Monday, 17 April, 2017 - A Western Cattle Egret is continuing at the north side of West 28th Street, between Eighth & Ninth Avenues in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
————— Central Park (Manhattan, N.Y. City) - Some of the migration movement in & (far) beyond the park, beyond the city, as well as NE into New England & to (or perhaps into) eastern Canada’s border; certain migrant species that we aree just barely seeing ones or threes of in the NYC area have made it, albeit usually in single or small numbers to various sites to to the N/NE… but for some of those spp., a good many in total have passed thru - not the bulk of a species migration onward, but more than in single, “overshoot” mode in only minor fashion. Of course that surge of very warm air that pushed in on Saturday & especially Sunday helped. The far-north end of the park has been a decent place from which to guage some of the movement, but a variety of species have occurred park-wide, with however the southern-most end seeming the quietest of any defined sector in the park. There has also been at least some flyover in the first hour of daylight, among birds which mainly migrate at night. A list of some of the species seen in Central today (4/17) & on Sunday, 16 April: Common Loon (1, reservoir thru noon Monday) Pied-billed Grebe (reservoir) Red-necked Grebe (sadly, still on reservoir & it will soon be presumed not in prime condition, if it remains thru this month…) Double-crested Cormorant (very many fly-overs, often seen from n. end of park, esp. on Sunday, plus multiple withiun the park) Great Blue Heron (4 were observed on Sunday, with 1 of the 4 seen south of 96th St. - all in flight in early morning) Great Egret (25++ fly-overs on Sunday, mainly on usual east-west pathway across the n. end of park, plus several in the park & cont. into today) Snowy Egret (minimum of 2 fly-overs, as above these mainly seen as regular fly-overs if paying close attention to the n. end / east-west sky-path) Green Heron (undisclosed location in park, although this was perhaps just a migrant passing thru - on Sunday) Black-crowned Night-Heron (not that many except in late evening-dusk, when more come to visit & some may linger & rest the subsequent day[s]) Turkey Vulture (several; one of these observed with Brenda Inskeep from the far north end of the park, Sunday p.m.) - Canada Goose (modest numbers, some on nests) Brant (a few fly-overs, these get more common as fly-overs in the next 2-4 weeks, if looking up a lot…) Wood Duck (minimum of 12 fly-overs, circling the Meer near first-light Monday, not stopping in there) Gadwall (rather few) Mallard Northern Shoveler (very modest numbers, still on several water-bodies) Green-winged Teal (1 hen (female) on the Lake, Monday early a.m.) Bufflehead (20+ in total were continuing in the park into Monday a.m.) Ruddy Duck (few remained as of Monday) Osprey (not noted by me in past 2 days, but have been seen a few times in past week, as fly-overs & one investigating the reservoir briefly) Red-tailed Hawk (not uncommon if sought in & near Central Park at any time of year) American Kestrel (not that uncommon if sought in & near Central Park at any time of year, esp. evident in spring thru fall) Merlin (at least 2 have been irregularly seen into today & are presumed the same 2 lingerers; they are not a pair) Peregrine Falcon (occasional to frequently-seen, according in part to amount of observers & their attempts to see Manhattan resident birds) American Coot (at least 2 continued today, this is a drop-off in numbers of 80% from earlier in April) Solitary Sandpiper (1, Meer [north end of park], but as too-often seen, flushed off by an unleashed large dog & then not re-found; west edge.) Laughing Gull (several visited sporadically on more than a few days in the past 10+ days, seems less likely very early or very late in day; reservoir) Ring-billed Gull (mostly modest numbers) Great Black-backed Gull (fair numbers at times) ['feral'] Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Chimney Swift (one, over Great Lawn Monday a.m., & seen moving south-southwest somewhat steadily as a weather front approached w/darkewr clouds) Red-headed Woodpecker (1 continues in bright plumage in the area just west of East 68th Street, but for how much longer - perhaps all this month, or…?) Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (modest numbers; many have passed thru in this month relatively unnoticed; more yet to come…) Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker (a regular sighting in the north woods, but can be unobtrusive when not calling a lot, nor very active) Yellow-shafted Flicker (many, including at least modest early morning diurnal flight, much more evidennt in north end in earliest hours of the day) Eastern Phoebe (very few - great numbers have passed thru, but more will be yet to come as other migrants also do) White-eyed Vireo (one, N. Woods, Monday after mid-day) Blue-headed Vireo (multiple and still many more to come, but this is one of the species that is already in e. Canada as of now) Blue Jay (decent numbers) American Crow (modest numbers) Northern Rough-winged Swallow (irregular over several water-bodies: Meer, Reservoir, Turtle Pond, Lake, & scarce over lawn areas) Barn Swallow (irregular over several water-bodies: Meer, Reservoir, Turtle Pond, Lake, & scarce over lawn areas) Black-capped Chickadee (decent movement of these delighful sprites, esp. as observed moving north in treetops from park’s n. end) Tufted Titmouse (also moving, not quite synchronous with the above species, but in same more-general time-frame & diurnal habits as pertains to migrants) Red-breasted Nuthatch (several, at least one very active in pines at Pinetum West both Sunday-Monday, & some reliable reports from others not noted to this list) White-breasted Nuthatch (multiple areas) Brown Creeper (very few, 1 noted Sunday) Carolina Wren (few, potential nester) House Wren (multiple & widely overlooked now that the first few have moved in / thru) Winter Wren (several, most easily noticed in the quieter n. end woods) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (fair numbers but many more are still expected) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (8+ Sunday, 6+ Monday, park-wide) American Robin (nearly ubiquitous) Gray Catbird (1, but I suspect a wintered bird - at a known winter site) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (multiple, with several pairs setting up a nest territory - any disturbance whatsover to these will be subject to punishment under all applicable laws, including at the federal level. Leave them be to attempt their nesting in peace! - Thanks for your caring for all of the breeding birds) European Starling Orange-crowned Warbler (ongoing at The Point, & seen low at times, somewhat high at other times) Myrtle [a.k.a. Yellow-rumped] Warbler (75+ on Sunday, perhaps half that early Monday, with modest diurnal ongoing flight) Black-throated Green Warbler (1 seen singing near the Summerhouse rustic wooden roofed shelter in Ramble, very early a.m. & this bird then moved into the still-fenced constructioin zone that is blocking visitor access to the upper Gill area, the small stream in the Ramble that is often a good area for smaller passerine migrants - work there has picked up at least slightly in last few days - hopefully re-opened very soon.) Pine Warbler (minimum of 4 on Sunday. 3 of them in far n. woods; 1 female noted there Monday) [Eastern, or “yellow” form] Palm Warbler (60+ on Sunday - thru all of the park but more numerous in north end, many “treed” thanks to massive visitor influx later in the day Sunday; perhaps half this number Monday, again park-wide.) Black-and-white Warbler (3, perhaps 4 or more Sunday & Monday; 1 in an “odd” area of park as well as the more typical areas to find) Northern Waterthrush (found, observed, enjoyed by a highly-ethical birder, using zero noise or sound to be able to observe this shy species - simple patience & observational skills work wonders… N.B. there were a few perhaps-newer birders who were initially seeing this one individual at the Loch, but naming it as “Louisiana” - the video, photos, and discssuions brought all present & patient with the bird to know the true ID, the first Northern of this spring in Central. MANY appreciated the discussion and the QUIET of all fellow-observers for this bird.) Eastern Towhee (fair numbers, noted here & there thru the entire park on both days) Chipping Sparrow (best ongoing or passage-movement numbers in NW part of the park, near-common) Field Sparrow (several locations & one or more site with more than 1 individual) Savannah Sparrow (more Sunday, but still present on Monday, and photographed) [Red] Fox Sparrow (1 still present to Sunday, sought in same areas on Monday w/o success by me) Song Sparrow (multiple) Lincoln's Sparrow (one report from Wildflower Meadow: Tom Perlman; this is a modestly early date) Swamp Sparrow (many all this week and still in modest numbers if sought in ideal habitat) White-throated Sparrow (many, many hundreds; these also in various outside-the-park areas as passage-visitors) Dark-eyed Junco (rather modest numbers, but still 25+ to today 4/17) - Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird (still another bird which many observers enjoyed in PEACE at the Loch, with no one playing or making noise designed to harrass hungry birds, or to harrass quiet and peaceful visitors in bird-y habitats in this urban park.) Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird (modest numbers, on the move) Purple Finch (fair numbers by today, after some over the past 2+ weeks; perhaps 15+ park-wide today) House Finch American Goldfinch (becoming a bit more common, as the migration instinct starts to kick in for these) House Sparrow good birding, & thanks to those who offer respect to the birds & all of their observers. Tom Fiore manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
