[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 3/25 & prior days: B.-t. Grackle & other 'bits & pieces'
One sad note, for those who may have been fortunate to meet the man, or knew his books on "Sparrows of The United States and Canada” and its antecedent titles - James D. Rising has left this earth, passing on March 13th - R.I.P. Jim Rising was born in 1942, in Kansas City, Missouri, and was later in life, and passed away in Toronto Ontario Canada. His intelligence and wit will be missed, & all sympathies to his family. - - - - - - Manhattan (New York County), N.Y. City Sunday, 3/18 thru Sunday, 3/25, 2018 - A female Boat-tailed Grackle is by far the most uncommon & interesting-on-Manhattan-island bird to have been seen & documented all this past week+, for the location. Certainly, this species is present elsewhere in N.Y. City, as a breeder, and also as a somewhat little-noted, relatively scant migrant at times. This female has been seen (sometimes with much effort, sometimes less) at or near the Gapstow bridge at the NE part of the Pond in the southeast ‘corner’ of Central Park. It would be interesting to ascertain which form this individual pertains to, even if presumed that which typically breeds up the mid-Atlantic & pushes a bit into the New England Atlantic coast. From photos some of us have made it appears to be of that most-expected form. There are not a lot of documented records of Boat-tailed Grackle for the island of Manhattan, despite the proximity of some modest colonies in-near N.Y. City. The ongoing northerly winds of the past week, with just occasionally slacker periods (some of these at night, allowing at least a little migratory movement, if not yet of masses of most (non-water) birds, have meant a dearth of new species or a lot of movement as the Vernal Equinox arrived. Yet on such few nights & parts of days with lighter winds, some birds did move along. At least 2 Pine Warblers appeared in Central on March 18, on the Great Hill. Searches on the following days did not find these; a very scant number were also being ‘newly’ reported into mainly more-southern portions of New England & N.Y. state, some of them visiting feeders. It seems plausible that some of these were not migrating from long-way-south wintering places, and there also were at least scant reports of the species suggesting some fairly local wintering, at least in the tri-state area in & near N.Y. City. Some NYC birders will be aware that Pine & even (1) Palm Warbler showed very early on (late winter) at Brooklyn’s (Kings Co., N.Y. City) Prospect Park, now looking as if a slight anomaly in this recent cold-& storm prone weather pattern - we’ll see if that breaks a bit in this coming week. A single E. Phoebe which had been the sole “lingerer” among the very, very few that showed in Central so far, was not seen in the past week in the area of the n. end where it had been fairly regular. Certainly many more are anticipated, soon. Some other (few) birds that showed up in (&/or over) Central Park in Manhattan, this past week included a very few Black Vulture, fair no’s. of Turkey Vulture, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, American Woodcock, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-shafted Flicker, American Crow, Common Raven (2), Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush (few), American Robin, Cedar Waxwing (modest no’s.), [Red] Fox Sparrow, & Song Sparrow. Additionally, seen elsewhere in or just off Manhattan were Red-throated Loon (in addition to more-usual sightings in parts of the inner NY harbor & East River estuary, one on the Hudson River just south of the G.W. Bridge was a bit suggestive of some movement on the day seen & photo’d), Fish Crow (3, upper Manhattan, off Ft. Washington Park near W. 165 St.), and Eastern Towhee (1 at Central Park, & 3 in lower Manhattan, but all possibly overwintered locally, however). A slightly annotated list of some of the sightings of the past 8 days: Red-throated Loon (‘usual’ few in the NY inner harbor (off lower Manhattan) & the East River (to around E. 122 St.) & one photo’d. actively fishing at about W. 165-170th Sts. on Friday 3/23) Double-crested Cormorant (modest no’s. on the rivers, & a few visiting Central Park, esp. the reservoir) Great Blue Heron (not seen as regularly in Central, since the sleet-slush-snow of this past week; 2 fly-overs noted on Mon., 3/19) Black-crowned Night-Heron (regular at The Pond all this week, sometimes better hidden, but often not, esp. early & very late day) Black Vulture (multiple, but at least 3 individuals passing Mon., also seen Tues. 3/19 & 20; Central and Fort Tryon Parks; & N.B. these and the next sp. are of birds that overflew Manhattan) Turkey Vulture (multiple, but minimum of 14 on Tues. 3/20, & at least several fly-overs on other days, Central Park & elsewhere) Canada Goose (plenty) Brant (relatively few, but regular on Hudson & East Rivers) Wood Duck (6 present
