There've been a goodly variety & number of vagrant & less-than-regular species turning up all around the greater northeast, and likely this trend will continue into Dec., in part thanks to bouts of both milder weather (bringing some birders out more frequently) & colder weather (helping to move some birds into new areas thru the period), but with no apparent long-lasting arctic blasts. Some, among many many others, have included a modest spate of Harris's sparrow sightings (VT, PA, New Brunswick Canada are among recent recipients); Townsend's Solitaire (some more cooperative & thus seen by more folks than others, as in Freeport, ME), & even Mountain Bluebird (Lincoln, ME, just reported publicly although found 1 week ago now) & there are dozens of other recent examples: at least 3 of them in Brooklyn, N.Y. City.
The coverage about to be unleashed by birders scouting & participating in Christmas Bird Counts has nice potential for some discoveries, and just in the next 2 weeks (ahead of CBC season's start), a round of mostly-mild weather could see a nice selection of species - some lingering on, with a bit of weather-luck. I hope to read of (& maybe see) some of these as I return from a trip many leagues away from this continent. And one last thing, known to a lot on this list (preaching to the choir), "local-patch" birding can be very rewarding, in a lot of ways... sometimes even by discovering a surprise rarity or simply unexpected, in one's own well-trod bit of bird habitat. - - - - - - - - Manhattan, N.Y. City... in November, 2014 First a few things from today, Sunday 30th Nov. - from a modest round of parks in midtown including the greenspace near Rock. Center at Fifth Ave., Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, & more briefly Union Square as well as v. briefly the Chelsea piers area (for a no-show dove). Also a no-show for me was a look around for a lingering Wood Thrush which had been in the shrubberies near 49th St. for a few weeks, at least. (It could well still be around). Some warblers have made it thru the recent colder weather, & just may eke out the coming weeks to be available to any that seek them in CBC season: Common Yellowthroats at Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, & Union Square Park (1 per park), and the same for Ovenbird, with 2 seeming to be in Bryant (although not seen simultaneously), and I'd bet there are a few other lingering warblers in Manhattan. Also, in Central Park this early a.m., Pine Siskins & Purple Finches continue as they have all month, occ. visiting feeders as a few did this & other days; a variety of other spp. are of course around at Central. Additionals in midtown today included no's. of Hermit Thrush, a few Y.-b. Sapsucker, some Swamp Sparrows, Brown Creeper (Mad. Sq. Pk.), Gray Catbirds (esp. in Bryant & Union Square Parks), and a fair no. of other more usual-common wintering songbirds, and I am sure there are other birds of interest in Manhattan's smaller parks & green-spaces. - - - - - - - As one who appreciates prompt accessible bird reports, I've been quite lax in reporting this past month. The usual excuses can be offered; in any event, these are not mega-rare species and as outlined below, most were known to be in various areas, although reports could be spotty on some exact locations or timings, etc. etc. - but word went out to many of those w./desire to get info. rapidly. (Note - below, no sightings are from Randall's island, which will [and has] offer[ed[ many nice sightings!) A pretty nice variety of birds in the past few weeks, & just the past week, incl. a few that are late-ish lingerers, & would be of further interest should they stay on a few weeks into the upcoming CBC season. Many, indeed almost all of these species seen & reported by multiple or many; a few poss. by just 1-3 observers, esp. for later dates. (the only species listed below I saw none of is Canvasback, so far in Manhattan, this fall.) This is NOT meant to represent a full list of all species present in Nov. in Manhattan. (for ex. there were: Am. Bittern, Bonaparte's Gull, N. Parula, Black-and-white Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, Dickcissel, Blue Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, etc. etc. etc. in