Friday, 30 September, 2016 Central Park "entirety" - Manhattan (N.Y. City)
Not quite anticipating such a bird-y day in Central, and with modest precipitation in batches of light drizzles, then some showers by mid- day and some gusts of wind in the cool temperatures, I'd not expected a great day for observing so many migrants, but that is exactly what transpired, & equipped with raingear, warm clothing, & an umbrella (used intermittently), I made a counter-clockwise loop taking in vitually every portion of Central Park & lasting a total of 7 & 1/2 hours, and finding at least some migrants in every corner and cranny of the park - birding in the rain can be like that - not each time there is rain, to be sure & this was not by any means some "mega" fall- out, indeed many of the birds seen may have been present in Central previously, but there were certainly good numbers of some of the migrants seen. The most uncommonly-found species of migrant I found today was a single American Pipit, that on the North Meadow ballfield, about central in the eastern edge infield areas - there were a modest number of Palm Warblers, & some sparrows in the same area, & the pipit stood out a bit as something different - while its status in Central might be called 'rare' by many, it's likely an annual migrant, but one which most-often does not linger at all (rarely, in the past 2 decades, a few have) - this type of weather is perhaps when one is most likely to sit down & stay a bit, and at this season - this seen later in the day, & with rain having already become steadier - even though I chose to bird on, into the far north end of the park to complete a loop of each section of the park (from C.P. West to Fifth Ave., & from the south end to the north); among the most "birdy" areas I encountered, at particular times, were: Strawberry Fields & vicinity, the Pinetum & vicinity, the compost area immediately west of the Conservatory Garden and it's vicinity, and the southern slope of the Great Hill - however there were other patches of very good activity and these included the west edge of the Ramble proper, an area SW of the Dene, where a new 'wildflower-meadow' is being prepared, & some portions of the outer perimeter of the reservoir track. I had brought a "write-in-the-rain" pad & pen out, thinking there might be high numbers of some waterfowl &/or gulls, and perhaps there were, but I ended up tallying exact numbers of some other migrants, particularly warblers, in my 7.5 hour waIk, & some of the numbers are interesting, not high counts by any means, and just what one person encountered in a Iot of meandering thru most parts of the park, but far more of some species than a more-'casual' or more-Iimited walk might have noted & of course more than might be seen by going into just one section of the park. I encountered 20 warbler species today, which is a bit more than I was thinking would even be possible, and there were a few that got away, which might have added a further species. (NB, at least 5 of these species were seen in numbers of just one or 2 individuals, and several more species in low single- digits; however a few species were certainly common today, park-wide - those were, in descending order - Palm, Common Yellowthroat, and N. Parula. A few of the Palms were of the western form as far as I was able to determine.) One aspect of my sightings today that was sort of interesting, if not aII that unusual, was how certain species were somewhat 'bunched' (concentrated) in particuIar areas - for some, this may have involved preferred foods availabIe in good quantity, or some small preference for a particular 'niche' habitat - within a large & mostly landscaped urban green-space. It was not that pronounced, as the migrants were certainly found in mixed flocks or loose conglomerations, but there were a few areas with a lot of one species, just enough to seem a bit notable. And (not that unusual for fall, but a bit notable for Central Park with its many, many tourists & other visitors streaming in daily) also fun today was, thanks to the damp weather, there were perhaps 5-10% of the usual numbers of park-users, and many of the migrants were out on lawn areas, coming to low branches & in shrubs even where normally, there may have been hordes of tourists & visitors doing their "selfies" and just generally occupying space here, there, and near- everywhere - a standard day in Central Park, nearly year-round (and yet one more reason why birds deserve every bit of peace and lack of any intentional disturbance, so that they may continue to attempt to feed, forage, and rest, as needed for their prolonged journeys onward). Most of the migrants seen at all hours today were feeding & foraging intensively, even if in a somewhat relaxed style for having some of spaces that might normally be occupied by humans or by their dogs. Numbers in parentheses below refer to exact counts made of species, with some notes, in some instances. Double-crested Cormorant (reservoir, mainly) Great Blue Heron Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Canada Goose Wood Duck (drake, continues as has for weeks) Gadwall (102 in total - Meer & reservoir, mainly) American Black Duck (3) Mallard Northern Shoveler (38 on Meer, and 22 on the reservoir, a 'few' noticed on lake; those seen at the meer were counted after 3 pm) Green-winged Teal (2 female-looking individuals, one at Meer's east edge, another at the Pool near West 102 St.) (2 Hooded Mergansers not found today anywhere but may still be present) Ruddy Duck (14, reservoir, and 2, Meer) Red-tailed Hawk Peregrine Falcon American Coot (1, Meer) Laughing Gull (minimum of 6 on reservoir, mid-day, posslbly more - scope needed for more-serious gull surveys there) Ring-billed Gull (many, reservoir) Herring Gull (many, reservoir) Great Black-backed Gull (many, reservoir) Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Chimney Swift (2 over the Ramble, in a.m.) