New York County, including Manhattan and Randall’s Island, and the surrounding waters & skies.
The WESTERN TANAGER was again seen thru the day on Tuesday, Dec. 8th, (while also occasionally not in view!) at the same location, both along West 22nd Street in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, just east of Tenth Ave. and along the rows of buildings on the north side of 22nd St. - as well as perhaps more briefly or occasionally, at Clement Clarke Moore park-playground, which is at the s.w. corner of the above-noted intersection. P.S., anyone actually entering that small park ought to be aware it is primarily a Children’s Playground, with play-equipment, and is certainly used by young children and their parents &/or care-takers and thus, all caution and care should be taken if entering, and all consideration given to the children and those accompanying them. We birders are guests if we enter that space - this also is implied for watching from the streets, as there are residents in all of the adjacent low-rise buildings, and while some very quickly learned of a celebrity-bird on they street - and sometimes ON their low window ledges or low rooftops, or even in the building-entry areas, hedges & low trees, etc. - it is on us all to be on best-behavior and remember of course, that we are still very much amidst a worldwide pandemic. If any person expresses dismfort at a birder in these kinds of situations, best course is to give them a lot of space and be as courteous as one can be. Also, if seeking the above bird, don’t neglect also trying farther east along the street, away from Tenth Ave. as the tanager has ranged up to half-way & a bit more (at least) east up that street (direction of Ninth Ave.) and the reason, clearly, is that there are additional fruit-bearing trees, esp. along the north side of 22nd Street as one walks east away from Tenth. If the tanager is not showing near, in, across from the above-noted playground/park, it may be up the street. It also can disappear and may both go into hiding in small shrubs or hedges along buildings, simply be hidden amongst remaining leaves on trees there, and/or be up on top, or on various perches along, the rows of multiple small buildings, often on the north side of 22nd St. - patience and sharp eyes are helpful! Common Redpolls made a fresh arrival as of 12/8, and there have been some other birds on the move, along with a good many lingering species. .. Saturday, Dec. 5th - Very large weather system with rain for this area (snow in very far northeast areas), followed on immediately with strong & gusting N/NW winds, cooling temp’s into the 30’s. Retroactively, it was undertood that a bird publicly reported the next day on 12/6 was also seen on this day, 12/5 - a Western Tanager along W. 22nd St. just a short way east of Tenth Avenue, in the Chelsea section of Manhattan’s west side. The reporter of the bird the next day, on having further views, luckily chose to make his sighting a public one. This bird had been seen feeding in various trees with fruit, in front of buildings across the street from the small park which is primarily a children’s playground. The tanager also had been seen going into that small park, which has some sizeable trees as well. Along the Hudson river and just a short way south of Dyckman St. in northern Manhattan, were some warblers that very likely had continued on from having been very slightly to the north, inside the Dyckman fields area of the western edge of Inwood Hill Park: this included an Orange-crowned Warbler, a Nashville Warbler, and a bit farther on, adjacent to the (fenced-off) Amtrak railroad tracks (active, and totally off-limits to any form of trespass), a fairly bright Cape May Warbler. In that general area also were many Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, and assorted other rather typical winter species of that kind of habitat. ... Sunday, Dec. 6th - Persistent winds from the NW; & temp. not changed much, but with some sun, a little less cold than the day prior. Fair-weather clouds also accompanied the ongoing push of cold air. At least 80 observers (and likely more, including some who were simply passersby who had an interest in the rare Western TANAGER) came to see that bird on the west side of Manhattan in the Chelsea neighborhood, at 22nd St. just east of Tenth Ave. - the tanager being quite active & seen feeding often on the day. Thanks to all for being reasonably well-behaved and also for many who kept eyes on just where the rather active (and at times sitting-still) tanager was at any given moment. It was also a big day for raptors in the month of December - eagles made big moves, with numbers likely into the teens if not 20+ for the day, on Sunday - all that I saw (and heard of) over N.Y. County were Bald Eagles, in various age-related plumages. There was also decent movement of Turkey Vultures through the morning & mid-day, at least, and some other raptors that were moving included Red-tailed Hawks (on migration, aside those that are city-resident), a few Red-shouldered Hawks, & a few Merlins - as well as sightings of the 2 city-resident spp. of falcon, American Kestrel & Peregrine (the latter two spp. not migrating now). Among the sightings of Cape May Warbler has been one in Central Park’s n. end, where there also were still at least 3 additional warbler species: Orange-crowned, Nashville, and Palm; however it is quite possible a few others may also have lingered this late. None of these 4 species is unprecedented in December, & all have been seen later in the year in Central Park & elsewhere in past years. These species were also continuing at Inwood Hill Park & the nearby stretch of river-walk south of Dyckman St., with the addition of a very late Blackpoll Warbler at Inwood Hill, & those were all lingering individuals. Also lingering have been Ovenbird & Common Yellowthroat in a number of locations, as well as at least a few Yellow-rumped Warblers. … Monday, Dec. 7th - After a chilly start in the 30’s, slightly less windy, still out of the NW, and temp. to 40+ by later with fewer clouds than the dat prior. The W. TANAGER was continuing all day at West 22nd St. just east of Tenth Ave., & also continuing were at least 7 (possibly 8) species of warblers as have been for some while by now, around Manhattan but with a slight emphasis still on more northerly parks & areas. The now long-lingering Lincoln’s Sparrow was continuing at Union Square Park. A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was still being seen on Randall’s Island. At least 1 Baltimore Oriole was lingering (Riverside Park south) but others seen recently elsewhere might still be as well. ... Tuesday, Dec. 8th - NW wind again, and some clouds later clearing off to reveal more sun, a drop the prior night into sub-freezing at about 30 (F.) and then as in previous days, a cool 40 degeees at best. This day brought somre apparent movement, as described below... The Western TANAGER has continued on at the same location & nearby to its discovery, and subsequent wide reports; this bird now present a minimum of 4 days (and very possibly longer, per the original finder, who lives precisely where the tanager is being seen lately). As noted before it shows what appears to be female plumage, unless a first-year male with a female-like appearance for now. Among some just-arriving birds in at least Central Park and Riverside Park (north sections) - and I’d guess, possibly in or through other greenspaces - were Common REDPOLLS, not the first of these to arrive this season in the area or in N.Y. County, but on the day, in slightly better observed numbers - a very good accompanying movement of American Goldfinch, as well as at least one or two Pine Siskins. (Of Purple Finch, there have been a very few lingering with (usually, lately) just one that many have reported at feeders in Central Park although a few others are often in the harder-to-detect flocks that are visiting Sweet Gum trees, in particular (and sometimes elsewhere) in both Central & Riverside Parks lately, with Riverside having a greater number of Sweet Gum trees, but very often almost-overlooked, and with birds that can be extremely high in the large old trees. Some Redpolls were also being seen around the N. Meadow fringes, and at the wildflower meadow, the now ever-observed (once almost never-observed!) compost area, & also at the shoreline and west-of the reservoir all in Central Park. At Riverside Park as noted, the Sweet Gum trees in some areas, esp. (in my own observing) north of W. 96th St., had a lot of Am. Goldfinch, and at least several Common Redpolls as well, & at least 1 Pine Siskin (& of course some other now-regular speces including B.-c. Chickadees, T. Titmice, etc. feeding on the spiky sweetgum seed-balls). Not that surprising especially for those who have birded there at all seasons for years, a Long-tailed Duck was first reported (albeit by an observer watching from across the water in Queens County) at Randall’s Island’s waters, on Monday, then a sighting by an observer (M.B. Kooper) on Tuesday from the island, of a drake, & moving around a bit on the waters. Additionally the same observer found that, as with some of the warblers of northern Manhattan which have lingered on, a trio or so of warbler spp. have lingered at Randall’s, including an Orange-crowned, a Nashville, and some Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers. There were more than 2,000 geese on the move on Tues. 12/8, down the Hudson River & past, and some directly over, Manhattan & surely also some passing over the East River as well. Of these, virtually all appeared to be the expected form of Canada Goose, however at limits of vision (with optics and 60x lens) there were some smaller geese, perhaps Cakcklers, but far too distant, as well as in and out of low cloud, to be sure of. There was at least one small group of Brant (all presumed Atlantic Brant) and of Snow Geese (all of the typical ‘white' form), and then there were Brant as well in some of the nearby river waters, but that is not especially unusual. Many observers afield at least noticed some movements of geese on the day, while perhaps few attempted to fully count or watch with higher-powered scope-looks. In Central Park alone, there were more than 500 American Robins, in all parts of the park but as could be expected, in small concentrations in some areas, with many lingering crabapples or other fruits, & some lawn areas as well. At Riverside Park very early, I did not detect a large flight coming in, but I do suspect that some birds may have just arrived. The species has however been more numerous as can be (some years) expected by about now, in recent days. The 73 American Robins counted solely within the confines of the greenspaces at Stuyvesantown, on Manhattan’s low-ish east side, are perhaps an indicator of this increase as well, as would be the “low count” of 35++ Am. Robins at Washington Square Park in the West Village, and in other areas of Manhattan. The numbers of robins in smaller greenspaces around Manhattan have been notable, but not yet so ‘extreme' as to catch all birder’s eyes… until, one other and brighter-plumaged bird shows, such as (for example) a W. Tanager, in the same area with a fair number of the hungry robins. It was unclear how many, if any of these many robins had just arrived, perhaps simply trickling-in day by day for some many days. Other land birds on the move (at least locally, see below) were more notably in terms of numbers, at least 1,850 Common Grackles plus at least 150-160 Red-winged Blackbirds, oddly moving at very low elevation to the northeast past the northern fringes of Central Park (i.e., past 110th Street) and continuing, for the most part, on into East Harlem, or (?) beyond, this at mid-morning rather than at first-light. I have not been finding anywhere near that high number of icterids, grackles or any others, in Manhattan just lately, so it’s not clear what these flocks which took over 45 minutes to pass, & some or even many of which briefly alit in tall trees of the N. Woods of Central Park (vicinity of The Blockhouse) as they then carried on northeastwards. And all this as some finch movement was also being seen… as noted above… At least several Rusty Blackbirds were continuing in Central Park, in multiple areas, including at least two individuals in the Ramble. It’s presumed these are the ones that have lingered, although with the recent overall