Tuesday, 16 February, 2016 -
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
An Iceland Gull was again seen on the reservoir in Central Park, this
morning from 7-8 a.m. - on arrival there around sunrise I immediately
saw that large numbers of gulls were present & some more were
arriving, with still 60% or more of the surface holding skim-ice, &
many gulls as well as geese & other birds sitting out on & also near
the ice, as well as in the water. The Iceland (presumed-apparent
Kumlein's form) Gull was in the SE quadrant of the reservoir, &
allowed me half-decent photos with a point-&-shoot, including at least
1 low-flight photo, and was roughly 100 yards west of the east bank of
the res., not far north of the SE pumping station building - it was
lost to view after about 8 a.m. when I'd started to do some scanning &
counting of the many other birds.
More than 1,000 gulls were present after 8 a.m., with at least 700+
already present on my arrival at the reservoir a bit before sunrise.
With the (rapidly!) changeable weather now, it's hard to predict what
the gull situation will be thru this day, much less the rest of the
week, but in general, by later (p.m.) most days the gulls at the CP
reservoir tend to move out and roost elsewhere (and usually not in the
park, but last night may have been an exception.)
As for a smaller similar-to Canada-type goose, one was again present
this morning on the reservoir along with 330+ more-standard sized
'typical-here' Canada Geese. The smaller (& smaller-billed) goose was
in the n. portion of the reservoir before 7 a.m., but in a position,
with many other (larger) geese all around, that made it almost useless
to photo., at least with a point-&-shoot camera. Presuming the same
small goose there under discussion on this list, it has been present
on the reservoir for at least 4 days, perhaps more as the numbers of
Canada geese have been somewhat constant in the 300-400 range, for a
bit longer time.
Additional scanning this a.m. did not turn up any more-uncommon
species; a list of what I was able to find is below.
Central Park reservoir, early a.m. -
Double-crested Cormorant (1)
Canada Goose (330+), and 1 smaller goose, presumed the individual with
smaller bill that has been present recently.
American Black Duck (4)
Mallard (200+)
Gadwall (2)
Northern Shoveler (136, actual count)
Ring-necked Duck (male; in the SE quadrant, sleeping; photo.)
Bufflehead (12)
Hooded Merganser (8)
Ruddy Duck (47; fun to watch some in flight as the moved around the
reservoir a bit)
Pied-billed Grebe (1)
American Coot (5)
Iceland Gull (1, SE quadrant, photos.)
Ring-billed Gull (650+++ with more gulls, & esp. Ring-billed, still
arriving after 8 a.m.)
Herring Gull (150+)
Great Black-backed Gull (75+)
Various other birds elsewhere in Central Park, a.m. -
Great Blue Heron, Wood Duck (male), Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk,
American Kestrel, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Creeper, Golden-
crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (several), Hermit Thrush,
American Robin (80+), Gray Catbird (3 locations), N. Mockingbird,
Brown Thrasher (ongoing in at least 2 locations), Eastern Towhee
(several), [Red] Fox Sparrow (modest numbers), Dark-eyed Junco (few),
Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, and
various other common resident or 'wintering-of-late' species.
good it's-zero-&-then-it's-55-degrees birding,
Tom Fiore
Manhattan
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