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1) Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (3) Downy Woodpecker Yellow-shafted Flicker (count stopped after 120, which was after 5 hours of walking - seen in all corners of park; max. of 21 seen at once in a.m.) Eastern Wood-Pewee (2 ID'd definitively) Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher (1, not ID'd to species) Eastern Phoebe (16) Eastern Kingbird (1, going over Turtle Pond, now slightly late in the season) Blue-headed Vireo (3) Warbling Vireo (1) Red-eyed Vireo (16, with 9 of these on the Great Hill, many feeding on fruits) Blue Jay (many; count not kept) American Crow Black-capped Chickadee (just 2 noted) Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch (9, at least 4 of these at the Pinetum-west) White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper (3) Carolina Wren (1) Marsh Wren (1, lake-shore) Golden-crowned Kinglet (2) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (just 1) Gray-cheeked Thrush (1) Swainson's Thrush (14, a good number of these in the far south end of park) Hermit Thrush (1) Wood Thrush (4) American Robin Gray Catbird (137, with a concentration of 42 in areas from the SW part of lake to the Mineral Springs pavillion cafe, takes in Falconer Hill area; & a second good concentration of 26 in the area close to Gapstow bridge, at the park's southeastern section) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (11, with some in north end, some in south end, & some in Ramble area taking in Strawberry Fields) European Starling American Pipit (1, as noted above) Cedar Waxwing (300+ in several flocks of 50+, as well as smaller flocks - the larger flocks esp. appeared to be resting in p.m. hours, perhaps grounded in the weather?) Tennessee Warbler (2) Nashville Warbler (7) Northern Parula (23, with a nice, small group of 8 along the east edges of reservoir track - in & near plantings on east edges of track) Yellow Warbler (1) Chestnut-sided Warbler (4) Magnolia Warbler (13, with a slightly-surprising count of 5 in the Pond area) Cape May Warbler (2, Pinetum-east) Black-throated Blue Warbler (17, with at least 12 in the north end of park, & that is probably a bit low; with some very bright males) Mytle [ex-Yellow-rumped] Warbler (39, many in north end near the compost, but scattered all thru park in various locations) Black-throated Green Warbler (14, with six seen simultaneously at Strawberry Fields & all of them out on south lawn area at once) Pine Warbler (4 - 3 of these at north end, 1 at Pinetum-west) Palm Warbler (57, of which at least 32 counted around the compost area - with 20+ seen simultaneously there in mid-afternoon in very light drizzles; also in numbers at the Great Hill) Bay-breasted Warbler (3, 1 at Pinetum-west, in fair color; & 2 more at north end in less-bright color) Blackpoll Warbler (2, both at Pinetums) Black-and-white Warbler (7, including 3 at far southern end of park) American Redstart (11, with 5 of them in southern-most end of park) Ovenbird (21, with 8 of these found in the vegetation in the locust allee west of the Great Lawn; 2 also in the CP Zoo grounds) Northern Waterthrush (1, the Pond) Common Yellowthroat (42, counted in all possible areas of the park, and including 17 adult males) Wilson's Warbler (1, the Great Hill's "meadow of true love") Scarlet Tanager (2) Eastern Towhee (6, with 2 together west of Great Lawn) Chipping Sparrow (not as many as I'd have expected - 15+) Field Sparrow (4, with 3 of these around the compost area) Savannah Sparrow (7, with 5 of these in the compost area) Song Sparrow (not that many noted) Lincoln's Sparrow (3, in areas north side of Sheep Meadow, esp near the extensive lilac plantings, with other sparrows present) Swamp Sparrow (14, with up to 6+ in the area of extensive lilac plantings, just north of Sheep Meadow) White-throated Sparrow (85+, many in Strawberry Fields & in parts of the south end, & by compost area in the north end) White-crowned Sparrow (3 first-year, 2 in the compost area, & one at Strawberry Fields) Dark-eyed Junco (2 noted in n. woods) Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak (just 1 noted) Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Baltimore Oriole (just 1 noted, Ramble) American Goldfinch (very few noticed) House Sparrow "All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. ~ The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land. ~ A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his-her fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such." - 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/ --
