Really amazing to see all the sightings of Roseate Spoonbills, including the several from several N.Y. state counties, and quite the numbers of the species from mid-Atlantic states - what has happened here (!); these are not simply a result of the recent passage of storm “Elsa”, since many of the multiple spoonbills in the states south of N.Y. had started to be found well ahead of that storm’s arrival; there is something more and perhaps bigger behind the near-irruption of this species so typical of (in N. America) subtropical locales, including of course coastal areas in Florida. It is also notable that there are other wading-waterbirds such as certain herons and egrets appearing in inland areas (in mid-Atlantic & northeastern states) where they are generally rare, or even ‘new’ to particular locations.
Somewhat farther north, in eastern Canada, a Steller’s Sea-Eagle seen (& photographed) by many many observers last week & into last Sunday, at La-Cote-de-Gaspe, *Quebec* is quite the amazing occurrence, & was an understandable source of some local traffic-jams! (I’ve not heard if there were any further sightings.) … New York County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, Governors Island, & the adjacent waters. Among highlights, the 4 LEAST Terns seen by 4 observers, checking N.Y. harbor & vicinity with the passage of storm “Elsa” on July 9th, are standouts, as the species is not at all regular in N.Y. County. Another nice sighting, or rather, set of sightings over this month so far, is from n. Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park, where at least 1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird has been seen a number of times, & gives hope that there might have been a nesting (or an attempt), although no sightings have so far included the notes of any more than 1 bird at one time. Although presumed rare as a nester in N.Y. County, Ruby-throateds have been able to in the past, even though very sparsely documented for the modern era. Some shorebird movement, of course having begun on the southbound start up of the season, with, in N.Y. County, some Least, & Spotted Sandpipers both as early as July 3rd (sparingly), and up thru more recently, with Semipalmated Sandpiper & Solitary Sandiper also already found. Spotted SP perhaps having bred (or not) in areas not so far out of the city… also for Spotted, the chance that a few could have managed to, or to try, even if not all that likely. [N.B., sometimes just as storms of any sort are ending -or even in storms, if reasonably safe to be out looking-, there can be shorebirds, and perhaps also other types of migrants, ‘put down’ in even small puddles, & equally possible on large waterbodies, in some cases those birds moving on rapidly once a storm has passed, & occasionally lingering a little while; some of such uncommon or expected migrants are found in such circumstances, including relatively recent finds as well as some from very long ago years.] Yellow-crowned Night-Heron sightings have (again) come from the Randall’s Island shores & vicinity, and there also have been good no’s. of Black-crowned Night-Herons in many more locations, esp. for observers watching at very early, or rather late hours, or even in evenings or perhaps at night. We’ve also had some Belted Kingfisher sightings, giving hope that possibly a few may have at least attempted nesting; however there also may be non-breeders about or even a few very early to start working south. Snowy Egrets are regular, mostly seen as fly-bys on their regular east or west bound passages across (mostly upper) Manhattan as well as some seen at / from Randall’s Island, while Great Egrets are far more regular and some seen in the waters, marshy spots, & various edge habitats of the county. Green Herons; shy now, but some are ongoing. There have also been an uptick in Great Blue Heron sightings & numbers. Of warblers, the first of Worm-eating Warblers were found in 2 parks on Saturday, July 3rd - Central & Riverside Parks, & that date corresponded with the species being found (same date) in south Brooklyn (Kings Co.. N.Y. City) as well. It’s also not an unprecedented date for the species to be starting to work south, in this region. Similarly for Louisiana Waterthrush, which was also present in Central Park on July 3rd, at a location which can often have the species, near W. 77 Street, in a small stream off the Lake. Further, on that date, there were some (few, perhaps) Yellow Warblers in areas where as far as known, they are not nesting & have not nested, although that species is a potential breeder in a number of locations on Manhattan and Randall’s and Governors Island[s]. Some of those 7/3 Yellow Warblers were at Riverbank S.P. on Manhattan’s west side, as well as on the east (river) side of Manhattan, so in areas not having been noted for