A few nice sightings in Manhattan parks so far this morning, Sunday 9 Nov., 2014 included a Yellow-breasted Chat at Strawberry Fields in Central Park, near the south-most edge, moving into shrubs a few yards up from the park roadway (not far down from the entrance at West 72 St.) at around 8:15 a.m. -
and a peek in Madison Square Park about an hour later, with a wintry- plumaged Rusty Blackbird remaining there as well. The 3 midtown parks, Bryant, Madison Square, and Union Square (from near 42nd, to 23rd, to 14th Streets, respectively) all held multiple Hermit Thrush & many White-throated Sparrows, several Gray Catbirds & Swamp Sparrows each, a modest number of Song, & at Bryant at least one Lincoln's (near the s. side by 40th St.) Sparrow[s], & also an Ovenbird & female Common Yellowthroat at Bryant, which were respectively at the south side, & the NE corner, when seen. The Rusty BB at Madison, which I thought the "birdiest" of the 3 parks, logical enough as it currently has by far the most & best green space for birds, was in the central lawn area, along with a few American Robins, and asst'd. other species as mainly noted above. I was not in any of these parks for a really long time, & there could well be quite a few other lurking migrants/visitors of the avian sort in any or all - as could be in many small urban green- spaces. (All will be well worth watching as CBC season arrives, and this has been increasingly done by some who participate in Manhattan.) The other birds I noted in Central were mainly of species that have been about, or had recently arrived, including (at the reservoir in particular) Pied-billed Grebe, Hooded Mergansers, N. Shovelers, Buffleheads, Gadwalls, Am. Black Ducks, Wood Ducks (numerous last week, but perhaps some of those moved on), & Ruddy Ducks in slowly increasing no's.; at the feeders were a motley no. of typical feeder species as well as a (the?) Wood Thrush that had been around late last month, another nice species if it sticks, on a CBC. At a few different places, Purple Finch, Pine Siskin, Am. Goldfinch, & Red-winged Blackbirds, as well as a few House Finches, are/were sharing sweet gum seeds in the tree's canopies (not on the ground, not yet...) in the Ramble's western realms, and also in a couple of spots on the ridges above (north of) the Loch/Ravine, that's the n. end of the park. A couple of Am. Woodcock are continuing to show in a few areas, and a Rusty Blackbird has been seen, in the Loch, as well as (different individual) at the "triplets stream" near W. 77 St. and (likely moving about) to the upper lobe area, & also by the cave, and stream (Gill) outlet by the Lake (at edge of the Ramble). In various parts of Central, a goodly number of Hermit Thrush, a modest number of kinglets, with Ruby-crowned seeming predominant, a rather few E. Phoebes (but more than 5), and even a few Myrtle/Yellow-rumped Warblers (which I have seen at the Meer's shore, and (1) by the west side of the Lake. This is just a sampling and there are definitely more birds around now that may be moving, lingering, & of course some resident. It's a very good time (November is) for potential vagrant birds from almost anywhere, so worth a 2nd & 3rd look & listen of anything that seems out-of-place or otherwise strikes one as unexpected at all now. .... As seen from various reports here & there in N.Y. City (& obviously elsewhere, including multiple sites well south of known-typical breeding areas) there have been a smattering & maybe a bit more of some n. species that are wandering of late, including but hardly limited to some finch spp. such as Evening Grosbeak, and even (a few, south of the boreal forest) White-winged (& Red) Crossbills, with some of these in N.Y. City in the last several days. There also is that 1 Gray Jay at Quabbin reservoir region in central Mass. which has been seen fairly often by those seeking since first reported there, and which, as far as I know, is maybe unique thus far this fall in how much it's wandered down from a more northerly resident-breeding area. (indeed if others know of legitimate well-out-of-place Gray Jay sightings, perhaps share to this list, thanks! Any other well-out-of- range n./boreal species now being legitimately seen in the northeast & esp. in NY state, would be of interest, for that matter... the usual cautions on reporting of owls, in particular as well as very large & rare falcons, due to reasons obvious to all by now. thanks to others who've been reporting; 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/ --
