There has been the occasional discussion on this list of late (&/or vagrant) Myiarchus flycatchers in the state; while rather rare to be found this far into November, there are examples of Great Crested Flycatcher well into the month, & one such is in the checklist (w/ good photos) from Oswego Co., NY on 11/18/‘18 - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50023787
(notes on owls esp. from Thanksgiving Day, 11/22. No specific locations noted excepting a Short-eared Owl which has been posted about to this list as well as to eBird, by the finder & other observers. The latter species is an obvious highlight of N.Y. County birding, & an Eve. Grosbeak sighting that was photo’d. on 11/19 at Central Park is also an obvious highlight of the season.) - - - - - Manhattan (& N.Y. County), N.Y. City - Sat., Nov. 17th - an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was photographed at Randall’s Island on the n. side by the smaller saltmarsh area mudflats. A Black-throated Blue Warbler was reported at the south end of Central Park, & a Palm Warbler again seen at the west side of the CP reservoir. A few Yellow-rumped Warblers also continued in that park, while an Orange-crowned Warbler was seen at Randall’s Island - a part of New York County. - - - Sun., Nov. 18th - remarkably late Chimney Swifts (multiple - with reports of up to 4 individuals, over Central Park) with at least several observers. A very strong flight of Cedar Waxwings occurred, with at least 600 thru northern Manhattan before noon, & at least one very large flock seen perching, containing 200+ waxwings. That large flock & to a lesser extent the flyovers were scanned-thru on the (perhaps remote) chance of a different waxwing species, but only Cedars were seen. That large flock was perched atop bare trees on Dyckman Street, at the s. edge of Inwood Hill Park, in late morning, but was mostly gone when I checked there again an hour or so later. A few much smaller crabapple trees were being stripped of fruits at the time I came on this flock, but there were Am. Robins, & also some starlings helping themselves to the fruits, & the waxwings were seen in greatest numbers in higher bare treetops above the small NYC Parks building. The flyovers were in flocks of 40 - 120+, & kept coming, all moving south or south-by-southwest, just over the west edge of Manhattan from these n. Manhattan vantage points: I also found more modest flocks of C. Waxwings in the interior of Inwood Hill, & over at Highbridge Park (also in n. Manhattan) & along the bike-ped. paths there, as well as in some of the less-birded parks of central & south Harlem (Manhattan), & also some 100+ Cedars (in a lot of areas, combined) within Central & Riverside Parks, later still. My estimate of 600 is however based solely on more than 600+ seen in southbound flight, after which I found the perched flock of over 200 at Dyckman St. in northern Manhattan, & I did not add in any more of the waxwings to that tally after being at Dyckman St. - there easily might have been far more than my conservative estimate, only covering hours from about 8-noon. (Of course, as wanderers in search of food, waxwings might have moved & spread in any directions later on, but I think it likely that many of those in flight may have continued on, perhaps towards either N.J. or possibly making a stop in Richmond County/Staten Island, NYC, depending their flight heading as they came farther south.) There was also a good flight, but not as notable for the species, of American Robin, with 850+ thru the morning, many appearing to continue SSW, although seen in more modest numbers (feeding) in most areas, as well. Numbers of Am. Goldfinch also, but that species is fully expected in numbers by mid-late Nov. in most years in this region. Also notable were the icterid flocks, many of those higher, & some much higher, above ground than most of the waxwing flight; Red-winged Blackbirds & Common Grackles, & what appeared to be some Brown-headed Cowbirds (or more simply, cowbird sp.) with a very few Rusty Blackbirds, in a few lower flocks; the totals of these were in the low 2,000’s - I estimated 2,200 which is rather conservative, again in the a.m. hours, & with some birds high enough as to nearly be in the (low) cloud layers at times. I did not notice any further flight into the afternoon hours, but also was not checking much by then. In addition, there were a few areas with modest flocks of Purple Finch - of course, the latter species has been in good numbers in the area for weeks & weeks already, & these flocks may or may not have been of new arrivals - one flock of 12+, mostly not of bright males, was feeding quietly in a ‘berried’ area on the path along the Hudson south of Dyckman St., & a few much smaller groups were in several locations, including Fort Tryon Park, Inwood Hill Park, Swindler Cove/Sherman Creek park, & later, both Riverside & Central Parks. Most of these were ‘pure’ Purple feeding flocks, but at both Riverside & Central, some House Finch were in the same general areas with some of the Purples. Several American Tree Sparrows, the “last” of regular-migrant sparrow species to arrive in late fall, were in the weedy areas on the river path, near the G.W. bridge footings as well as along the path s. of Dyckman St. - generally, this is a less-seen sparrow in Manhattan proper, more sightings may be from the surrounding smaller islands of N.Y. County in appropriate season, and the species is rather scarcely-found in the most-birded park of Manhattan (Central, of course). I found at least 5 of these today, & it seems, based on observations by others, there was a flight of the species with modest arrival in the region (although having been recorded a bit prior, but perhaps only scantily in nearby locations - so far.) It’s also interesting that Am. Tree Sparrow was noted by observers across some other states on this same date, poss. as ‘first-of-season; synchronicity is one of the intriguing apparent phenomena in wide-ranging migrants on the move. At the Central Park reservoir, the numbers of some typical wintering ducks had increased, with more than 120 Ruddy Ducks present; also at least a dozen Buffleheads & 10 Hooded Mergansers were in the park, on several waterbodies, as well as ongoing Wood Ducks (at least 7 in total), N. Shovelers (now over 100 in total), Gadwall & American Black Duck as well as the usual regulars, & in