icterid movements lately it’s also possible there was a bit of change-over. ... There has been a bit of other movement - perhaps somewhat local in nature, and likely of shorter-distance in any event, lately - of a variety of land bird species such as Yellow-bellied Sspsucker, Yellow-shafted Flicker (with at least 19 of the latter in (all of!) Central Park alone on Tues. 12/8, and also a few in movement early in the day), Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren (with a modest number of the latter showing, just in the recent few days in multiple odd locations including some where the species is almost certain not to overwinter, as well as some where a few conceivably may), both Kinglet species (quite low-density, but a definite aspect of increase & then poss. decrease in just the past few days and a lot of these perhaps not well-detected, staying low and feeding out of both high winds and the sight of birds of prey; in Manhattan, as almost always there, the more likely for the winter season actually being Ruby-crowned, rather than the more cold-hardy species, Golden-crowned), Hermit Thrush (& a very few reports of other Catharus or 'brown-backed-type' thrush species, although Hermit is the ‘default' wintering thrush here), Brown Thrasher (often very low detectability - even with CBC’s, sometimes missed in areas they occur in winter), Cedar Waxwing (which seemed to have slowed in the most-recent days, but worth watching at any time thru a winter), and then all of the finches as noted in part, above, and sparrows, in particular Swamp… & possibly an ongoing slight (& again perhaps rather localized) movement of other sparrow species, and finally, blackbirds - also referred to above, and with some more conspicuous movement, but again, qualified as possibly rather local. (It is not unusual to have migatory movement of hundreds, even less-commonly thousands, of blackbird species into mid and late December, dependent on various factors, weather & other variables at N.Y. County, which can involve birds moving along the Hudson & also some that may have moved west off the northern land-edges of Long Island Sound (i.e., Mass.-Rhode Island-Connecticut, on into Westchester County and the Bronx, thence over and past Manhattan). Just to add, and make clear - these are not huge movements such as seen in Sept.-Oct. & even, for some species, in much of November; a lot of this is now far more subtle, but still detectable (and more so to some who are actively birding daily), and at / in just one county, in this case, N.Y. County. Also, none of this is especially unusual, but there can be years when it is extremely slow going in December… that may yet happen but so far, the first quarter of the month here has featured a fair amount of activity. It is also very possible to see movements of this sort right on into and through the C.B.C. period, in most if not all years. (Long-time participants of local C.B.C.’s know this and anticipate whether the 'weather-gods' will provide a cool front just on or in advance of the particular bird count they may take part in; those December & even Jan. fronts may ‘push’ any sort of newly arrived birds, including the occasional oddity &/or rarity in… with the further caveat that CBC-type of observer-effort may often ‘find’ birds that were already in-place, perhaps even for an extended time but were not detected until a big effort by multiple searchers in any given area[s]. On fairly strong and persistent NW winds again, the raptor movement was not bad, for early December, with a modest number of Red-shouldered Hawks again on the move (& a chance that a few may be lingering now, in Manhattan or elsewhere nearby) as well as Bald Eagles, some Turkey Vultures, and also a few Red-tailed Hawks still migrating (which is quite typical of that species in terms of phenology for later movement), plus now-regular Cooper’s Hawks, and some American Kestrels & many sightings of Peregrine Falcons, around the county. The Bald Egales on the move have included birds in various stages of age-related plumages, and have certainly included a number of adults. Some Common Ravens have been sighted in a few areas (thru this report’s period), including on some occasions by those visiting the W. Tanager location; the Raven sightings also coming from the northern end of Manhattan, where perhaps slightly more regular. A very late (but not unprecedented) Wood Thrush continues at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, generally to the south side of the rink. A Lincoln’s Sparrow was continuing at Union Square Park. There have also been a few ongoing American Tree Sparrows in various locations, including in Central Park. The folllowing warblers have been seen in N.Y. County in the period of this report, and there well may be a few more that are still lingering or lurking in any innumerable many places (including any of most-local of local patches): Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-rumped [Myttle] Warbler, Palm Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler (particularly late!), Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat (the latter two species not that unusual to linger even into winter in the county, and there are multiples of each still around). P.S. - where else might redpolls & who-knows-what-else be occuring in N.Y. County? - well, Governors Island has some habitat[s]. However, that location is closed to public access until spring. …... With the viral pandemic still very much all around us, PLEASE do use and take all possible precautions to keep yourself and all others around safe! Thank You & Be Well. - - - - - "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” - Teddy Roosevelt (26th president of the U.S.A.) "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." - Frederick Douglass (1818-1895; U.S. statesman, orator, writer) Good birding to all - and thanks to the many who also keep the birds’ best interests at heart when out in the field - and limit any possible disturbances to the birds’ requirements for food, shelter, & safety, including for the many migrants a safe passage on their often long journeys as well as birds on roost sites. 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/ --
