hi Alan & all,
I think I know that you were referring to the (somewhat common-in-
Manhattan's Bryant Park) White-throated Sparrows - but with the
capitalized 'C' & 'W' you -perhaps very unintentionally!- listed a
bird that is indeed common - Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) -
but, it's common in Europe & some of northern Asia in summer moving to
south Asia and Arabia, Africa in winter, & would be an "ultra-mega"-
rarity in the North American or western hemisphere region; this nys
list is looked-at by birders from other areas too, so a few might be
wondering in say, Ireland or Finland or even Greenland, 'wow do the
yanks really get that bird over there in New York?' - &, as far as I
know, we don't (but will see you & the ten-thousand-other birders in
the nw corner of Bryant Pk., if it turns out that we do :-)
By the by, there seemed to be a modest up-tick in Gray Catbirds in
Central Park (Manhattan, NYC) in the last few days, in selected spots,
unless it was simply that a dozen or so had been present thru that
larger park, & came to prominence with changes in weather, or for
other reasons; I suspect new, modest, arrival of them from points
north, however. Thank you for your reporting, good to hear what's
doing in that so-busy park that gets so many interesting birds thru a
year. Lincoln's Sparrow is a darned-good December find in NY.
---------
Date: 12/2/16 11:26 pm
From: Alan Drogin
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Bryant Park
This week I checked the birding action of Bryant Park for signs of
scavenging among the food vendors in Bryant Park this winter.
Unfortunately, the increase in booths, expanded ice rink deck eating
area, and view-blocking two-story lounges, along with the larger
crowds, have walled in/off many of the garden areas. That and the
recent clearing of underbrush have rendered these areas nearly dead
zones compared to years past where the birds had easy egress to hide
after raiding the fallen crumbs left behind by hungry shoppers. Except
for pigeons and fearless House Sparrows, most of the bird action has
moved to the peripheral areas. There was a Hermit Thrush on the
southern border and the typical Catbirds, although fewer in number at
the northwest corner along with a Swamp Sparrow being bullied by the
larger Common Whitethroats. A surprise was a Lincoln Sparrow skulking
in the southwest corner, could be the same I’d seen in that area for a
few weeks about a month ago.
Happy Birding,
Alan Drogin
- - - - -
good birding,
tom fiore -
manhattan
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