A note to N.Y. City folks, on Tuesday 4/28 in (about) the noon-hour, there is a scheduled & announced fly-over for at least 3 or 4 boroughs (counties) of that city, by the U.S.A.F. ‘Thunderbirds' and the U.S.N. ‘Blue Angels’ aircraft, in honor of all who have been working in this time of viral pandemic. —
New arrivals in this 3-day period included RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD, WARBLING VIREO, CLIFF SWALLOW, BANK SWALLOW, BLUE GROSBEAK, NASHVILLE WARBLER, ORCHARD ORIOLE, as well as a few species new for the spring season within Central Park. (And there may have been yet some others!) A fair amount of migration starting Friday night and increasing greatly Saturday night brought further new migrants and reinforced numbers of many species which had first arrived earlier. A brightly-plumaged singing male BLUE GROSBEAK found Monday morning (4/27) in Ft. Tryon Park’s Heather Garden (multiple obs., photo’d.) was a good sign of the potential for yet further discoveries all-around, both birds which may have made it thru rather inclement weather or ‘contrary’ winds, and also some that may have come thru over a period of some days, and are just being discovered by birders. Thanks to M.Waldron for an early report on the Blue Grosbeak (in which he states, “not the finder”); I’m not certain but believe we have L.Rozowicz to thank for the find, so thank you Linda. Anyone going, and not familiar with this area of that park should be prepared to allow patience, and social-distancing protocols, as some pathways are quite narrow there - but not all. At the least in respect to local, neighborhood residents who use that park a lot, please use a face-mask or scarf out of respect to elders, and really to all park-goers. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was contiuning on, in the same area in Central Park where it had been for 6 full months. A GRASSHOPPER SPARROW continued its multi-day stay at one location in Central Park, at least through Monday 4/27, withstanding the more-than-occasional romps in its favored feeding zone by unleashed dogs, & more-tolerant of watchful & considerate birders coming to see this special visitor. -- Saturday, 4/25 - which was WORLD PENGUIN DAY. (if you are able to, help clean up a beach or any waterway or wetland. Somewhere, a penguin will thank you.) The overall migration which was quite good mostly over-flew &/or bypassed Manhattan, but some birds dropped in, and at the same time, a number of species already present did stay put at least for the time-being. However, in the complexities of migration, some birds certainly took advantage of good conditions for departure, and did just that on Friday night. Among those departures were many sparrows. Also clearly having moved in numbers were Ring-billed Gull, which were significantly fewer in general around Manhattan, especially of fully-adult Ring-bills. Greater Yellowlegs were well-noted (2 at Inwood Hill Park; N.O’Reilly), Orchard Oriole & Baltimore Oriole were both seen (separately), as were a few Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. Warbling Vireo was a new arrival for the year. In warblers: Nashville (1, Central Park north woods), Ovenbird (at least several, multiple parks), Northern Waterthrush (at least several), Louisiana Waterthrush (multiple parks; minimum of 5 in Central Park), Black-and-white (in at least 8 locations thru Manhattan), Yellow (at least several), Northern Parula (at least several), Pine (low numbers), Palm (relatively low numbers but at least 12 thru Manhattan), Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] (relatively low no’s. but at least 20 thru Manhattan), Black-throated Green (at least 2 in Central Park), & Common Yellowthroat (at least 10 thru Manhattan, multiple greenspaces and parks); that’s an even dozen warbler spp., even if all in low or just-singleton number. There were several (at least) of Indigo Bunting in Manhattan, with more than 1 in Central Park, although just one garnered the lion’s share of attention, & for a time had a competing domestic fowl, a black-plumaged pet chicken on the loose, as visual ‘competiion’, for some ‘north-end’ observers- harkening-back to days when chickens, usually roosters, were regularly-seen in the parks, & esp. in parts of parks not far from vendors of live chickens... -- Sunday, 4/26 - Very strong migration / movement over Saturday night; with rain moving in locally from the south by early morning, and a wind fetching out of the east, keeping temperatures quite low all day long. This weather actually may contribute (at this time of year, late April into first part of May, esp.) to the concentration at some locations of swallows & swifts. In any event, more Chimney Swifts were seen bucking the winds and moving over parts of Manhattan, sometimes lost in the rather low cloud deck, sometimes easier to see. And of swalllows, all five of our most regular species (for Manhattan) showed in