Saturday, the 1st of October, 2016 Central Park "entirety" - Manhattan (N.Y. City)
In contrast to the previous day, there were rather fewer migrants, with correspondingly lower diversity - even if, as can be expected around this period, still much to see and to sort thru - in the forbs, shrubs, trees, & more-open areas, but with not much to scan for in the skies at least over Central, on this very low-cloud-layered day. A check of the area where a single American Pipit was noticed yesterday - the North Meadow ballfield's puddled eastern edges - was ok for Palm Warblers today, but not too much else on my passage there. As with Saturday, Sunday featured the same 2 most-common warbler species in the park entire (visiting most areas between the north & south boundaries and from the west & east sides of the many acres of green-space, as well as the larger waterbodies of the park in its' full dimensions) - the Palm Warbler the undisputed champion of the day (and this weekend), & with the Common Yellowthroat seeming nearly as common in so many sites including (for both species) areas not frequently-birded by most, & some not even frequented too much by any park users (yes, there are a few such locations in busy little Central Park, & even a few in the southern half where a majority of park-users congregate on any given day) - but this day, there were more Northern Shovelers in total (over 80), than the sum-total counted of those 2 (above) warbler species, and, with all duckage included (the ubiquitous Mallard, no less) as well as 'where'd-they-all-come-from' Gadwall, the ducks out-numbered all the visible warblers tallied, & the species total for warblers was not hugely more than for waterfowl - a sign of the season, as is expected - & yet, in the week or so to come, a fresh batch of October migrants may-likely refresh what passerines have been appearing, & there are still a good variety of species being seen in areas to our north this weekend, thus a chance for plenty of variety & not quite all of solely autumnal 'flavor', as the late-movers yet come along thru. The reservoir was not much of a gull-ery by the time I made a rounds & sought them out; best hours on most days are those nearest mid-day, as many of Central's gull-gatherings do not stay the nights, there. As noted in a Saturday report to this list, in the park entire, very good numbers of migrant sparrows were available for perusal, and (my) number given for White-throaed Sparrow on that day (85+) was very, very conservative, since the (easy-to-discern & often-given) call notes of the white-throated sparrow were heard (besides those seen & tallied in the numbers, as posted) in more areas, and in numbers, than any other sparrow species - it is by far the most-numerous migrant sparrow (in sum & on average) that is detectable on Manhattan island, in all but more unusual & rare situations, & is one of the most common of wintering-visiting (non-'feral') land-birds of the island as well - as indicated by years of CBC data, & other good high-participant information & surverying; that taking in occasionally-huge passages of Chipping & also Song Sparrow, the latter species hugely overlooked in their rather earlier & later spring & fall movements, and even a bit overlooked in the winter months, when not-rare on Manhattan proper - (to be clear, that is a reference to 'geological' Manhattan island, & not political boundaries taking in a few additional and much-smaller island masses- which are of course of interest, and can offer fine & even fascinating birding to those who may explore them!) In Central Park today, a quiet and careful look thru just one area, by & near the Pond (southeast part of the park) easily revealed 25+ white- throateds, mixing with ever-ubiquitous House Sparrows as they often do in some of this city's parks. - - - - I also passed by & thru a few of the midtown Manhattan parks, but big events (at Bryant & Madison Square parks) somewhat prevented serious gazing into areas where birds may have been, & Union Square, at a later hour, was not that productive, even if some migrants were seen in the latter park, with White-throated Sparrow once again the most- obvious of the migrant / visitor species there - a Red-breasted Nuthatch was not the first -& certainly won't be the last- of its kind to be detected in any of the modest greenspaces of the city and of Manhattan, in this year of so many. There were also some migrants, notably the Palms & Common Yellowthroats as referenced above -& as is fully-expected- in areas along the Hudson river waterfront (by the Green-way) late in the day. (I did not mingle or seek out migrants up on the 'High Line', the hugely popular ex-railway bed that is now a major tourist attractor, & a potential place for a few migrants to end up, in the many plantings-on-high there. I did not do justice to the parts of the Hudson itself, in passing areas from about W. 23rd to 96th Streets, even if gulls & some waterfowl were congregating or feeding in numbers; a count of 450+ Canada Geese seemed a bit higher today from a previous very recent pass of these areas. - - - - "Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does - Love is a battle - Love is a war - Love is growing up" - James Baldwin, American author & activist, and French expatriate- American, 1924-1987, posthumously given the title of 'Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur', by France. good October 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/ --
