Wednesday, 10 March, 2010 - Central Park & Manhattan, N.Y. City At Central Park in Manhattan, not too much in the way of arrivals, although migrants have passed by & thru over the last 10 days or so... and just today, at the park's far north end (specifically on the "ridge" a bit south of the Blockhouse, and on the path a short way uphill / north of the Loch) were two separate Eastern Phoebes: each singing a bit - the first one (seen) could be heard at the same time after the second was in view. These still fairly early- most can be expected in the last week of March well into April... yet there have almost always been a few moving up well ahead, and in some years early phoebes reported in NY state are fairly far inland. On the regional bird-lists, one eager eastern phoebe was noted at a Rhode Island site today.
Of other apparently recent arrivals, a couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets, one reported Tuesday, and 3 in one area today (Wed.) along the Great Hill. Also today as in many recent days, a smallish stream of blackbirds, that is icterids, seemingly made up primarily of Common Grackle flocks, with far lesser numbers of Red-winged Blackbird and a very few Rusty Blackbirds, plus (just today) 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds - which more typically come along a bit later than the first grackles or red-winged blackbirds, arriving before spring is fully sprung. The other signs of spring have included a fairly good movement of waterbirds, but most of that (thru Central Park, that is) have been quick stopovers with not that many lingerers so far - and there also has been very stubborn skim-ice on waterbodies, even as of today the reservoir was more covered than not by a slushy layer in the earliest daylight hours - this after 100 hours of temperatures above freezing and 4 days of sunny, 55-60 high temp's. in N.Y.C. American Woodcock have seemingly been very scarce so far in Central, despite more & more being seen & heard in many locations north of NYC over the past week or more. At least 3 had been flushed (accidentally) off woods paths some days ago in the park; perhaps others have moved thru but not been well-reported or widely seen. Another species that has passed thru but barely seems to have stopped in so far at Central Park - 2 Killdeer were at the Sheep Meadow in early morning of Sat. March 6th, but could not be found there or anywhere else in Central later that day or since - the species is certainly much harder to come by as a passage migrant in this park that it once was, for a variety of reasons (likewise for a number of "field" birds such as horned larks etc.) There have also been some very modest flights of American Robins, with up to several hundred noted a few different mornings, but even with these a majority so far have not lingered. A few small flocks of Cedar Waxwings have been seen, these not expected in large numbers until much later spring anyhow. The sparrow numbers have changed, but almost imperceptibly so far, with also more singing by the few Fox, greater numbers of Song and especially White-throated Sparrows. One modest surprise today was a single Chipping Sparrow, seen singing near Cedar Hill, while a couple of (uncommon in Central) American Tree Sparrows linger on at the Ramble feeding area & nearby. A modest flock of Dark-eyed Juncos have continued in the north end & small numbers continued elsewhere. A Brown Thrasher remains in the areas including both sides of the W. Drive at Tanner's Spring, the Winterdale Arch and to the east & north of those sites as well; a couple of Hermit Thrushes have been seen, probably still representing ones that overwintered in the park or very near, but in the month of March that thrush species will increase greatly, mostly towards month's end... Among the waterbirds so far noted - Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron (1, Meer), Double-crested Cormorant (occasional at reservoir in past 10 days), Wood Duck (pair at the Pond today, but have been moving about), Bufflehead (up to 30, with at least 20 on the reservoir this morning), Gadwall (in varying numbers generally fewer than 10, park-wide), N. Shoveler (down to under 30 after a brief appearance of about 60 last week), Hooded Merganser (up to 10 or more, and at least 5 today), plus small numbers of Ruddy Ducks at the Meer (so far) - and the usual 3 gull species in varying numbers, fewer lingering just now at the reservoir with diminished ice - maximum about 900+, & some days less than 100 at a time. There have been a few Turkey Vulture flyovers mostly later in recent days and also a few Snow Goose flyovers in early mornings, along with a few notable flights of Canada Geese that appeared to be moving beyond very local (ie, manhattan waters) sites. Raptors seen lately at Central include the local Red-tailed Hawks, American Kestrels and occasional Peregrine sorties in or over the park, as well as a couple of Cooper's Hawks - with some other raptors (species) migrations gearing up quite fully this month on into April... not so much commented on lately, American Crows were in numbers a few times, with a high count of 48 at one time (38 of these playing around at Sheep Meadow) on Friday, March 5th... the nasal calls of Fish Crow also should be listened for, as some could be on the move right about now. I haven't been able to come up with lingering Rusty Blackbirds in Central so far; they're less common in recent years here than before, but have many weeks now to put in some appearances and perhaps stay for a bit. If the weather forecasts go as predicted (yeah, right!), there may be a bit of spring migration by the vernal equinox this year. On Wednesday, March 10th: at least 52 species in Central Park. <> A pair of Monk Parakeets is hanging in at a nest site in a Manhattan park. Also being seen in that neighborhood, although not as regularly (?) have been ravens, which do seem to be more regular lately in the Bronx. This species might soon become a real NYC resident as they continue their southward & coastal movements which have been ongoing for many years - Poe's ghost may yet find them at his once-upon-a-time big city haunts... <> Good end-of-winter 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/[email protected]/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/ --
