Chimney swifts are back in Inwood—a welcome harbinger of spring. I also heard an ovenbird in Isham Park this morning.
Cheers, DSchenker > On Apr 27, 2017, at 9:55 PM, Thomas Fiore <tom...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > A male Blue Grosbeak was seen by quite a few birders in Brooklyn’s (Kings > Co.) Prospect Park, this Thursday. I’m not sure who first found, but it was > apparently there much of, or perhaps all of this day. > > - - - - - - > Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City > Thursday, 27 April, 2017 > > A male Summer Tanager, not entirely red with a bit of peach-yellow color in > the belly, which was calling just occasionally but not heard singing, was in > the north woods in the morning hours & at least to just after the noon hour; > this bird was re-found 3 times in 6+ hours, but was not especially > cooperative, staying quite high in larger oaks or other tall trees and was > not seen (by me) later in the day, despite some additional seeking. > > Another Summer Tanager was sighted on Manhattan’s east side at a very small > pocket park, but apparently was not re-found there a bit later in the day. > > The long-lingering Red-headed Woodpecker was seen again today, into the > afternoon; it was pretty much in it’s usual area, inside the park a bit west > of East 68th Street - & a bit more specifically, very slightly west of the > first park path that runs parallel with Fifth Avenue, & mostly up rather > high, & also not vocal while I (and another birder & photographer) were there. > > There was a notable movement of Purple Finch in Central, with easily 35+ > which is actually a very conservative count; a majority of those seen were in > the north woods, but there were multiples in the Ramble area, & scattered > ones, twos, or more in odd areas thru the park. > > Although some may have been modestly surprised by the good arrival of a > fairly diverse mix of migrants today, these (newer) birds were pushing up > through New Jersey, at least, thru Wednesday night & on into not just the wee > hours, but almost certainly for some (perhaps many) hours with the foggy > conditions… which varied a lot, place to place locally. > > Note: no one can prove OR disprove that the Red-necked Grebe on the CP > reservoir is the same which was released after rehab. by the Wild Bird Fund > of Manhattan. If you can prove so, do. > > Since they featured pretty strongly in many birder’s time spent in Central > Park today, a listing of those, followed by some of the other migrants & > asst’d. regulars which were seen on 4/27. > > Blue-winged Warbler (few, seemed to be no more than 5 in all of the park) > Orange-crowned Warbler (one lingering, near the n.w. arm of the lake, & a bit > east at times, also this area is the n.w. edge of the Ramble proper) > Nashville Warbler (possibly 8+, somewhat hard to sort as the day went on, > with early movement by some of these, but surely more than 6, and in several > areas including Ramble & n. end) > Northern Parula (not many detected, but 5-6+ park-wide) > Yellow Warbler (not that many yet, which is typical, the bigger push of these > comes in May, and can go deep into May; wonder why, in part? Look at the > northern range limit to the species!) > Cape May Warbler (adult male, singing but mainly seen & not heard, in larger > oak at edge of N. Woods, very near West Drive at approx. W. 107 Street, not > found again later despite some searching there - & not particularly ‘early’ > on this date & in this area) > Black-throated Blue Warbler (several adult males, both in Ramble & n. woods) > [Myrtle] Yellow-rumped Warbler (many hundreds still in the park thru the day, > a possible passage in early morning of far more) > Black-throated Green Warbler (10+, park-wide, with several in view & audible > at times in the n. woods, & also elsewhere at varying times) > Blackburnian Warbler (minimum of 2 adult males, each singing, one in Ramble, > another in the far n. end woods, in a.m.) > Yellow-throated Warbler (one male of undetermined race, unless someone has > very good photos, seen to later in the day in the Ramble, south edge by the > lake, east of Bow Bridge) > Pine Warbler (several, not all males, Ramble areas & also in n. end) > Prairie Warbler (few, those seen were male, a few singing; Ramble, S. end, & > N. end) > Palm