Mon., Tues., & Wed., 18,19, & 20 April, 2016 Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
Wednesday, 20 April - Seeming 'slow' in terms of numbers of individuals, a lot of migrants took off from the park of those present on Tuesday... however there was some variety & with a lot of effort, one could come up with a reasonably good day-list of migrants, of course mainly land-birds as expected now, in Central. A report of a Bonaparte's Gull in Central is always of interest, & it's certainly not commonly found there, however there were a couple of solid sightings this winter at the reservoir, & again as has been seen with that species there, not lingering at all. I'd heard about this latest sighting via a private email. Worth a look-see & photos for anyone chancing by the reservoir Thursday. On CP reservoir Wed. morning were (at least) 15 Ruddy Ducks, 12 Bufflehead, 4 N. Shovelers, 2 Gadwall, 1 American Coot, 15+ Double- crested Cormorants, 1 Great Egret, & Ring-billed, Herring & Great Black-backed Gulls, & a few Barn & N. Rough-winged Swallows (flying around). The reservoir was observed from 5 vantage points from the NE corner to and including the SE corner, with only the east path not being walked. (the search was in part with a thought of potential visiting loons, which are often seen at some point in early to mid- spring, dropping in at the CP reservoir, most often Common and more rarely, Red-throated Loons.) There are a couple of Canada Geese trying to nest and usual all-year Mallards. Birds noted today from all parts of the park, including the n. woods to the Pond & Hallett Sanctuary, & in particular in the Ramble where variety was decent, but total numbers of migrants were quite low, given the date. A lot of migrants have gotten by here in the last week, simply taking a different set of routes as well as much over- flight of at least Central, & perhaps a lot of the city's park spaces. Also worth noting & as observed by a good many birders, with the warm-&-cool weather (including very cool early mornings, & some rather warm afternoons) the insectivorous birds in particular have not been singing lavishly (if at all for some) on many mornings, & esp. in early a.m., and also the feeding-foraging has been often at or near canopy-top levels, even with some species that more typically do not feed & forage at such heights above ground. This has included some of the warblers, as well as Phoebes, & also a couple of other groups of migrants. Also, with pin oak & other trees now not only in tassel, but showing small leaves, there will be more & more leaf-out, which usually corresponds to a bit more in variety of songbirds & kin... we shall all be looking. (4/20): Double-crested Cormorant, Great Egret, Snowy Egret (n. end fly-bys, as is typical there), Black-crowned Night-Heron, Turkey Vulture, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, N. Shoveler, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck (few at Meer in addition to res.), Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, American Coot, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker (40+ all thru park), Eastern Phoebe (present every day this week and in modest numbers on Mon. & Tues., a lot very high in taller trees, which is not too unusual there, as migration picks up and as trees are starting to leaf, with insects in the canopy), Blue-headed Vireo (now in multiple, all areas of the park), Warbling Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, N. Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Black- capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren (still just 1?), Golden-crowned Kinglet (one noted in n. end), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (50+ thru all of park), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush (good no's. continued in a few areas, esp. the farthest NW corner of the park, typically one of the best places for many thrushes in spring), American Robin, Gray Catbird (2), N. Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher (at least several, all sections of park), N. Parula (1, Ramble, not heard singing in a.m.), Myrtle/Yellow- rumped Warbler (40+ thru park, which is very low for the date), Black- throated Green Warbler (1, in Ramble across from the Ladies Pavillion, lake edge, p.m.), Prairie Warbler (near the Castle, singing a little, late a.m.), Pine Warbler (several in n. end as well as the Ramble vicinity), Palm Warbler (40++, these have been far more numerous than most birders comments suggest, as they've been silently active in trees far more than on lawns or on ground), Black-and-white Warbler (Ramble & N. Woods), Ovenbird (1, still in Ramble), Louisiana Waterthrush (multiple and heard singing, the definitive ID clincher in addition to visual cues. I've not seen or heard a definitive "Northern" waterthrush so far, despite being very near where others believe they have seen them - & it is not esp. early by now to have the 2nd waterthrush species in the area... but I have seen no definitive or detailed report, either... & have not heard of anyone observing one sing... all that said the species - Northern - will be the more-common waterthrush in migration in a very short time from now), Eastern Towhee (almost common), Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow (ongoing, but far fewer than Tuesday's most impressive fall-out of these, with other regular sparrows), 'Red' Fox Sparrow (getting late as it gets towards May, but this has been recorded in May in Central), Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow (more common since Tuesday), White-throated Sparrow (ongoing in no's. but a lot also moved on since Tues.), Dark-eyed Junco (not 'rare' yet), N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Purple Finch, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow... and there were likely at least a few more spp. seen in Central today, as well as in previous days this week. ....................... Tuesday, 4/19 - A rather nice arrival, esp. noticeable for a few groups & even a few particular species of migrants, with at least a couple of new-for-year arrivals and reinforcements of some of the more common expected migrants. At least one Chimney Swift was seen, & it's not that unusual that just one, or a very few, will be first to appear, with the more general arrival sometimes a week or more later... also seen was Ruby-throated Hummingbird, happily finding a variety of flowering shrubs, trees, and also many tiny insects on which to feed. It's possible this was not the first day for a hummingbird in Central; I'd heard of a couple of prior extra-early sightings. A much stronger push of passerines, highlighted by sparrows & some warblers, was the main feature of what landed in Central. Rather notable were a rough tally of about 25+ Savannah Sparrows in all of the park with some areas containing little groups of 6-7, & other areas with more than 1, or just 1. Other sparrows also were found, but a few initial mis-identifications seem to have been going on, which also somehow seemed to be happening a lot with the many more birds around. With certainty, Field, Chipping (in good no's), Swamp (in high double-digits), Song, White-throated (many hundreds) and still at least one red Fox Sparrow, plus plenty of E. Towhees & still a good many Dark-eyed Juncos. Warblers of at least 9 species were definitely found, & identified... It might be noted that on waterthrush identifications, seeing speckling in the throat is not a sure way to ID a waterthrush to species, as some Louisiana may show a bit of speckling in throat area, which is much more typically seen in Northerns - although some Northerns also lack this, or have such minimal throat marking as to be all but invisible in field-observations. A combination of visual cues will add up to one or other of the 2 waterthrush species, and of course knowing the vocalizations very well is also highly useful to making accurate identifications. It is very possible to see ether species by this date, although so far the Louisiana is the commoner and is virtually always the first of the species to arrive in all areas where it occurs. Eventually, by May, Northern will become more common as a migrant in the region & in NYC parks more specifically, than the less-common-migrant Louisiana. Warblers noted included Louisiana (minimum of 4 in the park) Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Prairie (2), N. Parula (3+), Yellow (2), Black- and-white (2 or more), Pine (multiple in more than a few areas), Palm (40+ spread thinly almost everywhere in the park, no one small area seeming to have more than 5 or 6 or so), and Myrtle/Yellow-rumped (over 100 in all of the park, with a few small flock-ets of 10-12+ in several places)... and the possible N. Waterthrush which would make the 10th warbler of the day, if correctly identified. (Locations where I photographed single Louisiana Waterthrushes included the Gill & Azalea Pond, the stream near W. 77 St., and the Loch. In 2 of those places the Louisianas also gave diagnostic songs, and all three individuals I got to see gave calls as well.) Vireos of two species were seen by many: Blue-headed & Warbling, with at least 5 of the former, and there was also a White-eyed Vireo in the n. edges of the Ramble, not far from the "maintenance shed". Both Kinglet species were present, but almost all were (& will now be) Ruby- crowneds. The thrushes were all still Hermit, in good numbers scattered all thru the park, with a modest concentration in a few areas where they're typically not as disturbed by all manner of human activities. ...................... Monday, 4/18 - A rather good migration Sun. night, & although a good deal of it went west of N.Y. City, in Central Park on Monday some species were increased, with more Palm & Myrtle/Yellow-rumped Warblers in the park than had been so far this spring. At the far north end of the park, very early in the morning, a modest increase in Hermit Thrush was also evident. An Ovenbird sighting in the Ramble (& at least the 2nd of the season in Central), & other warblers in the park included Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-white, Yellow, and Pine as well as heard-only N. Parula - from high enough that no one's device was being used at 30+ ft. above ground-level in the Ramble (or anywhere else, from such a height in the trees). good birding, & thanks to many dozens of other observers out & about at all hours in Central Park on these days including those I had a chance to bird with. 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/ --
