N.Y. County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan and Randall’s Island & adjacent waters & sky -
At least one of the 2 female Western Tanagers which have wintered succesfully in Manhattan was still being seen thru this week so far, at Carl Schurz Park; it’s likelier to show at feeders a bit more if/when the weather is frosty, & less-so when weather is very mild and it & other birds can find food without the extra assistance. The feeder array is just east of East End Ave. inside the park, & a bit south of East 86th St. (near the n.w. corner of Catbird playground). The Chelsea neighborhood W. Tanager is reasonably likely to be continuing also, for now, but has been tough to find, with sightings on both West 22nd, W. 23rd, by Tenth Ave., & perhaps now & then a bit farther afield. When will either tanager choose to move on? - perhaps when more & more songbirds start migrating through, either may then join up with a (nocturnal) take-off. There was a very strong goose flight northward on Tuesday, 3/9, with (at least passing Manhattan) only Canada Geese noted, and of those, more than 2,500 passed in the hours from first-light (before 6 a.m.) & noon, as seen esp. from the Hudson river, and at several points with no gaps in observations, from W. 79th on up to near Dyckman Street in northern Manhattan. The flights of geese described elsewhere in parts of NY state & a number of other eastern states were far greater in numbers, & also included Snow Geese on the move. An adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron has been ongoing at Randall’s Island where it overwintered. Multiple American Woodcock were continung to be found in a number of places, & just to add some further upland-type shorebird movement, Wilson’s Snipe are also moving along with a few passing thru as of Monday, 3/8. Killdeer also continue in some locations. Eastern Phoebe arrived on Tuesday, 3/9 at least at Central Park & quite possibly elsewhere in N.Y. County, with several seen (also reported by others) at the latter park by Wednesday, 3/10. The species was arriving elsewhere in the region (including other parts of the city) as well including well into a few locations in the state. There also is a chance that a *very* few wintered succesfully in the city, and a few did so elsewhere in NYS. Some other movement has included both vulture species (mostly Turkey, few Black Vultures), and some other raptor migration including N. Harrier, Bald Eagle, the 2 smaller accipiters, and a few Red-tailed Hawks passing through, rather than the many that are local and nest-making. Song & [Red] Fox Sparrow have been moving and so have Slate-colored Junco, all in modest no’s. and the few overwintered Lincoln’s Sparrows of Manhattan continued on (Bryant Park, Central Park’s compost pile area), as have some Chipping Sparrows, which also are showing up here & there from points-south. American Tree Sparrows have still been seen, but likely have diminished as is expected for them in March. Even though a small number wintered succesfully, it was interesting to find a few extra or anyhow a larger no. of Ruby-crowned Kinglets in my wanderings on Tues. 3/9, and in reports from others, around Manhattan (including 4 seen in Central Park on the day) as well as finding a couple more Winter Wrens, some in locations not seen nor reported from since late last autumn. Still more of (mainly) Ruby-crowned Kinglets came in by Thursday. And the addition of a few breeding-plumaged Rusty Blackbirds to the few that wintered (with varying winter plumages) also corresponded to an increase of that species in some other areas regionally. Good numbers of blackbirds, as expected mostly Red-winged Blackbird (of both sexes) and Common Grackles had already been moving by this month, & more have passed thru - evidenced by the first-of-year reports to as far as the U.S.-Canadian border in some eastern places. There are a few Golden-crowned Kinglets also being seen. Fish Crows have been seen (& heard) in a number of locations, esp. near the 2 rivers, while some American Crows & a few Common Ravens have been noted seemingly on the move, along with the all of these corvids in potential nesting areas. An Iceland Gull was continuing in one area, sometimes on the Harlem river below (south of) or near the bridges at 125th St., & also at times over along the Bronx kill which divides Randall’s Island (& N.Y. County) from the mainland of the U.S. at the Bronx (County). A Red-throated Loon in basic plumage was continuing on the Central Park reservoir (with Double-crested Cormorants increasingly regular) & multiple other loons of the 2 expected species have been on the rivers of late, Red-throated Loons also seen on the move on some mornings. Some other waterbird movements have included modest no’s. of Common Merganser, never a ‘common’ species for N.Y. County. Other duckage continuing includes Wood Duck (with an increase by 3/11), Red-breasted Merganser (with one female continuing on the C.P. reservoir), & more-commonly, American Black Ducks, N. Shovelers, Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, and on the rivers & harbor, some Scaup - mainly Greater. Hooded Mergansers & at least 5 Ring-necked Ducks (reservoir) also continued in at Central Park, and some American Coots as well. Anyone concerned that Tufted Titmice were diminishing-departing in Manhattan need not have worried, plenty are still around, esp. in the most-watched locations. Also still fair no’s. of Black-capped Chickadees around, if not quite as many as their winter peak numbers. The first few hours of Thurs./11th had a 'March-doldrum' feel in terms of diurnal migrants, things picking up a bit only in the northern end of Manhattan & after fog burned off, but even then, observed flight was rather minimal & slow. Some blackbirds, & a lot more which could be dsicerned moving up the N.J. side of the Hudson well north of the G.W. bridge; also there were odd intervals of birds in reverse-movement, south or southwest-bound at lower altitudes, but not really that many, species like American Robin, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, and a few others. Raptors were moving but more so also to the north. … Insects, and with them. more flowers, have been emerging &/or showing up, and amongst the insects have been a couple of (expected in this warmth) butterfly species, Eastern Comma, & Mourning Cloak, on Manhattan, with many species of flies, including the Syrphidae, also starting up again. Most of the flowers having come up are of the planted and non-native varieties, but a few natives also are just starting to show buds or even some blooms. Thanks to all who’ve reported sightings. And a further thanks to all of our heroic health-care workers all around the world, who have helped us come to a better place after this long 1 year! Good birding to all, 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/ --