Warbler (60++, this species can be quite high in trees as many were, > finding food along with most of the other numerous warblers, some extremely > high in oaks & other trees; males & females were seen) > Black-and-white Warbler (30+, a very good push of this species, with some > sightings in odd out-of-the-way areas of the park, & many in the n. woods as > well as numerous in the Ramble; at one point 3 males were seen chasing each > other within the Hallett Sanctuary in mid-day.) > American Redstart (at least several adult males, but possibly more than a > few, seen in several areas, including Ramble & adjacent sections, & also in > the n. woods) > Ovenbird (not many, but 8-10+, found in many areas, but perhaps more in n. > woods, where less-disturbed by human activity) > Northern Waterthrush (15+, and that’s a conservative number, as there were > many in odd locations / not all near water, typical of a first strong push of > this species thru such an urban park) > Louisiana Waterthrush (at least 1 seen definitively, by the Pool, fairly > early in day - this species typically gets very hard to find in Central as > May comes in) > Common Yellowthroat (I saw 2 males, one at Strawberry Fields, and one near > the Loch; perhaps a few others were seen) > Wilson's Warbler (north woods, near the Loch, a quiet male at the time of > sighting, in late afternoon) > > And among the other species seen Thursday 4/27 in Central Park: > > Red-necked Grebe (ongoing, reservoir, very high plumage) > Double-crested Cormorant (many on migration going north, & some ‘ongoing' > within the park or at least daily visitations) > Great Egret (25+ fly-overs, mostly seen from n. end of the park as is > typical, in east-west-east flight, but also 6+ in park) > Snowy Egret (at least 2 fly-overs, low over Great Hill in early morning) > Green Heron > Black-crowned Night-Heron > Canada Goose > Brant (small number of low fly-overs, seen from n. end in early a.m.) > Gadwall (modest numbers in park, Meer & Reservoir) > American Black Duck (modestly surprising at this date, reservoir, a.m.) > Mallard > Northern Shoveler (a very small number lingering) > Bufflehead (at least 8 still on reservoir into afternoon) > Ruddy Duck (minimum of 12 lingering, Meer & reservoir) > Osprey (fly-over, p.m.) > Red-tailed Hawk (many sightings from many areas in the park, which are of > multiple pairs) > American Kestrel (several, local city resident males) > Solitary Sandpiper (two, then one in a small puddle-pool at the n. end, where > somewhat regular in migration, but not altogether reliably!) > Spotted Sandpiper (minimum of 4 at one time moving around reservoir, > late-day, and 1 also at Turtle Pond / Lake, or poss. separate indiv.) > Laughing Gull (near-daily sightings, sometimes of just 1 or 2, but up to 5 at > once have been stopping in at times, most likely in afternoons) > Ring-billed Gull (not that many and not staying all day) > [American] Herring Gull (reservoir + fly-overs) > Great Black-backed Gull (reservoir + fly-overs) > ['feral'] Rock Pigeon > Mourning Dove > Chimney Swift (not many yet, but more soon…) > Ruby-throated Hummingbird (4 sightings, and likely that many or more > individuals, all of these seemed to be on the move, working north) > Red-headed Woodpecker (ongoing first-year bird which is in very bright > plumage, as noted above) > Red-bellied Woodpecker > Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (very sparse, poss. 6+) > Downy Woodpecker > Yellow-shafted Flicker (25+ park-wide, not that conspicuous today) > Empidonax [genus] - very likely Least Flycatcher, but totally silent when > seen; studied a bit when it was in decent view; north woods, a.m.) > Eastern Kingbird (several, including 2 together by the Meer, which looked > like they were sparring, but perhaps a love-fest…?) > White-eyed Vireo (at least 2, one in Ramble area, & one seen singing in a > rather raspy voice near the Meer) > Blue-headed Vireo (common - 50+, which is very conservative; this species is > typically the first of the vireos to become common as a migrant in spring > here) > Yellow-throated Vireo (at least 3, 2 of those in the Ramble area, & another > in n. woods, some song as well) > Warbling Vireo (6++, mostly noticed these on sight, rather than heard > singing, but a few snatches of