almost the beginning of May ( long way from El Paso) a bit more diversity, perhaps lower total no's. from 5/1. - - - *A Swallow-tailed Kite was reported by the staff naturalist from northern New Jersey's Sandy Hook, as mentioned in reports from that state's birding list-serves, flying towards Staten Island, N.Y. City... keep looking up! *
Neotropical passerines & some others are now being seen to Newfoundland Canada & even into the western isles of Europe... a fair flight of birds of the neotropical regions is certainly arriving nearer to us, with some already reaching the breeding grounds in the local area (such as in states of New Jersey, Conn. & points farther north) in reports on-line & elsewhere to be heard from ... and there's much more yet to come in the weeks ahead! Overnight conditions are ripe for a decent flight, possibly even a 'fallout' should the rains get to the city by the 6 a.m. hour. - - - - Manhattan, N.Y. City - including Central Park, Riverside Park - plus a few other urban 'oases'. Sunday, 2nd May 2010 At least 29 species of wood-warblers represented the incoming / ongoing diversity of migrants (passerines, in particular) to be found in Manhattan this day. There were many other families also represented in the mix of birds in several larger parks, Central Park being the most thoroughly covered by observers, but with additional sightings at Inwood Hill, Morningside, Riverside (especially it's sanctuary section), and also in a few smaller parks in midtown and downtown areas of the county of New York (borough of Manhattan). There were over one hundred species present in all for this first weekend of May, and a number of 'date' &/or species highlights. Bird sightings between early morning & dusk included: Blue-winged Teal (pair, Central Park reservoir), Glossy Ibis (a.m. fly-over, Central Park, east-west), 5 shorebird species: Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, and Least, Spotted, and Solitary Sandpipers, WHIP-POOR-WILL, near dusk in a section of Central Park north even I rarely venture into, near 110 Street... the bird VOCALIZED once! the area that is nearest C.P. West, 108-109 St.) and... Chimney Swifts, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (at Central, & Riverside, & Morningside Parks), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Riverside Park, skulking north of & above the "drip"), RED-HEADED WOODPECKER (Central Park), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (still around for May), at least 2 Empidonax species seen singing or calling- Least, & Yellow-bellied Flycatcher[s], Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, five Vireo species (White-eyed, Red-eyed, Warbling, Blue-headed, and Yellow- throated Vireo), both Kinglet species (single Golden-crowned Kinglet, bit notable in May in Manhattan), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Wood Thrush, Veery, Swainson's Thrush (heard calling as well as studied in nice views), Hermit Thrush (still a few), all 3 breeding mimic-thrushes (Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, N. Mockingbird), and Cedar Waxwing, and: Warblers - 29 species (plus the hybrid given a name): Brewster's - type hybrid (tantalizingly singing a bit of golden-winged- type song, in Central Park's n. end) Blue-winged (Central & Riverside Parks) Tennessee - (Central Park, 2 locations: near W. 85 Street, & near E. 102 Street, on rather early-ish date) Nashville Warbler (Central & Riverside Parks) Northern Parula (multiple, Central & Riverside Parks) Yellow Warbler (multiple, Central & Riverside Parks) Chestnut-sided Warbler (Central & Riverside Parks) Magnolia Warbler (not many, Central & Riverside Parks) Cape May Warbler (at least 3 in Central Park, 3 locations) Black-throated Blue Warbler (Central & Riverside Parks) Yellow-rumped Warbler (Central & Riverside Parks - and also in some smaller neighborhood parks) Black-throated Green Warbler (Central & Riverside Parks) Blackburnian Warbler (several+, Central & Riverside Parks) Pine Warbler (Central & Riverside Parks - at Riverside's "drip" area, briefly alongside a Blackpoll W.) Prairie Warbler (Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) Palm Warbler (Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) Bay-breasted Warbler (at least 2 present in Central Park) Blackpoll Warbler (12+, Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks - a rather large number so early !!) Cerulean Warbler (the well-watched male singing away at Cherry Hill, in Central Park's mid-section) Black-and-white Warbler (multiple, Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) American Redstart (few - Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) Prothonotary Warbler (not reported by others for Sunday, in Central Park at 'Upper Lobe' of the Lake*) Worm-eating Warbler (Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) Ovenbird (several +, Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) Northern Waterthrush (Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) Common Yellowthroat (Central & Riverside & Morningside Parks) Hooded Warbler (Central & Riverside [singing male, in Sanctuary] & Morningside Parks) Wilson's Warbler May 5 - May 31, Aug 25 - Sep 30 Canada Warbler (2 sightings; singing in Central & Riverside Park's northern end woods) Yellow-breasted Chat (Central Park & Riverside Park, briefly at the "drip" area in shrubs) Many or all of the above seen/heard by multiple other observers, especially of C.P. birds; some of this wave of birds had apparently begun to arrive as of Thursday night, to Friday. *Keep an eye out for Prothonotary Warbler - over a dozen regional locations report them! The species is in a number of locations where breeding is at least remotely possible, too. SUMMER TANAGERS - males in Central & Riverside Parks, at Riverside above the "drip"... I waited 2 hours for that to reappear but it did not thru 3 p.m. at least... and a modest showing of Scarlet Tanager (including one with a hint of wing-bars but still a Scarlet, nothing less nor more...), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (in low no's.), Indigo Bunting (Central & Morningside Parks), TEN spp. in the sparrow 'tribe' including E. Towhee (on a possible nesting territory), & Slate-colored Junco, & Field, Chipping, Savannah, Song, Swamp, Lincoln's (few), White-crowned (3+, Central Park) & White-throated (in a number of small parks as well as the larger ones) Sparrows... Orchard & Baltimore Orioles (on territories), a number of migrant American Goldfinch... and other birds as well. I did NOT hear of any members of the genus Oporornis, but they could turn up any day with these big flights. Trees here are as leafy as I would (ten+ years ago) have expected MID- May. Good observations, 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/ --
