New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, & Governors Island Saturday, May 21st:
At least 4 observers checking-scanning the Hudson River area from the pier near West 70-71st Sts. (which juts well into that river) via Riverside Park South noted a trio of BLACK SKIMMERS (which are fairly-regular on an annual basis, meaning that some will show at least in a given calendar year, in N.Y. County - but also likely-underdetected and also genuinely scarce for the county in some years) - this perhaps the 1st-of-year for the county (& is so, for Manhattan in ’22 as well). The 3 birds were photographed a short while before dusk, nearing 8:30 pm; thanks were offered to A. Cunningham for their initial detection by the other 3 obs. - a nice find & modestly-anticipated (for those watching at good locations/timings) for about now thru June; this species also might be found in the county thru summer. Some savvy observers on Governors Island earlier in the day noted a few shorebirds that are quite scarce (or downright ‘rare’) sightings for the county (as far as the growing understanding for that group of birds is in the county) - a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (& also small group of Semipalmated Sandipers) detected on one keen observers watch of the G.I. area’s waters & skies, from the upper ‘mound’ (small hill) of “The Hills” sector there; and a bit later in the day, a group bird-walk with A. Barry (a regular for Governors and tireless reporter) noting a RUDDY TURNSTONE (another rather-scarce shorebird for the county, although again, likely a bit underdetected from what could be areas that get some per-year there) - that Turnstone at the “Tango” pier. There of course have been many other birds, a great many of them migrants on-passage, but also some which may wind up staying there to attempt breeding, to see out on and from Governors I. and it’s a location with still more potential, the more so if watched in particular active-migration periods. A look-over the many species seen just in this month of May (so far this year alone) should give a sense of the potential diversity, with for ex. Pine Siskin near the start of this month there, & of course the E. Whip-poor-will of early May so many got to observe there, thru all manner of sparrows and warblers and many many more - good flycatcher diversity, a selection (still being added-to) of shorebirds, and more - worth a visit. A Summer Tanager has been reported from Highbridge Park (n. Manhattan’s “Heights” area) with a few details & poss. sound-recorded there, that’s another site for a species that’s shown quite well this spring in the county. On noting Highbridge Park, that GRASSHOPPER SPARROW from there is a confirmed sighting (& a screenshot-type photo added to the Macaulay Library archives) also from Saturday 5/21, thanks to E. Schumann (the ‘grasshoper' was sought by some others later, but apparently could not be re-found). There are some reports of [presumptive] Mississippi Kites - multiples from more than 1 location - moving over Manhattan on the 21st, hopefully with some further details to emerge and if-any, with phone-photos or any additional documentation; this species is on the move thru the broader region, and late May in particular a known ‘window’ when these can be moving northward into some parts of the wider northeast. It’s a scarcely-seen species for N.Y. County (and pretty-much so for all of N.Y. City) however there was the one individual approx. 1 week previous to these reports, that earlier Mississippi having been seen by some of NY’s keenest & most-active state-observers and has been added to confirmed records for eBird now. More ‘eyes to the skies’ and perhaps for some, a good lens on the camera as well. All 5 of the standard northeast-breeding Empidonax [genus] flycatchers have been showing in the county, with a few sightings (& at least calls if not ’songs’ heard for a number of these, which is rather imperative for Alder Fly. in particular for these birds on-passage, and not in a breeding-place) - with Yellow-bellied Flycatchers being just-about last of the varied migrant flycatchers (& a few breeding species) to be passing in spring; multiple finds of this latter one now, including numbers in (for ex.) Central Park into Saturday - also seen for Sat. in Central Park were Olive-sided Flycatcher[s] in at least a couple of locations. The Cuckoo-show was a bit more widespread with Yellow-billed in multiple locations & Black-billed less-so (as is a typical pattern with these 2 species in this county), and as already noted, both spp. seen in Central Park on Sat. by multi-observers. The Common Nighthawk show has continued to Saturday eve, and also very-early Sunday (May 22), with modest no’s. being detected; there also have been at least a few seen roosting in somewhat-undsiclosed areas; the sightings of fly-bys and aerially-feeding birds have included some in & over Central Park to Sunday. The TWO-DOZEN species of American Warblers for Central Park (in its entirety, and as found by many observers collectively, but with some individual obs. or small groups of finding from 16-20+ of these species on the day) were noted from Saturday, May 21st. Late individuals included Pine Warbler, as well as a few Worm-eating running modestly-late, which might also be noted for Blue-winged Warbler (in this county, generally). Also, many of these warblers and a vast variety of other migrants, breeding-species and vistant or resident species have been seen by many hundreds of observers out in birding-walks guided by & for not-for-profit organizations (which include the A.M.N.H. - American Museum of Natural History, New York) and the Linnaean Society of New York, which may offer some free-of-charge walks in N.Y. County, esp. regularly in Central Park, as well as the N.Y.C.A.S. Audubon org., also offering innumerable walks and field-trips, and by varied other non-profit groups for the good of the birds and nature. The lingering or slightly-late Blue-gray Gnatcatchers on several islands in the county (and in Central Park, still) thru Saturday 5/21 may be of additional interest for coming days & weeks, should these be found to linger on. This species has nested in the county in recent times and may be a bit under-detected as a breeder, particular in some of the vastly-less-birded parks & green-spaces of the county. Obviously, any native birds of any species ought never be disturbed in any way under any circumstances when nesting. The recent sightings of Caprimulgids, including Chuck-wills-widow for Central Park, were all seen as well as heard in the wee hours of Sat. May 21st, and there were additional observers of some, of course the most-observed having been (and may continue to be) for Common Nighthawk, as this is the season to find them at least on-passage here. (I am not a twitterer, sorry for any who follow that app.) There have been any number of additiona interesting notes-from-the-night, which might be detailed in some future report[s] on N.Y. County observations. - - - MANY insect species have been showing, with butterfly diversity notably picking up, and some of the migrating species of that group starting to show a bit of increase - these include the well-known migrant Monarchs but also include such species as Red Admiral, the 2 Lady species (American Lady & Painted Lady), Question Mark, and a few more, perhaps said of Gray Hairstreak in some of its’ occureences, at least for parts of N.Y. County. At least 22 species of butterfly (perhaps more) were recorded in total from the county (perhaps more) for Sat., May 21, and that number includes some of the skipper species. All manner of other insects and arthropods are showing in various foms (adult or other) lately, and yet-more will be in the current warmth and hunidity here. Good -and quiet- observations to all (and thanks to the many many hundreds of observers giving reports and finding so many species), 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/ --
