SuperbOwl Sunday, 2/7 - Manhattan / N.Y. County (in N.Y. City) The Greater White-fronted Goose (form flavirostris) has continued on at Central Park; it had been on the Lake again for some days, but switched back to C.P. reservoir, swimming from n.-w. to northeast sector at daybreak, where I photo’d it again on Sunday. A drake N. Pintail, now uncommon for Manhattan, made an appearance on the reservoir as well, & also present there were a lingering hen Red-bresated Merganser, and a drake Wood Duck. There were at least 400 Canada Geese in all on the reservoir early Sunday, 2/7.
The female Western Tanager at Carl Schurz Park has continued to snow-Sunday 2/7, with an appearance at a suet-log & vicinity, just off East End Ave. a bit south of East 86th Street. Other more-common birds also seen, but an Orange-crowned Warbler was not (nor was it sought by me, on Sun.) At least 1 Rusty Blackbird has continued on at Central Park, in & around the Ramble. As could be expected, the feeding station[s], in various locations, were busy during the snow, but many birds were also coping well away from feeders as well. The coming days of much colder temp’s. will be an additional challenge to a lot of less-hardy species. Adding to sparrow diversity, all continung to winter in Central Park’s north end, a Lincoln’s Sparrow persists there, joining Field & Chipping, and more generally, American Tree, Swamp, Song, [Red] Fox, and White-throated Sparrows. 8 sparrow spp. in mid-winter in a Manhattan park is more than the typical number for the season. Some of these (including Chipping) have been lingering at a few other parks in Manhattan, and Am. Tree Sparrows have been on Randall’s Island in somewhat higher no’s., for a while. An adult-plumaged Red-shouldered Hawk has been regular just lately in Fort Tryon Park, including on Sunday 2/7; this species had once been quite rare in winter in the city but has become a little more regular although still far less expected than the ‘default’ (and year-round) urban buteo of the past several decades: Red-tailed Hawk. At least 1 Iceland Gull was still being seen at Randall’s Island to Saturday 2/6. Many gulls were coming in to the Central Park reservoir early on Sun., 2/7 yet as of 9 a.m., no uncommon species were making themselves apparent, among 300+ gulls to show up, primarily Ring-billed. The gulls were seen coming in from both the east & west. Also on Sat., 2/6 at least 2 Black Vultures were noted at Inwood Hill Park, & Turkey Vultures were seen in at least several locations. There was a (different) Red-shouldered Hawk still being seen at Inwood into at least Sat. 2/6. On the weekend as a whole, many additional lingering species were seen around N.Y. County; these included [Atlantic] Brant, Mute Swan (in at least 2 separate locations), Gadwall, American Black Duck, Northern Shoveler, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, [flyovers of Common Merganser], Red-breasted Merganser (on the rivers, in addition to the single in C.P.’s reservoir), Ruddy Duck, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Great Cormorant (regular all winter off Randall’s Island & some other locations), Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron (young bird at Randall’s Island), [Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was not seen but might still be on Randall’s Isl.],, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, American Coot, American Woodcock, Ring-billed Gull, [American] Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Mourning Dove, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, owls in the multiple, Belted Kingfisher (most regular from Randall’s Island), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Blue Jay, Common Raven (multiple locations & observers), American Crow, Fish Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Red-breasted Nuthatch (few), White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (several), Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Cedar Waxwing (few), Eastern Towhee, Slate-colored Junco, American Tree Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Henslow's Sparrow, [Red] Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, House Finch, American Goldfinch, & some additional species… good birding, thanks to many offering reports on the diverse species this winter, 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/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/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/ --
