Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City (Monday additional) ... I received a note from a 'north end regular' birder (Nadir S.), confirming that an Ovenbird was seen singing in the north end of Central Park, on Monday, 4/16. Oh, and the hawk-watch fans likely all know that on Monday, 4/16, Braddock Bay, NY recorded 34,243 Broad-winged Hawks moving by their watch site on the day... with other raptors as well.
- - - - - Tuesday, 17 April, 2012: As the American BITTERN found in the park's north woods was a top highlight (found by Tom Perlman, with add'l. observers later), there were a number of other migrants, including some additional new and/or confirmed arrivals. That species is increasingly uncommon in Central and is not quite annual,with less & less appropriate & quiet habitat for any to be in. The bird was in a tree, which is the more usual way they've been found in the past decade or so, in this urban park. A nice sighting! A Solitary Sandpiper was at the Meer's east shore at sunrise, along with a few Spotted Sandpipers in a couple of places in the park, including the Meer. I also learned of another Solitary Sandpiper sighting, later the same day, at the Ramble-Lake shore's "oven" area. (Anne Shanahan & m.o.b.) At the reservoir for a brief scan, very early on Tues., it seemed the activity on the dike was less than the day before, but that exposed central dike may be worth watching, for shorebirds or other species. I've watched at the water-bodies for swallows, and so far just seen the first 3 of arrivals, Tree, Barn,. and N.Rough-winged, but 2 other species may be coming this month. The Ramble & north woods appear to have again been producing with at least some additional highlights. Wood Thrush was among newly-reported arrivals, and I was able to hear one singing at nearly dusk; that was reported in the morning by several other birders. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was seen at the north end, perhaps the same very early individual of Monday. Also, note that Warbling Vireo has been in Central Park at least since Monday, if not even before; they're on typical breeding territory already (in the park, that is!) House Wrens continue and are also starting to show in areas where they've bred (in the park). Among the warblers noted on the day (by others) were N. Parula, Yellow, Black-and-white, Pine, Palm, Yellow-rumped, and both species of Waterthrush, as well as Black-throated Green, and Common Yellowthroat. There were also at least modest numbers of most of the other expected early-to-mid April migrants reported by various groups or solo observers around the park thru the day. From my own limited very early & very late incursions at the n. end, it seemed as though overall numbers of migrants were lower than on Monday, but species variety continued to be quite good. It might go without saying that for some of the migrants that have appeared in the last month or so, their first arrival dates this year are extremely early, especially when compared against long-term historical date records. There also were at least some species that seem to have overwintered successfully in our area (such as Eastern Phoebe as one example) which is also quite unusual, especially in the numbers that may have been noted overall for the northeast and northern mid-Atlantic sections of this country's land masses. I have seen some reports of overwintered species on coastal locations that are almost certainly unprecedented, if they are accurate (Pine Warbler reports in particular, from east and north of NY as just one example). The pattern may not hold as we move towards the month of May with it's traditional and anticipated flood of northbound migrants, indeed we could even see some slowing of migration's progress if some long-range forecasts have it right. What has been a bit interesting in the most recent (few days) spurt of migration movement in the eastern parts of the continent was how a fair number of "overshoot" birds, that is birds expected, but quite early, seem to have made their way quite far north and for some, also far inland from the coastal areas where we often see a bit of early migration take place (with such species as Y.-b. Cuckoo, for example - and there are many other such species that can be found in such "trends". In this latest, it seems many early-birds may have been wood-warblers, with a smattering of other land birds such as warbling Vireo, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher as just two additional slightly-ahead-of-typical arrivals, recently. - - - - - - - Wednesday, 18 April - A much much cooler start to the day than the previous 2 good migration days, with winds having shifted to the n. again. The Bittern was NOT re-found by those who braved the lonely "ridge" trail in the north woods to look, or in any other areas. An Orange-crowned Warbler was (yet again) found at the ridge area where Tuesday's American Bittern had been, that one seen by N. Souirgi (who'd also noted Monday's north end ovenbird). There was also a sighting at the wildflower meadow-Loch area, perhaps a different one, perhaps not. (As spring progresses. it's no longer clear which birds may represent the few that overwintered, or newly/recently-arrived passage migrants...) In any case, definite spring arrivals of the recent period continue, with at least as many species of warbler being found again this day as on Monday, albeit all others outnumbered hugely by Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers. Among the additional spp. were: Prairie, N. Parula, Yellow, Black-throated Green, Palm, Black-and-white, Ovenbird, both Waterthrush species, and Common Yellowthroat. (this may not be a full list of all.) Wood Duck (pair), female-plumaged Hooded Merganser, Gadwall, Buffleheads, N. Shovelers (4), & Ruddy Ducks all on the reservoir with the "usual gangs" of Mallards, Double-crested Cormorants, and at least 3 gull spp., Ring-billed, Herring, & Great Black-backed Gulls. I did not notice any grebe, nor loon, nor laughing or other gull species. I also did not come up with shorebirds along the reservoir's dike this day, but it will be a good place to look. A partial list combining 2 days (Mon.-Tues., 4/17 & 4/18) at Central Park below: Double-crested Cormorant (many, reservoir & fly-overs) American Bittern (Mon., 4/17 only) Great Blue Heron Great Egret (most often seen at n.end, fly-overs) Snowy Egret (mainly n. end, as fly-overs) Green Heron (at least several) Black-crowned Night-Heron Canada Goose Wood Duck (pair, reservoir) Gadwall Mallard Northern Shoveler (reservoir) Bufflehead (reservoir) Hooded Merganser (one, reservoir) Ruddy Duck Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon (some fairly low fly-bys) Solitary Sandpiper (in at least 2 locations) Spotted Sandpiper (several) Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull (most at reservoir) Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo (2nd day in a row) Chimney Swift (still quite uncommon) Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (fewer) Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker (north woods) Northern [Yellow-shafted] Flicker Eastern Phoebe (a few "lingering") Blue-headed Vireo (fairly common) Warbling Vireo (a few locations) Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow (rather few around) Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow (not abundant yet) Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren (still passing through) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (fairly common) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (not really many) Hermit Thrush (many continue through) Wood Thrush (heard & seen in n. end) American Robin Gray Catbird (v. few) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (more recent arrivals) European Starling ... Orange-crowned Warbler (north end) Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Prairie Warbler (Ramble & north end) Palm Warbler (common) Black-and-white Warbler (several) Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Louisiana Waterthrush Common Yellowthroat Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (many) ... Eastern Towhee (numerous) Chipping Sparrow (common) Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow (more showing up) Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow (still common) Dark-eyed [Slate-colored] Junco Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow 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/ --
