Sunday, 2 January 2011 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City In the early morning, the Varied Thrush was not found in the "usual" areas, nor were there any birds there, almost all of the flock activity being a bit south, by up to several hundred yards. All seeking the thrush may wish to try the strategy of simply looking in the area the bird has more often been reported from; I am also interested in just how far out of that area it has been ranging - I think it may go to areas as far as 1/4-mile or so away at times. It will be interesting to see how long this bird lingers in Central, potentially an April departure if it sticks until then.
In the sweet gum trees & on the ground in the western half of the Ramble were approximately 150 American Goldfinches and several Pine Siskins, along with a small flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, for a while in mid-afternoon. On looking at the feeders a bit farther east in the area, the young Cooper's Hawk was again up to it's daily (or near daily) hunting rounds, keeping things a bit quiet. The birds usually come back fairly quickly once that raptor leaves, unless the hour is already late. It will be interesting to see if any redpolls show up in Central in coming weeks, with many having invaded northern NY thru New England, and fair numbers being seen within a short way from the NYC region. A brightly-plumaged adult Chipping Sparrow was again found in and next to the Conservatory garden's NW sections - this species is actually as unusual, or more so, for the winter date, as is the lingering/ wintering first-year (non-red-headed) Red-headed Woodpecker that continues just north of the 66 Street transverse road and south of Sheep Meadow. (More Red-headed Woodpeckers have overwintered in Central Park than have Chipping Sparrows.) In the Loch, an American Woodcock is perhaps lingering as I not only saw one again there but ran across other observers who had seen one, "over the past week +". There were as many as 1,500 gulls again around the reservoir, and scanning thru all could be worthwhile, something I barely started on today. On a sky-watch, from the North Meadow area, 2 Turkey Vultures went southeast across the park, perhaps moving east enough to be heading over Queens County... Many areas are re-opened with the big thaw and melting away of the "blizzard" snows. It was, at least for some Manhattan folks, no major storm as seen in years past. Some of those were still in strong evidence many weeks, even months, later... 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/[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/ --
