Sunday & Monday, 30-31 October, 2016 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
Monday, 10/31 - While many, many observers enjoyed a Yellow-breasted Chat in same area where one has been for a week or more, there were a nice flock of Eastern Bluebirds that had come in, and at least 7 of them were at the NW corner of the Great Lawn, at about noon or so; I took some quick photos of these, from some distance (that lawn was still closed to the public at that hour on Monday) and then went over to the chat- watchers, to mention in person about the bluebird flock nearby - one person joined me to see those, a short walk. And in watching & photographing the bluebirds, I had not even noticed (from perhaps 75-80+ feet away) that a very yellowy-underparts flycatcher was also in the same tree with those bluebirds, and only much later saw the other bird, the flycatcher, in my photos, not having seen it in the field - and also not thinking too analytically or with 'bird-logic' as to what species might be considered, or all of the potential genera (of flycatchers) - first, this may have been nothing more than a really bright Eastern Phoebe - which is of course moving through still in modest numbers (10+ seen by me this day, park-wide), and then there's a much lower chance (by odds, for this date) of a Myiarchus [genus], which a few who have looked at my one poor photo suggested, & if that, then why not a (late-ish) Great Crested, as it's bright yellow-looking under, and gray enough of the right-looking shade on the breast; in any event, we will see if any birds of genus Tyrannus or Myiarchus are found in the coming week in Central, or not - and any further comments are welcomed on this. (More than 40 birders requested and were sent my bad photo of this flycatcher - which is, unfortunately, most likely too poor to make an absolute determination to species; when in doubt, start with an assumption of the most-expected possibility, and only then think of other possibilities -'note to self'-!) Of the bluebirds, a few other birders mentioned having seen one or more, in a few locations today, including at Cherry Hill earlier, by Louise Fraza; I counted 7 as they flew across the path by the Great Lawn, and Elise Boeger was able to observe at least five of those before they all flew in the direction of the Pinetum (where not seen again, by us). The bluebird flock was photographed, that leading into the whole flycatcher-fracas later on... A young Red-headed Woodpecker remained near the Transverse Road & below Sheep Meadow's SE corner; it was not vocal, in my brief observation in the morning. A lingering (and late) Northern Waterthrush was seen by Junko Suzuki in the area I have reported for a few days, at the SE edges of The Pond, which itself is in the SE part of the park. Other warbIers seen today included Pine, Palm (more than a few, scattered thru all of the park), Myrtle, Blackpoll, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Northern Parula; perhaps some others seen by other observers. Numerous again today, with fresh arrivals, were Hermit Thrush, and a fair number of Winter Wrens. Sparrows & Junco were still in numbers, but reduced from the days prior, even if in the many hundreds in total, park-wide. Red-breasted & White-breasted Nuthatches continued in fair numbers, as did both species of Kinglet, & a few Brown Creepers. The reservoir again held at least 2 pair of Hooded Mergansers, some Buffleheads, American Coots, and many Ruddy Ducks, as well as Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls, American Black Ducks, & other regulars. There was at least modest morning flight today, with some icteridae movement, mainly of Common Grackles, and also a fair movement of Turkey Vulture, with more than 50 passing over in the morning hours. -- -- -- Sunday, 10/30 - At least 15 Warbler species were found in Central Park on Sunday, a good number for the date nearing the end of October. They were: Orange- crowned, Nashville, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue, Cape May, Myrtle, Black-throated Green, Pine, Palm, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, and Yellow- breasted Chat - the first and last of these observed by many at various times, most of the others observed by many, & the waterthrush seen for a 3rd day in a row in same area at The Pond, which I photographed, positiveIy determining to species. All of the warbler species were found in the southern half of the park (including areas south of the reservoir, thru the Ramble, and to the south end) & some were also seen in the northern end of the park, as well. On Sunday morning, an Empidonax [genus] flycatcher, virtually certain to have been the one found in the prior 2 days, was found just west of the Great Lawn, but it did not remain in view past 9 a.m. and there seem to be no earlier nor later reports. Of the identity, specifically, of that individual bird, we may not know unless it re- surfaces and if there is audio that establishing any definitive vocalizations for it - which is what a number of experts, including experts on western species of the Empidonax group, have said in private, and as is usually so of most autumn occurrences of this genus in the region. Good audio, if available, would offer a better set of clues than that of many photos, even if photos may be very helpful. To my knowledge no one has or had obtained any audio recordings of this bird. The possibiliy exists that this was (is) a western-breeding Empidonax, but is at least equally or more likely to have been an eastern-breeding species, and there seem to be records for late October for some, if not all, five of the latter species, in this region (including birds that were recorded giving calls, and some birds mist-netted, measured, & photo-video'd, at various sites in various northeastern states). There are also some specimen records of Empidonax found in late or mid-autumn, in this region, some of these are in the collections of the AMNH - New York (American Museum of Natural History) and include (some) apparent western-breeding species. - - - - - "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 & thanks to the many who responded regarding a bad photo of a flycatcher!' 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/ --