songs) > Blue Jay > American Crow > Tree Swallow (few noted) > Northern Rough-winged Swallow (few) > Barn Swallow (25+++ fly-bys, various areas & times of day) > Black-capped Chickadee (scarce, many have moved on…) > Tufted Titmouse (not that scarce, many haven’t moved on!) > Red-breasted Nuthatch (yep - migrants; well, a few anyhow; yes I know there > was 1 or 3 hanging around some areas; those noted today were not near those > areas; instead, moving with warblers) > White-breasted Nuthatch > Brown Creeper (getting quite late here, 1 in n. woods) > Carolina Wren > House Wren (multiple, & a fair number not vocal and not being territorial) > Ruby-crowned Kinglet (plenty but not really that common, perhaps 40+ - > park-wide) > Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (fair numbers, many have already passed thru - 12++ > today) > Veery (minimum of 6, one photographed; various areas from Ramble to N. woods) > Gray-cheeked Thrush (** there was a report of one of this type, rather early > but not without any precedent; determining exact taxon though…?- since not > reported as vocalizing at all) > Hermit Thrush (40+, & interesting that, UNlike the typical pattern for any & > all Catharus thrush spp. found in Central on migration, today more common in > the south half of the park) > Wood Thrush (6-8+) > American Robin > Gray Catbird (very, very few yet) > Northern Mockingbird > Brown Thrasher (fresh arrivals, with 12+ in all areas of park from south to > north; a fair no. of these singing) > European Starling > American Pipit > Cedar Waxwing (a miniscule number in the area near the Pool, but it is still > early for the main push of this) > > Warblers all detailed above, at least 21 species rushed in this day, with > some species in good-fair numbers. > > Eastern Towhee (12+, park-wide, & about as many females as males) > Chipping Sparrow (200+, a number that’ll surprise a few folks, but many, that > is very many are in trees as they feed now; even so, a flock of 40++ were on > the ground in the n. end) > Field Sparrow (not that many; I saw up to 4 in 3 locations, & others had > reported some in a few additional areas today) > Savannah Sparrow (good movement, with 15+ in the n. end alone, prob. 20++ for > all of the park, if not more) > Song Sparrow (still some laggard migrants, not all here are breeders just yet) > Lincoln's Sparrow (1, with effort, at the garden-plant nursery area, near E. > 103 St. & East Park Drive) > Swamp Sparrow (not that many noted by me, perhaps 8++) > White-throated Sparrow (hundreds, but not as common as a week ago) > Northern Cardinal > Rose-breasted Grosbeak (at least several in n. end, and several more south of > 86th St. Transverse) > Indigo Bunting (1 bright male in an oak at the n. end; I didn’t hear of > others seen elsewhere today?) > Red-winged Blackbird (300+, many either young males or females, flocks of up > to 60+ were in oaks & other trees in many areas all day today; N.B., this is > not unusual for the date) > Common Grackle > Brown-headed Cowbird (fair numbers, some paired or seeming to be) > Orchard Oriole (several, later in day at least 1 or 2 noticed that had not > been earlier?) > Baltimore Oriole (seeming scarce at 6-7 a.m., but by 7 p.m., perhaps 8+ were > noted, all I came on were adult males) > Purple Finch (25+++ as noted above; in many areas, & mainly feeding in > various trees, NOT many at a feeder area) > House Finch > American Goldfinch (fair numbers, mostly high in trees) > House Sparrow > > — — — — — > "Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable > that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the > vision to demand that which is good?" > - Rachel Carson (1907-1964; marine biologist, conservationist, author whose > books include ‘Silent Spring’. Sir David Attenborough has remarked that that > book may have had an effect on science second only to Charles Darwin’s “On > the Origin of Species”.) > > good -and ethical- birding, > > Tom Fiore > manhattan > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > NYSbirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > Archives: > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > Please submit your observations to eBird <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! > -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
