Weather is playing some havoc with the birds many are watching recently. A surge of tropical air* is responsible for bringing so many species that winter in the Caribbean (islands) basin, as well as in Central & even a few species from South America into this region. A lot of these birds are a week or so earlier than any more-typical early dates, & some species are as much as 2 weeks ahead of what has been seen as typical peak dates (which may still hold despite what we are seeing the past couple of days, wit hints at this scenario over a week ago). What is certain is that most of these arriving birds are going to be under a LOT of stress, trying to feed & get ready for the further migration, as well as the courtship / breeding season, with the weather change that is about to occur region-wide, and of course from their very long migrations, despite & in addition to any "tail" winds they may have had. [*if some were unaware, temperatures got in the mid-80's F. today, in areas as nearby as central N.J. & Penn., while in the great North Country of NY & New England's northerly regions, it was snow on the lilacs (or whatever was already locally in bloom up north) - perhaps fun & unique to see but a stress to any arriving migrants, from "summer" to "winter" in an overnight or two. This is unusual weather, not altogether best for birders even while we are excited to see what is showing up.
It should be obvious, these birds need to feed & obtain rest, ahead of the onward migration & the breeding time, and all that we as observers can do to allow them just that, & not disturb to any unnecessary extent - which means, not playing their songs & calls to any extent, & not approaching for views or photos if the bird[s] move off at the observer's approach. This is not just common-sense, it's also intelligent conservation science. Every action does make a difference to the lives of these migratory creatures, & we can be good models of best behavior with our fellow observers of the migrations. This should be (& is in many public recreational places in this nation) the law as well. The ban on playing of recordings in many highly-birded areas (also many places around the globe) is in place for good & scientifically-sound reasons! ............................ Tuesday, 26 April, 2016 - Manhattan island, New York City (with emphasis on central sections of the island) A serious storm system passed over the region as a very strong migration was underway late Monday night into Tues. morning... that storm crossed parts of this area in the wee hours of the morning, roughly 2 hours before the first-light, or perhaps 3 hours ahead of sunrise hour in the NYC area. Fall-out-like conditions were to be seen in some places in the greater region, but it's not clear that that much of that was (or was not) found in NYC, or in particular in Manhattan... it certainly did not seem so in lower Manhattan, as I visited a half-dozen of the smaller parks in midtown - into the W. Village, as well as portions of Central & Riverside Parks in the morning. (My passage thru parks such as Bryant, Madison Square, Union Square, Washington Square, & a couple of other parks & green-spaces as well as the Hudson River greenway path and adjacent park-space was limited to at most 20 minutes per, other than the lengthy greenway to northern Riverside Park, & not as thorough as could've; had their clearly been fall-out of birds in any of these places, my visits could have extended significantly. I did note some thrush & sparrow activity, and what I'd call rather limited warbler activity (the latter relevant to what's been going on in Central the last 2 days!) in both Madison & Union Square[s], with even at least 2 thrush species (Wood & Hermit, mainly the latter) in each, as well as some sparrow variety (Chipping, Swamp, a Field or two, & a prob. Lincoln's glimpsed in Union Square, with of course White- throateds in no's. and some Song hanging in), while at Bryant, it felt as if the winter's birds were still there, with a few Gray Catbirds, a couple of E. Towhees, and the usual sort of sparrows, & more Hermit Thrushes. A more skilled & attentive observer might have found, well, who knows, but things were on the quieter side (again, by relevant comparisons) from the early hours I was in these small parks. The weather had a role again as the day went on, & there were surely some birds, even all those passerine and kin-birds, going on thru the mist & making way towards more wide-open-treed places to the n. of the urban oases. The simple thing is, there often ain't enough food in these early-spring days, as "too many" migrants get bunched up in a city as dense as the center of NYC can be. It's basic physics, or biology, these birds need to feed, & with not enough, on go many if they are able to. At least 22 Warbler species were seen in Central Park alone Tuesday; this in part reflects a lot of observer effort, meaning combined time put in by many dozens of observers in almost all areas of the park. The tally of warblers was quite similar to Monday's but at least 2 more species of them were added - Blackpoll (no that's not an indication migration is near-peak, etc.; it's been found that a relative few Blackpoll Warblers will be seen well ahead of the main push of that species later-than-other spring movement) and Chestnut- sided Warbler (which is also on the early side, but the bulk of that species also may not show for a week or two or even more from now). It is not clear if a Yellow-throated Warbler (seen again Monday) was found in Central Tuesday (?) but one could be hanging in, and like those that sometimes do, be moving very locally just within the park. Again & with no surprise whatsoever, Myrtle/Yellow-rumped & Palm Warblers were in that order of most-numerous, although plenty o' palms get by without all the looks that other yellow-y warblers and what-not receive, as the spring gears up. It's an odd but oft-seen situation too, that many of the species that don't breed a huge distance from NYC are already in some of those breeding areas, including a modest few that have been barely-reported in the city parks & other local migration hot-spots. It's also rather remarkeable just how quickly some neotropical migrants have made it into areas well north, in some places in modest no's, rather than just stray early-ish singles or scattered few. Folks here have been finding some thrushes other than the most-likely & by far most-numerous of April's Catharus species: Hermit Thrush - after Wood Thrush, which have come thru in pretty much the numbers that are as if it were near-peak (& early to see that), a few Veery including one singing, yes also seen (no one hiding behind the shrubs with their little gizmo), and some seen well enough without singing or calling... plus a few mentions of other, usually-May-arrival spp. - I had one thrush which I wanted to & tried