Central Park, with highlights of several Cliff, and at least one Bank Swallow, at the C.P. reservoir, and the Meer, respectively. There also were some of each of the more regularly-seen species: Tree, Barn, and N. Rough-winged Swallows. A new arrival also, Ruby-throated Hummingbird which buzzed right through at the edge of the reservoir perhaps showing some interest in the brilliant displays of cherry blossoms now at the west & east sides of that water-body. Wood Thrush also turned up, reported by J.Wooten (first-of-spring in Central Park, albeit not 1st of the year there, nor the 1st Manhattan sighting of spring which was an early-bird at Inwood Hill Park; this 4/26 sighting is really about on-time for a first-arrival in this county.) A single Killdeer at a location on the w. side waterfront was notable for the late date; if seen again that area ought to be checked for the slight possibility of a nesting pair. On Manhattan island, modern-day nesting by Killdeer have not been at all common, although have occurred more than many birders may realize. -- Monday, 4/27 - Large low-pressure weather system remained in the region; winds locally shifted from E. to N/NW, and not very many birds seemed to be on the move Sunday night, at least over land; however it is possible that movement was taking place, at least on small scale (for the late-April date) &/or relatively local ‘hopscotch’ movement. Early Monday a.m. flight in the northern edges of Central Park featured at least 1 male Baltimore Oriole alighting near 110th Street, & at least 20 Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers moving about, with some sticking near & at the Meer, where a very small island held a modest selection of expected migrants, including B.-g. Gnatcatcher, B.-h. Vireo, Common Yellowthroat, & a few common spp. of sparrows, plus some of those Myrtle Warblers. Interestingly also, some of those warblers were seen coming into the park from outside and from an east-to-northeast direction, possibly indicating some light flight that was still ‘correcting’ at least for a decent-sized green-space, or, perhaps simply following on a path of rather earlier-moving migrants. A Blue Grosbeak was a highlight for northern Manhattan, the first of the year in N.Y. County, & a brightly-colored vocal male at that. The Central Park Grasshopper Sparrow continued on in same location it has been around for some 5 days. Also ongoing was the long-staying Central Park Red-headed Woodpecker. There is / are still Virgina Rail[s] lingering at the Loch in Central, all of those being birds rehabbed & released there, by local licensed rehab/bird clinic Wild Bird Fund. Although the day seemed ‘quiet’ for warblers generally, there were at least 8 species of American warblers present in Manhattan, not as many as some other recent days, and slightly ‘low’ for the date, but not for the weather. Birds seen over the 3 days of 25th thru 27th April included: Canada Goose [Atlantic] Brant (in reduced no’s.) Mute Swan (a singleton, seen on the East River) Wood Duck (1 drake was lingering, Central Park) Gadwall American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler (near scarce now) Bufflehead Ruddy Duck (scarce now) Red-throated Loon Common Loon (relatively few noted) Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret (increased) Snowy Egret (increase in no’s., many are fly-bys) Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron (a modest increase) Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Broad-winged Hawk (few) Red-tailed Hawk Virginia Rail (rehabbed & later released into the Loch in Central Park) American Coot (1 was still at The Pool in Central Park) Killdeer (late for a migrant; reported/photo’d, Chelsea waterside park) Greater Yellowlegs (Inwood Hill Park) Spotted Sandpiper (one, Central Park, 4/26) American Woodcock (mid-town) Laughing Gull (various locations) Ring-billed Gull [American] Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull ['feral'] Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon Great Horned Owl E. Screech-Owl (resident on Manhattan) Chimney Swift (30++ in Manhattan by 4/27; including 15++ over C.P. reservoir at one time) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (one male, 4/26; moving past Central Park reservoir’s northeast edge) Belted Kingfisher Red-headed Woodpecker (ongoing bird, more than 6 months stay in Central Park) Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (still in the multiple, including in many smaller green-spaces) Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker (uncommon) Yellow-shafted Flicker Eastern Phoebe (rather few, but still in the multiple) Blue-headed Vireo (still passing through) Warbling Vireo (still in place at least to 4/26; likely some have arrived at breeding sites in Manhattan) Common Raven (not that many reports, but at least several) Blue Jay (rather common) American Crow (regular) Fish Crow (some are nesting on