Date: Friday, 22 July 2011 (1:50p-7:10p) Location: Manhattan - Swindler Cove Park & Sherman Creek Reported by: Ben Cacace
This 5 acre upper Manhattan park is situated along the Harlem River at the end of Dyckman St. & 10th Avenue across the island from Fort Tryon Park. The only bird I noticed not opening its bill due to the heat was the KILLDEER. It was feeding on the mudflats east of the compost alley. The 2 SPOTTED SANDPIPERS were a bit shy. They were seen at a distance or flying across Sherman Creek or the Harlem River. A YELLOW WARBLER was seen several times in the park. It was very quiet. A family of 5 CEDAR WAXWINGS were tending to at least 2 begging juveniles seen in the park and along the creek. The juvenile RED-TAILED HAWK was hunting in the park and caught prey small enough to easily carry off in its right talon. ** Total species - 30 ** May-July checklists [7]: - # of birds seen on the last 7 trips were 36, 35, 35, 32, 34, 32 & 30 respectively for a combined total of 46. - Additional birds seen [1]: KILLDEER - Birds missed [16]: American Black Duck, Red-throated Loon, Osprey, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Hairy Woodpecker, Alder/Willow Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Northern Mockingbird, Blackpoll Warbler, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, House Finch Last 3 birds seen: Cedar Waxwing, American Crow & Northern Flicker Weather for 22-Jul for Central Park, NY (1:51p-6:51p) < http://tinyurl.com/3vw4l3r >: - Conditions: Clear - Partly Cloudy - Temperature: 102.9 to 99.0 F / Heat index: 112.4 to 104.2 - Wind direction: West - Variable - Wind speed: 4 - 9 mph (no gusts reported) Abundance categories from 'The New York City Audubon Society Guide to Finding Birds in the Metropolitan Area' published 2001. Abundance season is 'early Fall', mid July - mid September, and applies to all of New York City. 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [12 spp]: - Great Egret - 2 on Sherman Creek - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 3 incl. adult, 1st summer & juvenile - Red-tailed Hawk - 2 incl. juv. w/prey & adult over The Bronx - Killdeer - 1 on the mudflats bordering - Spotted Sandpiper - 2 very active feeding together & flying across creek & river - Chimney Swift - 1 - Downy Woodpecker - 1 female - Northern Flicker - 1 male - Cedar Waxwing - Family of 5 incl. at least 2 juveniles - Yellow Warbler - 1 seen several tiems - Northern Cardinal - 2+ - American Goldfinch - 1+ heard & seen several times in the park 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [18 spp]: - Canada Goose - 32+ - Mallard - 22 plus incl. several families of various ages - Double-crested Cormorant - 2 adults - Ring-billed Gull - 30+ - Herring Gull - 4+ - Great Black-backed Gull - 2+ incl. an adult & subadult - Rock Pigeon - 3+ - Mourning Dove - 2+ - Blue Jay - 1 heard - American Crow - 2 heading N from Sherman Creek - Barn Swallow - 4 together seen throughout the day - American Robin - 12+ - Gray Catbird - 6+ - European Starling - 150+ incl a partial albino with white tail & wings - Song Sparrow - 6+ seen & heard incl. 4 feeding on the mudflats - Red-winged Blackbird - 2 males seen & heard - Common Grackle - 4+ - House Sparrow - 12+ Taxonomic order: - Canada Goose - 32+ - Mallard - 22 plus incl. several families of various ages - Double-crested Cormorant - 2 adults - Great Egret - 2 on Sherman Creek - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 3 incl. adult, 1st summer & juvenile - Red-tailed Hawk - 2 incl. juv. w/prey & adult over The Bronx - Killdeer - 1 on the mudflats bordering - Spotted Sandpiper - 2 very active feeding together & flying across creek & river - Ring-billed Gull - 30+ - Herring Gull - 4+ - Great Black-backed Gull - 2+ incl. an adult & subadult - Rock Pigeon - 3+ - Mourning Dove - 2+ - Chimney Swift - 1 - Downy Woodpecker - 1 female - Northern Flicker - 1 male - Blue Jay - 1 heard - American Crow - 2 heading N from Sherman Creek - Barn Swallow - 4 together seen throughout the day - American Robin - 12+ - Gray Catbird - 6+ - European Starling - 150+ incl a partial albino with white tail & wings - Cedar Waxwing - Family of 5 incl. at least 2 juveniles - Yellow Warbler - 1 seen several tiems - Song Sparrow - 6+ seen & heard incl. 4 feeding on the mudflats - Northern Cardinal - 2+ - Red-winged Blackbird - 2 males seen & heard - Common Grackle - 4+ - American Goldfinch - 1+ heard & seen several times in the park - House Sparrow - 12+ -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