Manhattan this month, and there are a fair number of add'l. spp. in reports...) Most of the reports of other species (in addition those noted) were made available on-line to at least one publicly-accessible list as well as some non-public (ie, members-only with no public archive) lists. This (nysbirds) is a publicly- accessible list, with multiple multi-length archives available for view. [N.B., a v. few spp. may have been seen, in part, in the paid- admission C.P. zoo grounds, which can hold wild birds of note in all seasons.] Manhattan Nov. - 2014 sightings have included: Red-throated Loon (N.Y. harbor / lower E. River) Common Loon (flyovers, & small no's. in lower river /NY harbor areas) Pied-billed Grebe (ongoing at Central Park res., thru at least late Nov.) Great Cormorant (East River off E. 100's Sts. sections & points NE, recently) Double-crested Cormorant (many migrants, still a few lingerers end of Nov.) Great Blue Heron (multiple sightings, esp. from Manhattan's north end) Black-crowned Night-Heron (few in past week) Black Vulture (f. rare flyover, on several days in Nov.) Turkey Vulture (multiple, in migration in past 3 weeks+) Snow Goose (mainly smallish no's. noted passing over, a.m. hrs., occ. lower) Canada Goose (v. common, some migrants, lots of locals) Brant (modest no's., various sites incl. Hudson & E. rivers) Mute Swan ( a few sightings, but any lingering?) Wood Duck (max. 12 in Central Park, fewer in last 10 days but still at least 4) Gadwall (increase continues, many locations) American Wigeon (few, in E. river sites on few Nov. days) American Black Duck (not rare but also not extr.common) Mallard (hyper-abundant, common resident; incl.beggars) Northern Shoveler (max. count 240+ in Central Park [C.P.], so far, in Nov.) Northern Pintail (male in C.P. Meer 3 weeks ago, fem. at res. more recently Green-winged Teal (several in C.P. this month, also in a few E. river sites) Canvasback (a few reports, H. & E. river, but unseen by me) Ring-necked Duck (max. 6 in C.P. & at least 2 lingering some while recently) Greater Scaup (few, H. & E. rivers, also distantly from s. end of Manhattan) Bufflehead (many locations) Common Goldeneye (2 off G.W. bridge / Manhattan H. river, Nov. 19) Hooded Merganser (Nov. max. 20, Central Park, up to 8-10 in recent days) Common Merganser (1 drake, Central Park reservoir, Nov. 23-27) Red-breasted Merganser (E. river, & at least 2 in H. river Nov. 19) Ruddy Duck (multiple in several sites, mainly Central Park res.) Bald Eagle (several migrants in last week alone & more earlier) Northern Harrier (few/migrants) Sharp-shinned Hawk (very few lately, f. common in early Nov.) Cooper's Hawk (reg. in several Manhattan locations all month) Red-shouldered Hawk (migrants, earlier in month) Red-tailed Hawk (f. common resident, plus some passage migrants) American Kestrel (multiple wintering residents...) Merlin (occ. thru month, more common earlier on) Peregrine Falcon (quite regular in some locations) American Coot (almost all at Central Park res. so far, max. 6?) Killdeer (several sightings in n. Manhattan) Wilson's Snipe (early Nov., Inwood Hill Pk.) American Woodcock (several sightings, var. locations) Laughing Gull (last seen off lower Manhattan, Nov. 5) Ring-billed Gull (abundant) Herring Gull (v. common to abundant) Lesser Black-backed Gull (adult & 2nd-yr., C.P. res., v.occ., mid-Nov.) Great Black-backed Gull (fairly common in select locations) Rock Pigeon (abundant) Mourning Dove (many still around thru Nov.) Monk Parakeet (in a few select Manhattan locations, Nov.) Belted Kingfisher (occ. thru the month in multiple locations) Red-bellied Woodpecker (common, many in all the larger parks) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (rather low no's. - still more to come south???) Downy Woodpecker (many, incl. some in active migration on some days) Hairy Woodpecker (multiple, incl. a few passage migrants in active flights) Yellow-shafted Flicker (common enough but diminished by end of month) Eastern Phoebe (more than a few thru at least mid-Nov.) Blue-headed Vireo (v. few lingering past early Nov.) Red-eyed Vireo (few lingering to at least