[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 3/25 & prior days: B.-t. Grackle & other 'bits & pieces'
One sad note, for those who may have been fortunate to meet the man, or knew his books on "Sparrows of The United States and Canada” and its antecedent titles - James D. Rising has left this earth, passing on March 13th - R.I.P. Jim Rising was born in 1942, in Kansas City, Missouri, and was later in life, and passed away in Toronto Ontario Canada. His intelligence and wit will be missed, & all sympathies to his family. - - - - - - Manhattan (New York County), N.Y. City Sunday, 3/18 thru Sunday, 3/25, 2018 - A female Boat-tailed Grackle is by far the most uncommon & interesting-on-Manhattan-island bird to have been seen & documented all this past week+, for the location. Certainly, this species is present elsewhere in N.Y. City, as a breeder, and also as a somewhat little-noted, relatively scant migrant at times. This female has been seen (sometimes with much effort, sometimes less) at or near the Gapstow bridge at the NE part of the Pond in the southeast ‘corner’ of Central Park. It would be interesting to ascertain which form this individual pertains to, even if presumed that which typically breeds up the mid-Atlantic & pushes a bit into the New England Atlantic coast. From photos some of us have made it appears to be of that most-expected form. There are not a lot of documented records of Boat-tailed Grackle for the island of Manhattan, despite the proximity of some modest colonies in-near N.Y. City. The ongoing northerly winds of the past week, with just occasionally slacker periods (some of these at night, allowing at least a little migratory movement, if not yet of masses of most (non-water) birds, have meant a dearth of new species or a lot of movement as the Vernal Equinox arrived. Yet on such few nights & parts of days with lighter winds, some birds did move along. At least 2 Pine Warblers appeared in Central on March 18, on the Great Hill. Searches on the following days did not find these; a very scant number were also being ‘newly’ reported into mainly more-southern portions of New England & N.Y. state, some of them visiting feeders. It seems plausible that some of these were not migrating from long-way-south wintering places, and there also were at least scant reports of the species suggesting some fairly local wintering, at least in the tri-state area in & near N.Y. City. Some NYC birders will be aware that Pine & even (1) Palm Warbler showed very early on (late winter) at Brooklyn’s (Kings Co., N.Y. City) Prospect Park, now looking as if a slight anomaly in this recent cold-& storm prone weather pattern - we’ll see if that breaks a bit in this coming week. A single E. Phoebe which had been the sole “lingerer” among the very, very few that showed in Central so far, was not seen in the past week in the area of the n. end where it had been fairly regular. Certainly many more are anticipated, soon. Some other (few) birds that showed up in (&/or over) Central Park in Manhattan, this past week included a very few Black Vulture, fair no’s. of Turkey Vulture, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Merlin, American Woodcock, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-shafted Flicker, American Crow, Common Raven (2), Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush (few), American Robin, Cedar Waxwing (modest no’s.), [Red] Fox Sparrow, & Song Sparrow. Additionally, seen elsewhere in or just off Manhattan were Red-throated Loon (in addition to more-usual sightings in parts of the inner NY harbor & East River estuary, one on the Hudson River just south of the G.W. Bridge was a bit suggestive of some movement on the day seen & photo’d), Fish Crow (3, upper Manhattan, off Ft. Washington Park near W. 165 St.), and Eastern Towhee (1 at Central Park, & 3 in lower Manhattan, but all possibly overwintered locally, however). A slightly annotated list of some of the sightings of the past 8 days: Red-throated Loon (‘usual’ few in the NY inner harbor (off lower Manhattan) & the East River (to around E. 122 St.) & one photo’d. actively fishing at about W. 165-170th Sts. on Friday 3/23) Double-crested Cormorant (modest no’s. on the rivers, & a few visiting Central Park, esp. the reservoir) Great Blue Heron (not seen as regularly in Central, since the sleet-slush-snow of this past week; 2 fly-overs noted on Mon., 3/19) Black-crowned Night-Heron (regular at The Pond all this week, sometimes better hidden, but often not, esp. early & very late day) Black Vulture (multiple, but at least 3 individuals passing Mon., also seen Tues. 3/19 & 20; Central and Fort Tryon Parks; & N.B. these and the next sp. are of birds that overflew Manhattan) Turkey Vulture (multiple, but minimum of 14 on Tues. 3/20, & at least several fly-overs on other days, Central Park & elsewhere) Canada Goose (plenty) Brant (relatively few, but regular on Hudson & East Rivers) Wood Duck (6 present
