New York County -in N.Y. City- including Randalls and Governors Islands, Manhattan, and adjacent waters and skies Into Monday, Sept. 25th -
A Blue Grosbeak was seen in the rain on Governors Island on Sunday, 9/24, one of a number of that species to have turned up in the larger region just recently. At Randalls Island, a number of observers went out in the rains and wind to see some birds that occurred with the remnants of tropical storm 'Ophelia'. Many had seen the alerts placed by A. Farnsworth, on Saturday, for unusual species and some migrants also in very high numbers on Randalls. By Sunday, 9/24 there were some additional species that showed there, among them a Whimbrel -of the hudsonian form- that being a possible first on-the-ground of an already scarce species for N.Y, County, and one many watchers would not have seen inside that county previously; many photos were made by the multiple observers of that individual. From Saturday 9/23, some of the shorebird spp. noted by A. Farnsworth included - 2 White-rumped Sandpipers, which may have departed with some of the flock of next species noted below; White-rumped is quite rare within N.Y. County. 111 Pectoral Sandpipers, a rare-enough species in the county, and perhaps unprecedented in such numbers at one time and place; many of these departed, but multiples also remained or returned for the later observers, and -some- of these were still being seen into Sunday and also -smaller numbers- into Monday, 9/25. There were high numbers of this species found in other parts of N.Y. City also a result of the storm, and some of the flocks elsewhere contained even more of this species. Semipalmated Sandiper, and Killdeer, also were seen, each of these being annual and regular in migration in the county, with the latter also breeding in select county locations. At least some other shorebird species may have passed thru at Randalls Island in the melee of storm-driven activity. By Sunday 9/24, in addition to the Whimbrel, there were at least 4 Greater Yellowlegs seen on Randalls, while some noted Semipalmated Plovers in addition. There were some sightings of Least as well as more Semipalmated Sandpipers into Monday, 9/25, and additions of 2 Lesser Yellowlegs as well as 2 Solitary Sandpipers for some Monday watchers at Randalls. Spotted Sandpiper was also noted there by some, and the latter species also at multiple other locations around the county, often as singletons. The highest count for Pectoral Sandpiper by Monday appeared to be up to 63, although many who ventured to Randalls that day may have tallied fewer, or far fewer, as flocks moved and were not all in one - just as for most watchers on the prior storm-birding days of the weekend. Tern sightings included the highlight of a Royal Tern moving by at Randalls Island on Sunday, called out by A. Cunningham and seen by others present at the time there. Some sightings of Forsters Tern also occurred in the county, starting with at least 4 moving along the Hudson River off lower-west Manhattan, and with some Common Terns also being noted from a few locations, into Monday, 9/25. A Black Skimmer was also reported along the Hudson River -Manhattan waterfront- by a single observer, on Sunday. Note that great numbers of Forsters Tern were also being reported from some locations in the nearby region. A minimum of 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were noted from Randalls Island, that number reported by several there as-of Saturday, and either 2 or singletons as seen and reported by some other, later observers there. In addition, a modest but still impressive -for this county- number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls were reported, some with photos added to the reports, around the county including at Manhattan shore sites. Also on Saturday, in particular the numbers of Laughing Gull were enormous just at Randalls Islands on multiple fields with an estimated 2,300 found by observer A. Farnsworth! Numbers seemed to drop a bit in subsequent watch efforts or counts, but many hundreds of this gull species were still to be seen including to Sunday. Laughing Gulls were also noted at many other locations, some where possibly not all that regular, and some where they can be at times, within the county. No other location -in the same county- was to report such huge numbers of these as from Randalls, however, not even close, thru the storms passage. Great numbers of Ring-billed Gulls, into the many-hundreds, as well as large numbers of Herring Gulls -presumed all of American form- were seen in particular again, on Randalls Island. Great Black-backed Gulls were noted with little comment, and in no high numbers. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, while a rather expected species by county-standard on Randalls Island, was again present there in the storms height. Also seen -and seen elsewhere also- were Black-crowned Night-Heron, Snowy and Great Egrets, Green Heron, and Great Blue Heron. It appeared that in general, some land and shore birds were able to make their ways out and onward by Sunday night and/or Monday, with not as many of certain landbirds remaining in the county, as had been put-down and/or chose not to move on with the start of and ongoing storm-passage. In just one example, more Ruby-throated Hummingbirds than are typical for certain garden areas were found, feeding or resting, thru the 2 weekend days. There were also some hints of the multiple passerine birds that were waiting their chances to move on, once storm wind, rain and low pressure perhaps alllowed at least some dispersal or onward movement. Numbers of some warblers were fairly high thru the period, with some locations having fairly high concentrations, while many locations simply had a lot, but not too unusual for the time of the year. Up to 25 spp. of warblers were noted from the 3 days of this storms passage and effects, with fairly high numbers of such spp. as N. Parula, Black-and-white, Yellow, Cape May, Palm, and still, American Redstart. In some areas of the county, the migrants noted as the storm passed thru were simply what might be expected of the dates, and seemed not particularly unusual for numbers, or species found. The remnants of the storm, and some strong easterlies are still very much affecting the region, and effects on migrations are sure to be felt a while longer at least in the N.Y. City area and presumably eastwards also. 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/ --