early Nov.) Blue Jay (v. good no's. all fall, still moving thru Nov.) Common Raven (a few sightings at n. Manhattan; +reports on southward) American Crow (ongoing) Fish Crow (occ. at a few locations) Black-capped Chickadee (big influx, & ongoing) Tufted Titmouse (massive influx all this season) Red-breasted Nuthatch (only modest no's.. now diminished) White-breasted Nuthatch (fairly high no's.) Brown Creeper (multiple) Carolina Wren (f. common & often wintering) Winter Wren (v. few lingering after good no's. to early Nov.) Marsh Wren (early Nov., all moved on by later in month) Golden-crowned Kinglet (some lingering thru Nov.) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (modest no's. still around to end of month) Eastern Bluebird (multiple passage migrants, a few stop-ins, incl. 1: Nov. 28 in C.P. (A. Deutsch) Hermit Thrush (many ongoing, with a late push evident thru end of the month) Wood Thrush (1, cor. 49 Street, 1 lingering ind., and while not unprecedented, quite notably late) American Robin (up to 5,000 in a morning, SW movement overhead still going as of end of Nov.) Gray Catbird (multiple, esp. in smaller parks where they "stick out" a lot more) Northern Mockingbird (multiple lingering/wintering) Brown Thrasher (several incl. in usual areas on winter territories in larger parks) European Starling (still f. common) Cedar Waxwing (good to v. good no's. on SW migration, some also stopping in) Orange-crowned Warbler (several locations; to at least Nov. 19, and likely later) Nashville Warbler (1 thru Nov. 28 at Central Park; poss. continuing?) Black-throated Blue Warbler (several, 1 to at least Nov. 10, in n. Manhattan) [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warbler (multiple but diminishing rapidly by end of month) Black-throated Green Warbler (thru at least Nov.15 in northern Manhattan) Pine Warbler (several in early Nov. and a few thru at least mid-Nov.) Palm Warbler (western & eastern forms; 1 thru Nov. at Central Park) Ovenbird (multiple, in several parks and smaller urban greenspaces) Yellow-breasted Chat (Central Park, to early Nov., & poss. lingering in Manhattan) Eastern Towhee (some lingering after good no's. into early Nov.) American Tree Sparrow (few, most seeming to be only passing?) Chipping Sparrow (later lingering, 1 at Swindler Cove Park Nov. 22, & also in C.P.) Field Sparrow (a few thru Nov. in some areas, most moved on by earlier in month) Savannah Sparrow (few thru Nov. in some areas, most moved on earlier in month) ["red"] Fox Sparrow (not rare, by mid-Nov. & with fresh influx around end of month) Song Sparrow (f. common migrant, & some winter-attempting lingerers) Swamp Sparrow (still a few in some large & small parks thru end of Nov.) White-throated Sparrow (common to abundant in larger & smaller parks) White-crowned Sparrow (few lingering to/nearly to end of month, C.P. & elsewhere) Dark-eyed Junco (slate-colored form; many lingering & also fresh influxes all month) Northern Cardinal (many) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1 lingering to at least Nov. 8, in Central Park's far s. end) Indigo Bunting (a few still around to early Nov. then gone?) Red-winged Blackbird (thousands in active migration on many days; some lingering) Eastern Meadowlark (very few, early Nov. - with a few reports to at least mid-Nov.) Rusty Blackbird (multiple; max. at least 10 in mid-Nov.; still up to 4 or 5 end of month) Common Grackle (vast numbers in active migration on many days; many still around) Brown-headed Cowbird (regular in active migration; few lingering) Baltimore Oriole (at least 1 thru end of month south end of Central Park; more earlier) Purple Finch (multiple in migration w. poss. max of 150+ in 1 day; and some lingering) House Finch (multiple, mostly in select locations & in modest flocks in those locations) Pine Siskin (multiple, near-uncountable in active migration in early Nov., less so later; some lingering) American Goldfinch (many in active migration & still fresh influxes thru month, many lingering/arriving) House Sparrow (common to locally superabundant; do take some back over to UK & Europe, please!) Good December 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/ --