many weeks before that latter date. (Additional Yellow Warblers in other areas, but some may be the potential nesters, esp. those in potentially ‘good’ habitat, such as there is some in the county.) Incidental to these sightings, it’s not the slightest unusual to have some southbound warblers by early July, and it’s in part the lowered attention to these at this particular time of year, which annulally lets a few (or poss. more than just a few) slip through, even in a park as typically heavily-birded as Central Park. And it is also not exceedingly early, & not unprecedented, for Louisiana Waterthrush on the latter date, as a returning migrant, in any location in the county. (observations may be scant so early but have been recorded; not all of those sightings are in modern electronic records). On July 3rd, some other locations including ones well south of N.Y. (such as Cape May, N.J. but also south to s. Florida) had some southbound migration, including of a few warbler species, as well as other birds - there was a ‘cold' front that touched the deep south (U.S.) by 7/3. There are still at least some Common Yellowthroats in at least a few locations in the county, including on Manhattan, & some might be or have been attempting to nest. Additionally, there is at least one location having had an ongoing American Redstart (1st-year male), but which seems to have been all on its own, thus a presumed non-breeder for this year - however, this last species is an uncommon-scarce breeder within N.Y. City. There have been some sightings of Turkey Vulture, mainly from the outer edges of the county, and we’ve had at least the 1 ongoing Wild Turkey on Manhattan, as well as some sightings of Common Raven. For raptors, a minimal no. of Osprey sightings, & very occasional Cooper’s Hawk, plus the very numerous Red-tailed Hawks, & somewhat widespread urban American Kestrels & Peregrines. Bald Eagles seen have been scarcer this month. Other particularly aerial birds that are seen regularly include Tree & Barn Swallows, and in some locations also N. Rough-winged Swallows, with Chimney Swifts also seen regularly from some locations. Of the gulls, as usual Ring-billed Gull is a lot scarcer now, but some have lingered here & there, with Herring, Great Black-backed, & also Laughing fairly regular, the latter esp. so watching N.Y. harbor & some of the lower rivers. Common Terns continue to be seen off Governors Island and around the N.Y. harbor. It will be time to watch out for the chance of other tern species, as the summer goes along, more so with heavy storms if in & near N.Y. County. Orchard Oriole has continued, and in some locations these are nesting (as are far more numerous Baltimore Orioles), and there were some light movements of other icterids, mostly Red-winged Blackbird and Brown-headed Cowbird, perhaps just local movement, &/but also not that unusual at least in modest no’s., this early in the 2nd half of the year. Some Bobolinks have been found on the move already in areas to the south of N.Y. Of sparrows (in N.Y. County), there are the usual nesting Song Sparrows, plus the far-scarcer (here) nesting Chipping, and the nonbreeding White-throated, as well as occasional Swamp Sparrow[s], the latter having summered before in Manhattan (and including within Central Park), while White-throated Sparrows are regular in summer from a number of N.Y. County sites. We also have a very few E. Towhees; also those Brown Thrashers nesting in Manhattan can be, thankfully for their successes, very secretive on their nests and while the young are still just-fledged. This summer, it has been nice having some Black-capped Chickadees, a once more-regular nester, in multiple (if not all that many) sites in the county. Going back to the first few days of July, a few Yellow-billed Cuckoos were still around, but with no reports since then, those may have been very late north-bounders, or possibly singles looking at potential for remaining in the county over the summer (Y.-b. Cuckoo has bred in the county, at least historically). Flycatchers have included the typical E. Wood-Pewees, Great Crested Flyctachers, and Eastern Kingbirds all nesting in the county (including in Central Park), as well as at least one E. Phoebe pair, in an undisclosed area. Altogether there’ve been just about 80 species of birds seen in the first half of July in all of New York County. That number should start to swell as this month comes to a close, albeit more obviously-so, in August. The past 2 weeks also provided some summer butterflies, including the first Sachems (a skipper species) that I had seen (or heard about) this season, those found in Central Park. Plenty of other butterflies and many other insects are also about lately. good birding to all, Tom Fiore N.Y. City & beyond -- 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/ --
