New York City sightings... a Varied Thrush continued in Brooklyn's Prospect Park to Mon. 3/25.
Tuesday, 26 March, 2013 - The Bronx: 2 Black Vultures were seen from the west Bronx, in conjunction with at least several Turkey Vultures, moving north at mid-day. Great Egrets were also around with one moving about the Van Cortlandt Park lake and adjacent marsh, & another Great Egret flying along the Bronx river near Fordham Rd. later on. A Pied-billed Grebe was present along with the more-regularly seen Wood Ducks on that river, and an uncommon sight at the lake in Van Cortlandt Park was a drake Common Merganser. A scan of the Parade Ground ballfields at Van Cortlandt revealed no birds other than several hundred Canada Geese. There seemed not to be a lot of activity in general in the SW parts of VC Park, other than many American Robins, Common Grackles, and Red-winged Blackbirds. A few (at least) Rusty Blackbirds in spring-summer plumage were around the old Putnam RR bed trail in that park,which incidentally was being surveyed for the proposed 'paved' path thru the woods. Several Monk Parakeets were just inside the Bronx zoo fencing (but free-flying & not enclosed), visible from outside the fence near Southern Blvd. and Fordham Rd. Monday, 25 March - Prospect Park, Brooklyn: The adult male Varied Thrush was still there, seen frequenting the east slope of Quaker ridge a bit north of the Quaker cemetery n.e. corner, and visible from the adjacent bridle trail - this is the area where more observations had been coming as the thrush may or may not be as reliable at the Ambergill area, the latter according to many previous reports as well as my very limited experiences there. I have now seen the Varied Thrush at the Quaker ridge location twice, 10 days apart, and it was seen by others on Mon. as well. The thrush had been initially seen in the days following its discovery at the ridge area also. It can be quite distant from the road but if actively feeding it tends to throw leaf litter around, and also hops up or flies short sorties, so with patience it can be located. My Mon. sighting was later in the day, & it seems others saw it in that area earlier. It is a striking bird when seen in decent light. Also having been reported as of Mon. (not by me) was Pine Warbler in Prospect, with multiple reports filtering in there today... additionally both Mon. (& today from reports) have been continuing White-winged Crossbills (on Lookout Hill), Pine Siskins, and Common Redpoll, the latter mainly at the Vale of Cashmere at the park's n. area. My own impression has been of far more birds (or at least more variety & some fresher arrivals) in Prospect than have been evident in Manhattan's Central Park. That to some extent is normal with a tendency of Brooklyn, Staten Island, & perhaps s. Queens to receive/find spring migrants a few days or so ahead of Manhattan or the Bronx; the "location" matters. Many Brooklyn sightings & reports including observers comments & occasional to frequent photos can be found on blogs including P. Dorosh's "Prospect Park & N. Brooklyn birding blog" with 'tweets' from the observers for many sightings from there, heating up as with all birding reports as we go on into spring. The lake at Prospect Park has been enjoying good waterbird diversity in recent weeks and is also worth a look, with good migration weather for passerine birds & others near the shoreline virtually all around the lakeside. Great Egret has turned up there. and in the past few weeks of March: Over the past weeks in Central Park (Manhattan), a slow & hardly steady movement of migrants has been seen, with the most evident (numerically & normally) having been American Robin (in the many thousands on a few mid-March days), Common Grackles (same), and Red-winged Blackbirds (in lesser numbers other than as fly-bys on some early mornings). A few Rusty Blackbirds have passed, not seeming to linger long so far. Great Egret has now been reported; American Woodcock have moved through, & usually another batch push thru in the first few weeks of spring. The feeders in the Ramble have provided (at least) a few Pine Siskin, Purple Finch, and even Common Redpoll (that almost a month ago, to my knowledge) sightings, and a (presumed pet - escape - feral) European Goldfinch which was still visiting as of 3/25. There has been some waterfowl movement with some of the wintering birds having moved along, although many linger such as N. Shovelers, and a few Pied-billed Grebes at the reservoir, amongst other species. At least 2 Belted Kingfishers were at the n. end (Pool, Loch, etc.) a couple of weeks ago in Central, presumed early migrants; I wasn't aware of any wintering. A more-or-less "on-time" Eastern Phoebe seen over a week ago, perhaps the first-of-season in Central, came & went at about the time other phoebes were found in the local region. These ought to become much more common in the week ahead, along with a number of other migrants and arrivals. "red" Fox Sparrows have been singing in small numbers in all 3 of the N.Y.C boroughs' parks mentioned above, & Song Sparrows are becoming more numerous & vocal each day lately. The sight & sounds of Slate-colored Juncos are now all around, and giving some the reminder that Pine Warblers also may soon be heard more widely too... also being seen & heard have been a very modest (so far) number of Winter Wrens. These, and a variety of other fairly cold-hardy birds, may represent individuals that wintered locally or relatively close by. Also having been seen overhead were Turkey Vultures, & at least a few sightings of Bald Eagle in the past month or so, with more of either still quite possible, and general raptor migration picking up. Bring on the flickers, kinglets & more. Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- 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/ --
