New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Randalls, Governors, and Roosevelt Islands -four islands of the county- and the adjacent waters and skies above to Thursday, September 19th -
The Red-headed Woodpecker seen and photographed in flight at Governors Island on 9-14 by L.Beausoleil has not been reported since but could potentially still be lingering there. Many other migrants have been occurring on and over Governors Island since then, as well as on that day. A first-fall plumaged -young of this year- Connecticut Warbler graced the confines of Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, and very large -!!- numbers of birders came to see this one, with successes on Wed., Sept. 18th. There is at least one report in for Thursday which will need a confirmation. On Wednesday many fine photos were obtained as well as some video of that Connecticut Warbler when it obliged the large numbers of viewers. The by-now long-lingering Yellow-breasted Chat at Bryant Park was ongoing thru Thursday 9-19, and had already been viewed far, far more than one-thousand times, perhaps by more watchers than that including multiple passersby over recent weeks, as the Chat is sometimes much more willing to be seen in open view, at times. Mourning Warblers also have continued - two are still present as of Thursday, one at the Fifth Ave. side of the library and one in Bryant Park proper. A nice selection of other migrants have also been seen there on a daily basis, including those pointed out by the leaders on not-for-profit guided bird walks. Randalls Island has continued to host new migrants, and has also still held a specialty of the location, Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Forsters Tern showed, in flight, again there on 9-17. At least 22 migratory American warbler species have been seen on Randalls from the early days of September, with some days more recently still being productive of such songbird diversity - the key in part there, and at some other locations of the county-overall, may be early starts on days when some flight was occurring over the night prior and on into the first hours of any morning. On some days, these early morning arrival-flights are rather pronounced, and are not -always- in concert with perceptions we may have about overnight winds and weather. Migration is complex. Governors Island continues to receive many migrants, with changing diversity and numbers about each day lately there. Roosevelt Island, despite receiving somewhat fewer birding observers per week, has had plenty of migrants and also was still hosting a hen Wild Turkey all this week, a long-lingering bird there. In Manhattan, Central Park has had multiple walks led by various guides working with not-for-profit organizations, such as the American Museum of Natural History, the Linnaean Society of New York, and the NYC Bird Alliance among others. On Tuesday, 9-17, the leaders of some of these walks found both White-eyed and Philadephia Vireos, as well as 2 perched Common Nighthawks and many more migrants of interest in walks in the Central Park Ramble and mid-park area. At the same area as previously in that parks n. end, a different White-eyed Vireo has persisted, and been photographed again. Warbler diversity in the past week has been good, with some sightings and additional -prior- reports of such usually-skulking as Connecticut Warbler, some of those supported as well by photos. The Mourning Warblers in Bryant Park have been there for so many days that it may easily be a long-duration record of the species in NY State for a non-breeding location - whether of any of -same individuals- or not, since late May of this year. It has appeared that these may well be long-lingering individuals, and we shall see if they clear out from that park, and from this city, by late in this year, if-ever! There has yet to be a major seasonal change-over of warbler species by prominence, away from such as American Redstart, or Northern Parula, and into the period when later-in-season species tend to dominate such as Myrtle -a.k.a. Yellow-rumped- Warbler or Palm Warbler, and in this county, also Ovenbird and Common Yellowthroat both of which are found as over-wintering birds in numbers, particularly on Manhattan island at the start of winter in all recent decades. All that noted, there are more and more Palm Warblers, and some of the western form as well as the other more-common form for now, showing every day lately in the county. Back in the pre-dawn night or very-small hours of Sept. 12, a Golden-winged Warbler was identified in part by photos, from the vigil and watch held by volunteers at the annual Tribute in Light by the 9-11 Memorial, where on most nights when this event is taking place, will attract some, or in some years, many actively-migrating birds into the tall spires of bright light used in commemorating that date in our history - over the years since the Tribute in Light was begun, and a bird-monitoring watch effort started, many other migrants, sometimes less-expected species, have been documented there. Also present this year during the Tribute were Sora, seemingly at least 2 individuals, and a good many more migrant species. There have been many more migrants all around the county this week, and more will be likely to show in coming days. Thanks to the many keen, quiet, courteous and helpful observers and photographers who were finding so many birds and reporting via non-X alerts and also as-always, for eBird and the Macaulay Library media archive. 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/ --