briefly to photo, with cheeks of faint gray, grayish overall coloration, dark spotting in the breast, & no red showing anywhere. But, not enough and not heard saying anything. I have seen Hermit Thrushes (both in the area & certainly in other parts of the continent) that could fool me, until a song or a tail-rise was also noted, or really good views obtained. Some folks think the brown-backed Catharus thrushes are easy- straightforward... maybe so if they are heard singing, but these can also be tricky & the best birders don't get them ID'd every single view. Some Hermit Thrush & not just a few Wood Thrush are being heard at appropriate hours & with cloudy-overcast conditions. Incidentally it makes a lot of sense the woodies would sing here in NYC since they do breed in the city's larger green-spaces, including even in Central Park, with some challenges! As of now all the sparrow species certain to occur annually in spring in Central Park have been seen, with Lincoln's in this week, & a few more White-crowned also appearing... it's possible to think of at least 2 more sparrow spp. that certainly may, and often do get discovered in spring in C.P. but they are not a guaranteed sighting there for spring migration... both are partly a question of looking a lot for them, and maybe ignoring some of the other more-colorful migrants. (the 2 are Clay-colored which can be expected to increase in migration-sightings in NY since their breeding range has & still is expanding east; and Vesper which is not as rare as some newer birders in Central would believe, but is still and always a special that is uncommon & less-seen in spring there... either of these two could occur virtually anywhere, as I know since the superb bird illustrator & naturalist Michel Kleinbaum* (R.I.P.) quietly showed me & a few others one some decades ago in the heart of the Ramble, "hiding in plain sight" under the noses of some of us, yours truly included, amongst the most-typical other sparrows... *for examples of M. Kleinbaum's stunning pen&ink-work see some of his, in "The Birds of Colombia", "The Birds of Venezuela", (Princeton U. Press) and "The Birds of China" (Smithsonian Inst.), as well as other publications. I rather quickly checked the CP reservoir & a few other waterbodies (including a bit of the Hudson river in the a.m.) after both the last- night storms, as well as the others that rolled thru, but only the 3 a.m. storm was a heavy-enough one that some species may have been put down in the rains - & even so most of the heavy storm activity was north of Manhattan. In any event, I was unable to find any uncommon or even common shorebird or such in the time I checked. Birds seen on the reservoir were lingering Ruddy Ducks (at least 1 dozen), Buffleheads (6+), & Gadwall, as well as more than 40 (at one point) Double-crested Cormorants, & a smattering of gulls of just 3 usual spp. & also a smattering of swallows over the water: N. Rough-winged & Barn that I was able to spot... I tried also checking some puddly places, but in Central, "play ball" takes precedence even moments after rain was done, so the chance of a Temminck's stint at the n. meadow were that much more reduced (from the zero% that that species already had for showing...) Lots of other migrants, some of which included at least 4 Vireo spp. - Blue-headed by far most numerous, with Warbling, Yellow-throated, & White-eyed in that order of decreasing numbers; the typical Tanager - Scarlet, in low no's.- and still on the early side; Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, House Wrens, E. Kingbird, E. Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher (a couple - very wiped-out-looking as they tried to feed...), Chimney Swifts (must be finding... some bugs, some-how), both usual Oriole spp. (but mainly Baltimore, & still mostly males of that sp.), and many other migrants... ........................... In Riverside Park, up to 15 warbler spp. have been seen in the last 3 days, with much of the activity north of W. 83 St. & all the way to at least 120 St. within the park. Thrushes there also, including a few Wood & many Hermit, & Vireos of 3 spp., esp. Blue-headed but also Yellow-throated & Warbling; & various other passerines & kin. Some folks messaged that they had some migrants in various sites around Manhattan such as Carl Schurz park, Battery Park & Battery Park City (park), Tompkins Square, Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park, Sherman Creek park (with Swindler Cove adjacent), & of course Inwood Hill & Fort Tryon Parks. As near as I could tell, at least 15 Warbler spp. were noted in these various parks, with (I think) Inwood Hill not surprisingly having the most variety of them. (But bring 20 or fifty of Manhattan's best to Inwood, let 'em loose & I have no doubts the variety on strong migration days could easily equal what is seen for Central, esp. so as waterfowl clear out and many other species become more likely. For that matter, just bring out all the upper Manhattan birders in a great day, it is just as birdy "up north" as any other part of the island, and occasionally, it may be more so. And then there's Highbridge Park, the great (almost) unknown, with trees, a bit of water & not a whole lot of coverage.) The northern end of Manhattan has had birds that would make any birder go 'wow', & it's sure that that will happen again. ...... N.B., a Loggerhead Shrike that has been seen from Sunday 4/24-4/26 in Ontario County of western NYS is apparently not banded, which in a way makes it that much more significant a sighting, given that Ontario (the province in Canada, rather than the aforementioned NY county) has a banding program in place with the regionally-rare and endangered Loggerhead Shrikes which come into that province's potential breeding grounds. Thus any seen without bands is a "new" arrival to the general region. Thanks to those keeping watch on that region and to the folks working on trying to give a species a leg up in the region - &, thanks to Paul Novak of NYDEC for some good information. If anyone finds that that, or any Loggerhead Shrike in the northeast is banded, the info should be shared with that state's endangered-species unit & others who would greatly appreciate the info. good luck, & please remember, these migrants are potentially exhausted & need to forage, feed, then rest as much as they are able to; give them space where possible and do not attempt to disturb or distract them in any way as the weather has been & will be especially hard on them. Yes, every bit of their daily activity is important to their survival and good condition right now, & we who observe can be good & respectful of the enormous journeys most of these birds have been on, and will be on in these weeks, of what is usually the peak of spring migration about upon-us. 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/ --
