (which also winters ONLY in Caribbean / Greater Antillean islands, esp. in Hispaniola - Dominican Republic & Haiti, as well as on Cuba, Puerto Rico, & sparingly anywhere else as found in research, new & older) - had been seen singing at a location within the Central Park (NYC) Ramble, & observed & documented by several hundred observers this week. A majority of these aural-observational records took place on Thursday, 17th. Rain is, or can be “useful” in the singing of thrushes for daytime listening, and in locations where in a sunny day, hearing-of might be minimal to nonexistent. Obviously as with many songbirds, the first & last hours of light are regularly best for the hearing of many songbird species, shy or less-shy. It’s also fairly regular to have Bicknell’s and other Catharus-genus (& other) thrush, & songbird species, sing from perches during night-time, all the more so in the breeding range[s]. It is fairly uncommon / rare to hear Bicknell’s give extended song in non-breeding areas, with exceptions - such as this recent example that so many serious & quiet observers were able to enjoy. Comparisons with a nearby Gray-cheeked, & other more-often seen Catharus thrush migrants were made, quite nice to have that opportunity and more so with no aural disturbances, in a “noisy” NYC public park as is sometimes found. Rain serves its purposes to birders & also to birds, at times. The Bicknell's is, like it’s close congener Gray-cheeked Thrush, a later-migrating songbird for the region’s ‘passages' of neotropical birds into the northern breeding areas (especially into Canada) where so many of these species / individuals go for the summer's breeding season. The Bicknell’s in particular, as a restricted-range, globally-threatened - a "NY State Species of Special Concern” - (some would even refer to it as near-endangered for, in particular, concerns for climate-change effects / losses of good habitat in wintering & also in summering areas, & potentially in parts of migratory stopover areas, & etc.) should be given as much space - & ZERO PLAYBACK or other audio-playing! - to feed, rest, recover, & move about as is possible within a heavily-visited - by many birders & others - space, as is Central Park, NYC. (the individual in the Ramble has sung of its’ own volition unprovoked & quietly
[nysbirds-l] Bicknell's Thrush, NYS-protected species (in Central Park NYC, & to 5/18/'18)
Also, a 'last-minute' note that all 5 eastern-breeding swallow species are current (as of p.m./Friday, 5/18) on the C.P. reservoir, esp. as seen from east & northeast portions of the surrounding running-walking track. It’s also worth noting that in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, these ‘5' swallows had been appearing at the Lake in Prospect (King’s County - Brooklyn, N.Y. City) as found & reported & documented by multiple Kings Co. birders afield; in addition, Prospect & their regular & keen observers have had excellent migrants in the past week, with a lot of similar species as widely-reported to this list in Manhattan, also in Brooklyn’s best birding areas; similarly a lot has been found in each of the other N.Y. City boroughs, all of which are individual counties - Queens, Bronx, & Staten Island a.k.a. Richmond Co. and as found esp. by fine birders of each respective county; a collective tally of the hundreds of species seen in the past week in ALL of N.Y. City alone would be mightily impressive indeed, that is, as seen by hundreds & hundreds of quiet & keen observers and well-documented by many. (Tip ‘o’ the hat to Tom Stephenson & all of the B’klyn birders who came out to see many birds in rain & coolth, Thursday in Prospect/Kings County.) There are some super sightings from a number of smaller parks & green-spaces in Manhattan (& surely in other boroughs / counties, also) lately, with some being seen by many many birders, & other, shyer species only at intervals & with luck, patience, & a degree of skill, of course… it is very much worth some time at any smaller greenspace, in particular if any migrant species at all are being found, to “investigate” for additional, & potentially, unexpected birds, at this time of the year, & with the recent type of weather in the (esp., as noted, in southeast N.Y.S.) region. - - - - Friday, May 18th, 2018. Central Park (Manhattan) N.Y. City - a Bicknell’s redux, & etc. For at least a third day in a row (N.B. - also present in the same wider area have been, & still are: Gray-cheeked Thrush C. minimus, as well as Swainson’s THRUSH, Veery, Wood Thrush, & even [quite late for here, now] Hermit Thrush, as was a 'globally-threatened' species, a (single) BICKNELL'S Thrush, Catharus bicknelli — which nests in NY state, in the Catskill Mountains (at high elevation spruce-fir habitat there, for the southern-most global breeding-range of the species) and more regularly and somewhat more widely-distributed in the Adirondack Mountain region of New York state - a single (singing) male of this species, Catharus bicknelli (which also winters ONLY in Caribbean / Greater Antillean islands, esp. in Hispaniola - Dominican Republic & Haiti, as well as on Cuba, Puerto Rico, & sparingly anywhere else as found in research, new & older) - had been seen singing at a location within the Central Park (NYC) Ramble, & observed & documented by several hundred observers this week. A majority of these aural-observational records took place on Thursday, 17th. Rain is, or can be “useful” in the singing of thrushes for daytime listening, and in locations where in a sunny day, hearing-of might be minimal to nonexistent. Obviously as with many songbirds, the first & last hours of light are regularly best for the hearing of many songbird species, shy or less-shy. It’s also fairly regular to have Bicknell’s and other Catharus-genus (& other) thrush, & songbird species, sing from perches during night-time, all the more so in the breeding range[s]. It is fairly uncommon / rare to hear Bicknell’s give extended song in non-breeding areas, with exceptions - such as this recent example that so many serious & quiet observers were able to enjoy. Comparisons with a nearby Gray-cheeked, & other more-often seen Catharus thrush migrants were made, quite nice to have that opportunity and more so with no aural disturbances, in a “noisy” NYC public park as is sometimes found. Rain serves its purposes to birders & also to birds, at times. The Bicknell's is, like it’s close congener Gray-cheeked Thrush, a later-migrating songbird for the region’s ‘passages' of neotropical birds into the northern breeding areas (especially into Canada) where so many of these species / individuals go for the summer's breeding season. The Bicknell’s in particular, as a restricted-range, globally-threatened - a "NY State Species of Special Concern” - (some would even refer to it as near-endangered for, in particular, concerns for climate-change effects / losses of good habitat in wintering & also in summering areas, & potentially in parts of migratory stopover areas, & etc.) should be given as much space - & ZERO PLAYBACK or other audio-playing! - to feed, rest, recover, & move about as is possible within a heavily-visited - by many birders & others - space, as is Central Park, NYC. (the individual in the Ramble has sung of its’ own volition unprovoked & quietly