non-waterfowl waterbirds, ongoing Pied-billed Grebe (reservoir), & 4 American Coots. A Belted Kingfisher also continued, seen in various areas, assuming just the one. N.B., all of the above, in roughly approx. similar mix of species & (rather high) no’s. were seen as well by other observers, watching independently, from more than 1 vantage point, mainly in a.m. hours & some also later in the day. - - - Mon., Nov. 19 - This day brought a first for the year to Central Park: a multiple-observer (& fully photo-documented as well) sighting of Evening Grosbeak, in Central Park’s n. end - a solo female bird, & seen from mid-day onward at the e. slope of the Great Hill. Not seen by all who may have tried, but heard by at least some who were there & seeking it. Good numbers of Cedar Waxwings also on the day, with some lingering at various parks where fruits are available, and also more of an icterid flight, which included over 600 Common Grackles moving south past the North Meadow ballfield area in Central Park in the first 2 hours of the day. American Goldfinches also continued, with more than 220 in flight and many seeming to come in feeding esp. in numerous Sweet Gum trees. There were at least some Pine Siskins as well - certainly far fewer in numbers than the goldfinches. Additionally, American Robins, which have been in good numbers again lately, were reinforced with additional arrivals. Several Common Yellowthroats were seen in several Manhattan parks; all likely had been lingering and made it thru the brief bout of snow; some other insectivorous late stragglers may or may not have, or possibly moved on. - - - Tues., Nov. 20 - An overcast & damp day, with a lot of birders out & about; most seeing the species which had been found in prior days as well. - - - Wed., Nov. 21 - American Tree Sparrow was observed by multiple birders in Central Park; some or all of the day’s sightings of this uncommonly-seen species for the park were around so-called “Sparrow Rock”, which is slighty SW of the Pinetum, and was where a prior observation came, on Sunday, 11/18. (Again, this species is more likely to be found in N.Y. County in the outlying parks of the islands other than Manhattan, &/or in weedy or empty areas of some of the larger Manhattan parks, & just generally, in winter-watching. In s.-e. NY, we also may have Chipping Sparrows attempting to winter or at least, lingering quite late in any year.) 3 Black Vultures were seen by several observers moving over Central Park. That vulture species has increased dramatically in just the past decade; only 25 years ago, Black Vulture would have been an extremely rare sighting in most of N.Y. including N.Y. City. The species is near-regular now & can even be viewed in summer, from northern Manhattan, observing across the Hudson river looking north & west. - - - - - - - Thanksgiving Day Thursday, Nov. 22 - Bird of the day (and perhaps even of the week, as a true rarity in New York County, was a Short-eared Owl first seen by New York County birder D. Barrett at Randall’s Island - around the NE shoreline of that island, & soon after also confirmed with 2 additional observers, N. Sourigi and R. Zucker, who used a scope, watching the owl move to a location on the south Bronx shoreline, which is very near to the NE shore of Randall’s; the latter 2 obs. also having seen the owl on Randall’s, then flying over to the more “secluded” shore near a building owned by the N.Y. Post. Photos were also obtained. A first species-record for Randall’s Island & a rare sighting for New York County (even if not on Manhattan island, the smaller Randall’s is connected to Manhattan across the East River estuary by a foot-bridge as well as the R.F.K. / a.k.a. ‘Triboro’ bridge. This Short-eared Owl sighting comes as at least the 6th (that’s sixth) owl species for N.Y. County this autumn - the other species all well-seen by many being: E. Screech (at least 2, resident in n. Manhattan), N. Saw-whet (multiple), Great Horned, Barred (several), & Long-eared Owl[s], the last of these the so-far most elusive, or perhaps a bird that moved on from a stay at Central Park. The occurrence of Barred Owls in the multiple is also unusual and is certainly of a piece with the movements of that species in search of prey - movement that have imperiled, & sadly killed, any number of Barreds in parts of NY & New England already this season, some done in, or badly injured along various roads. All of these owls on the move need to rest, and then have opportunities to feed, without disturbance, and are very much stressed as it is, having to vacate areas where too many clearly have not enough food, &/or possibly too much competition with other owls in some locations. Snow Geese were seen in the multi-hundreds later in the day, moving across both northern Manhattan & also past Central & Riverside Parks. L. Beausoleil managed a photo of a portion of that flight as seen from Central which shows some 150 or so Snows, but the overall flight was likely at least 3 times that number, possibly higher. Some of the geese may also have still been moving into & thru the evening. A flock of Horned Larks were noted from Randall’s Island, perhaps birds that were lingering there; a species that’s certainly annual in passage or visiting N.Y. County, but seen by relatively few of the thousands of birders active in the county through a year’s migrations. An E. Phoebe was found at Inwood Hill Park. A Baltimore Oriole was seen at Fort Tryon Park (this park had hosted orioles into the winter in prior years). - - - A side note, on Thanksgiving day morning, a chilly walk for just 1 hour by 2 of us (T.F. & K. Wallstrom) found a single Blue Jay constantly insisting there was ‘something’ to be upset over in a deciduous tree, in the the n.w. corner of the NW Forest of Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx County (N.Y. City), & that jay was indeed onto something - a Barred Owl, seen well & left undisturbed by us, the jay also seeming to lose interest; also in the same area was a Winter Wren. It is very possible that any number of owls could be discovered during both scouting for, & during upcoming CBC’s which are just around the corner. I continued on into Manhattan later and was able to just get on some of the late Snow Goose (& Canada Goose) movement later in the day. good late-autumn birding, 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/ --
