Manhattan & Randall’s Island (N.Y. City) - belated reports from 3/11 & 3/12, and thru Thursday 3/18:
It turns out that at least one Pine Warbler did arrive in Manhattan at about the same time with the multiple that came in to the borough (county) just south of Manhattan (Kings County, N.Y. City) as well at the end of last week. The 1st-of-the-season Pine for Manhattan was seen on the Great Hill of Central Park on Friday, 3/12 by K. Chaya & E. Ozawa. There was at least one additional Pine Warbler in Central as of 3/17, more than a mile south of that first-of-year one. Another belated report (here) is of a Common Redpoll photographed at the edge of the Lake in Central Park on 3/11; that report is also in eBird. An Orange-crowned Warbler, seen periodically thru this winter at Carl Schurz Park, was still present on Wed. 3/17 & Thursday 3/18, also posing for some photos; additionally, the female Western Tanager remains in & around Carl Schurz Park, seen most often still at a feeder array just inside the park next to East End Ave., & south of E. 86th St., best viewed from inside the park near the n.w. corner of the Catbird playground. The Orange-crowned Warbler has mostly been found at & near the north end of the park, including in & adjacent to the fence that delimits the park outside of Gracie mansion (which is off-limits to the public at all times), but also making forays to as far south as the hedges, trees in the area east of East 87th St. - both of these birds may take some patience to see well (or at all). Over-wintered Lincoln’s Sparrows have made it thru in at least 2 locations, Bryant Park & the compost area in Central Park, individuals in both places having been seen & photographed thru 3/17. Ruby-crowned & Golden-crowned Kinglets have continued, including a few of each in small greenspaces; the full arrival of either species is yet to come. A lone Killdeer was still staying at the Great Lawn in Central Park to 3/17; that being one of a modest number that have been seen in Manhattan as well as on the outlying islands that are part of N.Y. County (Randall’s, in particular). American Woodcocks are also continuing in some locations; a small number have found themselves in less-than-ideal circumstance, dropping in to parts of Manhattan where not much cover or normal feeding is available; a bit of this happens virtually every year with that species. Some other birds continuing in N.Y. County include: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (adult, Randall’s Island), Wood Duck (drake on Central Park Meer, 3/18), Hooded Mergansers (at least 3 on Central Park reservoir to 3/18), American Coot (8 on Central Park reservoir, 3/18), Red-breasted Nuthatch (2 in Central Park - one at the Ramble feeders, one in n. end of same park), Brown Thrashers (overwintered in Central Park), Rusty Blackbird (also wintered in Central Park), and: Canada Goose, [Atlantic] Brant, Gadwall, American Black Duck, Mallard, Northern Shoveler (80+++, that is just the tally from Central Park on 3/18), Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye (some still being seen from Randall’s Island looking east into other boroughs’ waters), Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Great Cormorant (still around on E. River), Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron (at least several), Black-crowned Night-Heron (still few), Turkey Vulture, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, [report of a Red-shouldered Hawk], Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, [American] Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, ['feral'] Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, multi-owls, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jay Common Raven, American Crow, Fish Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, Hermit Thrush, American Robin (100’s through the county), Gray Catbird (solely the few which overwintered), Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, House Sparrow, Eastern Towhee (overwintered individuals), Slate-colored Junco (many in the county now), Chipping Sparrow (few), Field Sparrow (few), [Red] Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, and likely some additional species. . . . . . Some of the Cornus mas (a small tree widely planted in parts of the county) is now showing bright yellow buds & even starting to blossom, a good sign for the birds that seek insects and arthropods for food; also in flower now are some maple trees, these & other plants offering chances for insects to proliferate, and wet weather now, added to sun & warming temp’s. in the coming days, will all be helpful to some of the early-arriving migrants, & the few already here. Many more plants will be showing some of their green, & some starting to bud or even bloom, in the coming week. good birding to all, Tom Fiore manhattan -- 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/ --