Manhattan) Tree Swallow (ongoing) Northern Rough-winged Swallow (fairly common now) Bank Swallow (one, flying with & amongst the 3 more-expected & common swallow species at Central Park’s Meer, 4/26) Barn Swallow (many - increased greatly as of 4/27) Cliff Swallow (minimum of 3, Central Park reservoir, first seen on 4/26 & continuing to 4/27) Black-capped Chickadee (scarce) Tufted Titmouse (rather scarce) White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper (scarce by now) Carolina Wren House Wren (some already on nest-territories in Manhattan) Winter Wren (very slight uptick again) Golden-crowned Kinglet (at least 1 to 4/25 in Central Park) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (still rather common, but dropped off in numbers) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (multiple, including some in small green-spaces) Hermit Thrush (still fairly common but fewer now than in previous week) Wood Thrush (at least one in Central Park: J.Wooten) American Robin (ubiquitous) Gray Catbird (still uncommon to scarce, & most if not all may still be locally-wintered birds) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (fair no’s., inclusing some continuing in odd areas where a few had wintered) European Starling Cedar Waxwing (first in a while, but still very scarce as is expected at this stage in spring here) Eastern Towhee (many, still proliferant; in parks large & small, and a number of odd places as well; both sexes represented) Grasshopper Sparrow (big attraction in Central Park, since found 4/23, and still in same area into 4/27, quite uncommon in spring here) Chipping Sparrow (still many, but reduced numbers by 4/27) Field Sparrow (as above; a very good spring for this species at least in Manhattan) Savannah Sparrow (few lingering, but many of last week moved on) [Red] Fox Sparrow (definite sightings to 4/25; any reports from now will ideally be of photo-documented individuals, although has been seen to May some years) Song Sparrow (still rather numerous) Swamp Sparrow (still numerous but numbers dropped by 4/27) White-throated Sparrow (still very common, but the thousands of prior weeks have dropped off for all of Manhattan) Slate-colored Junco (modest no’s. continued to 4/27) Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak (at least several in Central Park; no large arrivals yet, although presumably any day now) Blue Grosbeak (bright male, not quite in full-splendorous blue, Fort Tryon Park, found 4/27, multiple observers and photos) Indigo Bunting (at least several) - Nashville Warbler (1 male seen singing, Central Park - north woods, 4/25) Northern Parula (few, some in several parks by now - but still very scarce) Yellow Warbler (trickling in so far, with some reports from a few locations for 4/27 and also on earlier days) Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (modest to sparse no’s., for a species that should be commonplace in passage rather soon; very light flights at least a few times so far this month) Black-throated Green Warbler (several, Central Park, singing rather weakly for the most part on chilly mornings) Pine Warbler (still passing thru, with more & more females, & also drabber 1st-year birds seen) Palm Warbler (multiple, but not all that many, in this 3-day period) Black-and-white Warbler (still quite sparse... for the date, by now) Ovenbird (multiple, in multiple locations, including some not in parks, but not very many so far) Northern Waterthrush (multiple, but still in low numbers so far, for what will be a very common passage migrant) Louisiana Waterthrush (good no’s. and reduced as of 4/27) Common Yellowthroat (multiple, almost all males, various locations including some in odd places, smaller parks, etc.) - Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird (several, esp. noted from Central Park, including some seen singing; most in breeding plumage now) Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird (fair no’s. noted & some also observed in migration) Orchard Oriole (1st-year male, seen singing & calling, Central Park, 4/25) Baltimore Oriole (at least several on 4/25 including in northern Manhattan, but overall still very scarce) Purple Finch (some reports, but please be aware there is still a very-red male House Finch at CP's feeders which is not a male Purple, 1 individual that’s shown there for many weeks now.) House Finch (common & rather widespread now) American Goldfinch (fairly good no’s., appearing almost anywhere) House Sparrow There were some insect sightings with the ‘rare’ sunny & milder days, & these included some bees, wasps, flies of many types, beetles, bugs, & butterflies, amongst various families. The leaf-out of many trees continues at a moderate pace, & more “May” (or what were once-upon-a-time May) blooms have been bursting out & blooming all over Manhattan. -------- Good, spatially-safe birding - Stay the Course. 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/ --
