Nice recap. Always enjoy yours! I saw a Lark Sparrow at Liberty State Park last week. I’m wondering if it could be the same bird at Governor’s? Exciting!!
Claudine Claudine Williams Photography (917)510-4845 www.claudinewilliamsphotography.com Please excuse brevity and typos On Sep 9, 2024, at 7:14 AM, Tom Fiore <tom...@earthlink.net> wrote: New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Randalls, Governors, and Roosevelt Islands and the skies above and the adjacent waters - thru Sunday, Sept. 8th - Highlights alone take some time - the Connecticut Warbler seen by later-in-day observers and photographers at Central Park by Belvedere Castle - Turtle Pond area, Sunday, the LARK Sparrow found on Randalls Island Sunday morning, seen by multiple others as well later on, the Philadelphia Vireo found and photographed at Governors Island also on Sunday, the ongoing Yellow-breasted Chat, plus Mourning and other Warblers at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan are just a small part of the whole. A sighting of Least Bittern, by one of our most experienced and astute local ornithologists at an apt. buildings high floors in Manhattans upper east area, was hopefully not too traumatic an incident for the bird itself. We have had a number of bird-rescues and rehabbed birds set free, in just this early part of this month in the county, a lot may have been involved in window - building - structure strikes, the diverse species sent to rehab. have included Sora and Virginia Rail as well as many smaller birds. This adds to the request never to add stresses to the many migrant, or resident birds of our city by doing anything that may harm them while they require feeding, rest and as much quiet as possible to be able to successfully carry on. The Lark Sparrow at Randalls Island, found by J. Suzuki with M.B. Kooper was happily lingering on for Sunday so that more birders could come in to see - that at the n. edges of the island near the central portion of where the Bronx Kill waters make a county-line, New York County with Randalls Island to the south and Bronx County - and the mainland of North America, on the north side - some who wished to may also have list-ticked the Lark Sparrow from either side of the 2-county line. Along with that rarer sparrow came a modest new freshening of some other migrant sparrows, such as Swamp, Savannah, Chipping, and an even more-modest influx of other sparrow species. Also showing but still a ways from any peak arrivals are Eastern Towhee. Sundays Connecticut Warbler on a small lawn, east of Belvedere Castle, at Central Park was a first-fall plumaged bird, and is not the first of this season in that park, but might be first to be seen by more than a very-few observers, and again, photographed. Those who made reports and include the descriptions of behaviors as well as appearances of this - or any - bird, are thanked in particular by those who review such sightings. A lingering Yellow-breasted Chat has had many admirers by now, still present Sunday in Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, with at least 2 Mourning Warblers also there, and a modest selection of other migrants. The Chat may have become a bit less shy at times, by this weekend. Both Black-billed and Yellow-billed Cuckoos were seen, and also both species photographed, in the Central Park Ramble on Sunday. Both cuckoo species have been appearing for some days but by-far, Yellow-billed have been the more common and regular of these sightings so far this month. These have appeared in all of the 4 main islands of the county, with as-usual more sightings from the most-visited locations with sufficient trees and cover. Common Nighthawks have continued to be seen in-flight from a number of locations, mainly in the dusk period but also some at earlier hours. One was photod perched, at Governors Island Sunday, by L. LaBella, who also had nice photos of a Philadelphia Vireo there, showing details of the face and bill structure. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have been very numerous at some locations lately, with some of the larger parks of the county having 5, 8, ten or more at one time, of course particularly where flowers of the type attractive to the hummers are found. Some are also being seen in active diurnal migratory flight as well. Chimney Swifts have come past in numbers, with a number of roosting places also being monitored locally. In addition to the recent Philadelphia Vireos, others in the vireo tribe have included Yellow-throated, Warbling and increased numbers of Red-eyed, all being seen in Central and in many other parks including for Philly Vireos, in recent days. Barely requiring mention, the Red-breasted Nuthatch, and also White-breasted Nuthatch sightings are now daily in the county, and both species are still being found in multiple locations, as previously. Among the early-arrivers a Ruby-crowned Kinglet was seen on Sept. 3rd at Fort Tryon Park. A very few Purple Finches were coming into the county this past week and again on Sunday, 8th. Flycatchers still being seen have included Empidonax-genus species which included Least and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, as well as some others of that tribe, and other species such as E. Phoebe increasing, and E. Wood-Pewee, along with diminished numbers of Great Crested Flycatchers and E. Kingbirds, although the latter are still passing thru in diurnal flights, too. Some reports of Olive-sided Flycatcher were also noted. There have been up to 25 or more Warbler species in the county, including at least that many just in Central Park on Sunday, with some species that are a bit scarcer now, such as Worm-eating, Canada, Wilsons, and a few others. A slight uptick in almost all other species for Sunday - and the warbler numbers were quite good at all of the other 3 main islands of the county, as well as in various Manhattan locations where birders have been. As is somewhat typical, those who were out as early as daylight appeared may have had some of the higher tallies on warblers in both numbers and diversity, but as with all birding, patience also helps win the birds. Nice numbers of Bobolinks came thru for Sunday, and while in many locations in this county these may not linger, at Governors Island in particular they sometimes do, and may be seen well with some efforts there. Of other icteridae, the family of all New World blackbirds, there are more Brown-headed Cowbirds coming along, and still some numbers of Baltimore Oriole. No large arrivals lately of most migrant thrush species although many of these have been passing, including Veery and Wood and Swainsons, with modest numbers again of gray-cheeked types, including at least the possibility of some of the latter being Bicknells Thrush, of which more could be anticipated to pass, often in the night along with local drop-ins. We have had some good overnight flights in these first days of September, over much of the region and not just in the local areas. The smatter of Hermit Thrush seen or reported rather early will be picking up again later in the month and on into autumn. Raptors recently seen have included Bald Eagles, Ospreys, N. Harriers, Merlins, American Kestrels, Peregrine Falcons, Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawks, a small number of Broad-winged Hawks and large numbers of Red-tailed Hawks, the latter including many local and resident breeders. Black -in small numbers- and Turkey Vultures have been fairly regular, again with Black Vulture the likelier area of the county for sightings being the northern end of Manhattan and of course scanning a wide swath of the sky. Waterfowl are not a very large component of the recent migrations here, but in Central Park, there are still ongoing small numbers of N. Shovelers, and also a long-lingering Hooded Merganser and Wood Ducks, and more-recently, Green-winged Teal back for perhaps another winter. Over all of the county, some have noticed the diminution of egrets, with Snowy Egret now far-rarer in recent days, and even Great Egret not as easy to sight as just 1 week ago. On Randalls Island, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was still being seen thru Sunday. Some of the shorebirds still showing - including at Central Park on Sunday - had Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers, and elsewhere also Least Sandpipers and Killdeer, with fairly recent sightings of Semipalmated Sandpiper. At least 5 Forsters Terns, perhaps more, moved across Randalls Island Sunday morning, this a species that seemed to increase a bit over the year, although some of that may be due to increased vigilance and sharp camera-work, to get firmer IDs on some passing terns and all such migrants. As is still expected, Laughing Gulls are showing, in particular at the N.Y. Harbor area, and occasionally farther in from there within the county. There would be still-more sightings to report on, and should be again by later in the week. Thanks to so many keen observers - and photographers - of whom it might be noted, a very significant number are women of all ages, observing and many also photographing - for so many excellent finds and reports of late. Good birding to all, Tom Fiore manhattan -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ -- -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
