Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City Saturday & Sunday, 13 & 14 April, 2013
There was migration both Friday & Sat. nights, with wider diversity & higher numbers overall as of Sat, night for Sunday's results. A very modest vulture & raptor flight was observed overhead on Sunday in addition to the birds seen in the park. The peak hours seemed to be late morning & early afternoon but there may have been some late flight. A fair NW wind is part of the typical pattern that can bring migrant hawks thru this city both spring & fall. For me, the first 90+ minutes of daylight Sun. before the dogs were let loose was superb in the n. end, as many birds stayed out on lawns. Later on such species as Palm Warblers, Hermit Thrush, Chipping & other Sparrows, & juncos were mainly put up to trees by the 4-leggeds & the folks letting them run. Some of the notable species, a couple of them new in Central this year, are highlighted in bold. Some are simply a bit more notable. (It was not the first Brant sighting of the year in Central, for example but they're uncommonly seen there, even though annual in Manhattan's salt-brackish waters.) Easily 50+ birders were in the park, likely double or triple that all throughout, & even or especially so on Sunday. A full list is below for all that I & multiple others saw; there well may have been some additional species. Loon (species, either Common or Red-throated) - several high flyovers Common Loon - several flyovers Pied-billed Grebe - reservoir Double-crested Cormorant - multiple flyovers & fair numbers in the park. Great Blue Heron - 2 flyovers Great Egret - several, in park & also a few flyovers Black-crowned Night-Heron - multiple Turkey Vulture - 8 flyovers, Sunday Canada Goose Brant (group of 6 calling flyovers on Saturday, likely a local movement) Mute Swan - 1 continuing at Meer Wood Duck - 5 Gadwall - 12 Mallard Northern Shoveler - 50+, mostly on reservoir Bufflehead - 8, reservoir & the Pool Hooded Merganser - 3, reservoir Ruddy Duck - few lingering Osprey - 2, Sunday flyovers Northern Harrier - Sunday Sharp-shinned Hawk - several sightings Cooper's Hawk - multiple sightings Broad-winged Hawk - 14 flyovers, fair showing for spring in Central, all Sun. Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin - 1 hunting, Sunday Peregrine Falcon American Coot - 3 at reservoir, 2 on Meer Spotted Sandpiper - reservoir, Sunday (early for Central Park & NY; in April 2005 one was seen 5 days earlier at C.P.) Laughing Gull - reservoir, mid-day both days Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Belted Kingfisher - both days, north end, etc. Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker (n. end pair) Yellow-shafted Flicker - fairly common Sun. Eastern Phoebe Blue-headed Vireo - several seen singing in n. end Sunday Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow - multiple flyovers Northern Rough-winged Swallow- several at Meer, Pool, & reservoir Barn Swallow - multiple, Meer, reservoir, & elsewhere, & flyovers Black-capped Chickadee - few, relative to winter numbers Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1, near Meer White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper - multiple Carolina Wren House Wren - singing, several locations Winter Wren Golden-crowned Kinglet - getting 'scarcer' Ruby-crowned Kinglet - many, some singing Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - several on Sunday Hermit Thrush - increased again to 100's on Sunday American Robin Gray Catbird - wintered Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher - at least 3, several or all likely new this spring European Starling Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler - multiple Pine Warbler - at least 6 males around Meer Sunday, & others Palm Warbler - reinvigorated Sunday: 40+ around north end Louisiana Waterthrush - several locations Eastern Towhee - multiple American Tree Sparrow -1, Sunday, getting a bit late for here Chipping Sparrow - fairly widespread, esp. Sunday Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow - 8+ by Sunday Fox Sparrow - several lingering on Sun. Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow - multiple White-throated Sparrow - many singing & in breeding finery Dark-eyed Junco - 100's, all around n. end, especially Sun. Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark - 1, modestly late, N. Meadow, Sunday Rusty Blackbird - several Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird - several Purple Finch - several, Sat.-Sun. House Finch Pine Siskin - several Sunday, in n. woods, also at Loch later American Goldfinch House Sparrow 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/ --
