New York County, including Manhattan, Randall’s Island and Governors Island Thursday, March 10th thru Saturday, March 12th:
The east-side (of Manhattan) Western Tanager continued into stormy-Saturday, 3/12 at Carl Schurz Park, east of East End Ave. - there are actually now several feeders there (including large suspended suet-logs and a smaller suet-block) with two of those north of the one which most of us have been keeping eyes on, when seeking out the tanager & sometimes other species; all 3 are along the hedge-rows just east of East End Ave., & visible from the (south/north) parallel paths just inside the park - but not all visible at once. The 2nd, ‘west-side” (Clinton & Hell’s Kitchen neighborhhod) of Manhattan W. Tanager *may* also still be around (in that west-side area), but seems not to have been found - or at least, reported - in many days at this point. An Orange-crowned Warbler was seen & photo’d. around the Battery and Rockefeller Park on Thursday, 3/10, and the long-lingering one at Randall’s Island was also still present, through Friday 3/11. Ovenbirds were ongoing in at least 2 Manhattan locations, a singing male Pine Warbler was present (and seen singing) in Central Park on Saturday (ahead of the rain/snow) north of “the Dene” in a white pine tree (one of a few around that area), and [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warblers continued in (a total of) double-digit no’s. at a few sites in the county, especially in the northern & southern ends of the county - the county’s southern-most point being in “the Hills” sector of Governors Island. A single Laughing Gull was (recently) confirmed for N.Y. County as reported back on March 5th, off the east side of Manhattan. Others have been seen in the region, rather sparingly so far. Various waterfowl have obviously been moving region-wide as have various other types of birds, & a bit more in a further report to come. Central Park was still featuring a number of ducks such as N. Shovelers, Hooded Mergansers, Wood Ducks, & others as well as Am. Coots, through Sat., 3/12; other duckage was again present as well with some on the rivers and harbor. Eastern Phoebes were continuing from last weekend thru all of the week at several locations, esp. as seen by many in Central Park (but in low no’s.; still on the early side). There may have been a very slight uptick in their numbers thru the past week, but of course a lot more will be anticipated in the coming weeks. There’ve been small no’s. of both kinglet species ongoing thru winter and which were still being seen to this past week; these are not ‘early arrivals', but birds that wintered. That is the case with some Gray Catbirds, Brown Thrashers, Winter Wrens, E. Towhees, and other species which we have had in low-ish no’s. for the entire winter. At the same time, there has been plenty of movement, some of it onward and out of the county (& city) by species such as Red-winged Blackbird & Common Grackle. At least several Rusty Blackbirds have shown in the past week, some seen by more observers at Central Park than in other sites. A small / loose flock of Chipping Sparrows, plus Field Sparrow were ongoing in Central Park’s n. end. Savannah Sparrows were again found on both Randall’s and Governors Islands, as were Killdeer. And [Red] Fox Sparrows were singing a bit in various locations, with a good many slightly concentrated in the Ramble area of Central Park, although also having been found all around the county, often as singles or just a couple in a group, as is typical; they will often be in-company with the far more common wintering White-throated Sparrows, scattered all around the county. American Woodcock were still lingering in some areas, including mid & lower Manhattan sites, but also in parks and larger greenspaces. No matter the weather, songs are being sung by a variety of birds - American Robins, Carolina Wrens, Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, N. Cardinals & plenty of others, as we spring-forward. The insect life seen just a day or two ago were mainly hiding from view as the snow flurries swirled and winds dropped temp’s by many degrees thru the day and evening - and yet, all that with the increasing buds & some blooms in the region will be more evident this coming week. A few early-variety cherry, azalea & other trees and shrubs were already in full bloom, and some of the Cornus mas (a yellow-flowered dogwood species planted widely in N.Y. City) have been out, adding color to the local scene. 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/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/ --
