Thursday, Wednesday, & Tuesday, 22nd, 21st, & 20th September, 2016 Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
Good nocturnal migrations each night from Monday-Tues.-Wed. nights on into Thursday, and good variety in birds found in Central in the Iead- up to & including the autumnal equinox, occurring on Thursday 9/22! The good variety is now taking in (a bit) more in waterfowl, and further raptor movement, as well as some shorebird (known as "waders", to much of the rest of the world) passage, & of course plenty of passerine & other 'land'-bird movement & reasonably good stop-in or drop-in, particularly in the southern 2/3 of the park, as has been so for parts of this season's southbound migration thus far (the north end has birds too, however!) Wednesday was probably the busier day of the 3 being reported on, as Jack Rothman's Central Park report also suggested, for that day. Connecticut Warbler was among many highlights seen this week; at least one being well-seen at Strawberry Fields & with NO illegal taping used (amplified sound is prohibited in that area at all times, as posted there in park regulations signage) - by the many observers on at least 2 days, Tues.-Wed. 9/20-21. Again this week, all 6 northeastern- breeding Vireo species were seen nicely, with White-eyed & Philadelphia the less-common & just a few sightings of those to at least Wed. Up to 23 species of warblers were found this week in Central, but some warbler species are now diminished in numbers here, as fall arrives - this is a collective tally as reliably seen by many dozens of quiet observers. Some of the birds being seen from Thursday 9/22 back thru earlier in the week at Central: Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Canada Goose Wood Duck (bright male, Pond; etc.) Gadwall (notable numbers recently) American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler (Meer, Reservoir) Northern Pintail (Turtle Pond, noted to some of us by Dr. (of ornithology) Roger Pasquier; many subsequent observers on Wed. 9/21) Green-winged Teal (perhaps same individual having moved from Meer to reservoir, but more than 1 had been at the Meer in previous weeks) Ruddy Duck (few to one, reservoir) Osprey (flyovers daily) Bald Eagle (reported by a few observers on Wed.) Northern Harrier (flyover, Wed.) Sharp-shinned Hawk (flyovers daily) Cooper's Hawk (flyover, Wed.) Red-tailed Hawk (area resident) American Kestrel (area resident) Merlin (flyover, Wed.) Peregrine Falcon (area resident) Solitary Sandpiper (Meer & reservoir, Tues.-Wed.) Spotted Sandpiper (several, various locations to Thurs.) Semipalmated Sandpiper (Tues., reservoir 'stop-overs') Least Sandpiper (previously lingering; just 'stop-overs' by Tues.) Laughing Gull (reservoir, in multiple at times, esp. near mid-day) Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Yellow-billed Cuckoo (at least to Tues.) Common Nighthawk (continuing but in low numbers now, to Thurs.) Chimney Swift (still in numbers at times this week) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (multiple) Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (more showing, but still minimal numbers) Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Yellow-shafted Flicker (many on each day) Eastern Wood-Pewee (near-common now) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (several reports) Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe (increasing) Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird (getting a bit late, thru Thurs.) White-eyed Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Warbling Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay (many) American Crow (over 40 on Tues. in one area) Tree Swallow (flyovers daily) Barn Swallow (flyovers daily) Black-capped Chickadee (very modest increase) Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch (ongoing, not huge numbers as previous weeks) White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Carolina Wren House Wren Winter Wren Ruby-crowned Kinglet (very modest increase) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush (& perhaps the other, rarer related "cousin" of this) Swainson's Thrush (modest increase) Wood Thrush American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula (still fairly common) Yellow Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler (still fairly common) Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Myrtle [or formerly: Yellow-rumped] Warbler (few) Black-throated Green Warbler Pine Warbler Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler (a modest increase) Bay-breasted Warbler (some were photographed) Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler (still fairly common) American Redstart (still fairly common) Ovenbird (fairly common) Northern Waterthrush Connecticut Warbler (as noted above) Common Yellowthroat (fairly common) Wilson's Warbler Canada Warbler (getting a bit late, thru Thursday) Scarlet Tanager (fairly common) Eastern Towhee (2) Chipping Sparrow (still scarce) Field Sparrow (still scarce) Savannah Sparrow (few, Wed.) Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow (still scarce) Swamp Sparrow (still scarce) White-throated Sparrow (few) Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak (common) Indigo Bunting Bobolink (still passing by as of Wed.) Red-winged Blackbird Rusty Blackbird (Wed.) Common Grackle (increased numbers) Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole (passage thru Wed.) Purple Finch (few, Wed.) House Finch American Goldfinch (common now) House Sparrow Thanks to all who observe quietly with respect for the birds sake, and for their many fellow park users. "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." - Aldo Leopold (1887–1948), U.S. wildlife biologist, conservationist, professor, author, best known for his book "A Sand County Almanac" (1949), which has sold more than two million copies. good birding, Tom Fiore Manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
