Black-bellied Whistling-Duck still being seen in western NY: http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/GENE.html#1282254854 (with apologies if this rarity was already posted today to this list)
A male Summer Tanager was reported at Staten Island, N.Y. City on Sunday, 15 Aug., 2010, via the SINaturaList, a publicly accessible yahoo-groups list-serve. It's always a notable bird. - - - Western Kingbird has been reported a bit south, at Cape May, N.J. today (8/19); also far to the northeast in Nova Scotia Canada, these following several recent reports in easterly areas. - - - Back on Mon. 8/16, a Black-throated Green Warbler was among the (relatively few) migrant warbler species being noted at Prospect Park in Brookyln (N.Y. City) by birders there, posted via Peter Dorosh's "Brooklyn birds" blog. They've continued to see Forster's Terns on Prospect Lake which are pretty neat for "inland" B'klyn & have been ongoing for many weeks there. - I neglected to note that on Tuesday 8/17, at Jamaica Bay Refuge (Queens Co.) a Cooper's Hawk made a low pass over the south end of the East Pond, going east with a Ring-billed Gull that almost seemed to be chasing it. I was a bit too slow to interrupt a chat with a keen birder at the time, and only spoke up as the raptor was passing low into or over the tree-line. This was likely the same bird a few others had seen earlier at the refuge. A fair number of raptors have been noted from the Refuge in this past week, of up to a half-dozen diurnal species. - - - Wed.-Thursday, 18-19 August, 2010 Central Park, Manhattan - N.Y. City - On Wednesday morning there was a bit of fog &/or low cloud, making early a.m. viewing of some smaller birds more difficult at Central. Some activity, as often happens in such weather, was at treetop levels. In any case, a number of freshly-arrived migrants were about & included a few species I'd not seen in the city since spring: Black- throated Blue Warbler and Magnolia Warbler, one of each in the north woods. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo was also in the north, and an Eastern Phoebe, which gave a few somewhat muted calls as if to fully confirm that it was just what it appeared - also about were Eastern Wood-Pewee and a couple of Empidonax [genus] Flycatchers that may have been of the "Traill's" type (ie, either Willow or Alder). In all, I found 9 warbler species with the others being Blue-winged (1), Yellow (1), Black-and-white (4), American Redstart (7), Ovenbird (1), Common Yellowthroat (2), and Northern Waterthrush (6). I'd not be surprised at all to learn of additional species and numbers. In addition there were multiple swallows and swifts up fairly high, the swallows seemingly mostly Barn with some N. Rough-winged and Tree Swallows as well. One Solitary, and a few Spotted Sandpiper[s] at the north end, including the Loch. Ducks included lingering Wood and a few American Black (migrants) as well as the Gadwall which are more regular at many seasons. Green Heron still around (not seen as a migrant yet), with numerous Black-crowned Night-Herons still visiting regularly. Another species which was rather conspicuous - American Crows were in several flocks totaling 54 birds, some harassing a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. - - - Thursday, 8/19, a fairly good migration again indicated on radar loops throughout the northeast, especially through SE NY & coastal areas - and a bit of that was evident in early morning, viewed from the north end of Central... among the indicators of the flight of land birds were the 14 Eastern Kingbirds passing over in 30 minutes at sunrise, plus 18 Baltimore Orioles also moving, of which six were adult males. Of the kingbirds it appears that many (or most) moved on southward, while at least some orioles may have stopped off, with a good number seen in the park - although there may well be a good number of this summer's breeders and offspring still around. A modest selection of other migrants in the north end included a perched Common Nighthawk being mildly bothered by upset robins and some other birds, a Yellow- billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Warbling & Red-eyed Vireos (both species that breed in Central so not definite migrants yet), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 4 Veery, Wood Thrush (which also breeds), and these Warblers: Blue-winged (2), N. Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Black- and-white (5+), American Redstart (12+), Northern Waterthrush (5+), Canada (8+), & a 1st-of-fall Mourning Warbler eventually giving a view at the wildflower meadow among very high vegetation. This one bird took over 30 minutes to give decent views, but eventually my patience was rewarded, this in late morning. Incidentally this now is quite the expected date period for all of these warblers to be moving. This brought a warbler tally for these 2 days to over a dozen species - and I would guess that other observers out looking may have had some additional species as well. A Rose-breasted Grosbeak was my first sighting in Central in a while, and at least 2 Indigo Buntings, which could be local dispersers - as it seems early for appearance of that species on a long-haul migration here, just yet. My wanderings took in all sections, if not all areas, within the park, and I spent at least 7 hours birding in all, plus a bit more time in getting to & from the areas. The bulk of my observations were in the north end but there were some active areas in the Ramble & south end - water was & is often the "key". Another good indicator for fall's approach (no matter what thermometers show, day lengths are lessening) were 34 N.Shovelers counted on the Reservoir in addition to a few Wood Duck & American Black Duck appearing lately. It's become much harder to see Great & Snowy Egret fly-bys from Central's n. end, as numbers build at favored roosting/staging sites elsewhere. And some Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been moving, actually since earlier in August but more frequent over this past week - it's worth checking each for possible "non-Rubys"! A lot more migration of all sorts of species is anticipated over the next week, especially if predicted northerly winds come thru; even if some areas don't get all that wind, birds will be moving! At dusk Thursday, around 7:50 thru 8 pm, 4 Common Nighthawks flew S/SW over Riverside Park in Manhattan near West 120 Street (seen from near Grant's Tomb, located immediately to the north). Riverside Park has seemingly had fewer migrants stopping in than has Central Park but that may be unfair, as I rarely expend the same effort at Riverside looking for birds... Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
