[nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - 8/25-26 - Saltmarsh Sparrow, C. Nighthawks, 22 warbler spp., etc.
Wed. & Thursday, Aug. 25th-26th N.Y. County, including Manhattan, Randall’s & Governors Island[s] Migration especially nocturnally was strong Mon. night into Tues., & far stronger still on Tuesday night into Wednesday. Of course, August heat-wave migration is not exactly same as October-November 'clearing-cold-front' movement. Fairly good overnight migration also on Wed. night to Thursday, particularly out of far-eastern Canada and southwardly (or really, ‘southwestwardly’, for our local interest. Some birds such as many warblers & others were surely headed out to sea, directly off parts of the New England coastline - next stops, perhaps Caribbean isles, and even S. America. (Some warbler spp. that nest in N. America have already been recorded returning to the Caribbean & to Central America where many species stay thru more than half of their year.) A Saltmarsh Sparrow turned up at Bryant Park (E. Schumann, finder) in midtown Manhattan, first noted in the morning of 8/25, & later seen by more observers. Semi-regular on passage, but near-rare for the county. That sparrow was present again on Thursday, 8/26. Patience is helpful for good sightings of such a skulker, but luck also can help out. This bird was seen off-and-on mainly in the south lawn area, & s.-w. ‘corner’ of the park, occasionally coming out to be seen well (& photographed), and the sparrow was being watched / sought thru near-dusk on both days, possibly becoming bolder by Thursday. About the only other migrant noted there has been a N. Waterthrush, along with long-staying White-throated Sparrows, Gray Catbirds, and some other usuals of Bryant. Showing off its shorebird potential again, Inwood Hill Park’s lagoon & nearby mud-flats offered up among other birds a Semipalmated Plover & up to 25 Least Sandpipers, plus Semipalmated Sandpiper, on Thursday, 8/26. Also seen at Inwood was a Marsh Wren, on both days, 8/25-26 - the latter species also found on the move in other parts of the region. At Randall’s Island, up to 4 Yellow-crowned (& greater no’s. of Black-crowned) Night-Herons have been present. Common Nighthawk movement was visibly increased by Wednesday, as both early morning and evening to after dusk provided some, esp. over the west edges of Manhattan, but also in (over) Central Park and at least a few of the smaller parks of n. Manhattan. Up to 28 nighthawks in total (a.m. thru p.m.) for 8/25, and more than 40 for the ‘fall’ so far in the county. A single Monk Parakeet was continuing in n. Manhattan. Pied-billed Grebe was added (at the Central Park reservoir last several days) to the waterbirds recently showing up in the county (N. Shovelers, then Blue-winged & Green-winged Teal having been added to the summering & lately moving-on Wood Ducks, a few of those still lingering on at Central Park). There was a nice movement of Bobolink for Wed. early-hours, esp. along the Hudson river side of Manhattan, with some R.-w. Blackbirds also moving, and a small number of Baltimore Orioles as well as at least 1 Orchard Oriole in early diurnal flight. The number of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, & Veery increased very modestly by Wed., 8/25. E. Kingbirds & several species of Empidonax (with Alder/Willow *mostly* not distinguished), as well as Blue-gray Gnatcatchers have been moving, and showing in multiple locations, too. Ruby-throated Hummingbird movement has been ongoing (with good no’s. of stop-overs feeding in flowered areas, as well as speedy southward diurnal migrators). Chimney Swift movement seemed to slow a bit by Thursday however it will be picking up again. At least 22 species of warblers were part of the migration, with at least 20 of those species present by Tues. 8/24, and a further 2 species added for the following day, within N.Y. County - and, all of those species having been seen within Central Park in Manhattan & numerous of those also found in a variety of other parks and greenspaces in the county. Indeed, Manhattan *south of* 42nd Street had at least 12 species of warblers by 8/25 - although to my knowledge (and visits) no *one* park or greenspace of those areas had all those many species. Some diversity on the Hudson and East River sides of the island, and there have been a fair variety of new migrant species showing on Governors Island, since 8/24. By far, the bulk of warblers on migration have been American Redstarts so far this week. (It *seems* that the 2-weeks-staying Prothonotary Warbler moved on at last, having made a good run of a portion of Central Park’s watery abodes.) There were also modest increases of a number of species, such as N. Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler and Common Yellowthroat, while some species diminished such as Canada Warbler & others. Some less-birded areas have been quite productive in early-a.m. hours. Also having some migrants have been parks on the East River. Around the wider region, some Y.-br.
[nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - 8/25-26 - Saltmarsh Sparrow, C. Nighthawks, 22 warbler spp., etc.
Wed. & Thursday, Aug. 25th-26th N.Y. County, including Manhattan, Randall’s & Governors Island[s] Migration especially nocturnally was strong Mon. night into Tues., & far stronger still on Tuesday night into Wednesday. Of course, August heat-wave migration is not exactly same as October-November 'clearing-cold-front' movement. Fairly good overnight migration also on Wed. night to Thursday, particularly out of far-eastern Canada and southwardly (or really, ‘southwestwardly’, for our local interest. Some birds such as many warblers & others were surely headed out to sea, directly off parts of the New England coastline - next stops, perhaps Caribbean isles, and even S. America. (Some warbler spp. that nest in N. America have already been recorded returning to the Caribbean & to Central America where many species stay thru more than half of their year.) A Saltmarsh Sparrow turned up at Bryant Park (E. Schumann, finder) in midtown Manhattan, first noted in the morning of 8/25, & later seen by more observers. Semi-regular on passage, but near-rare for the county. That sparrow was present again on Thursday, 8/26. Patience is helpful for good sightings of such a skulker, but luck also can help out. This bird was seen off-and-on mainly in the south lawn area, & s.-w. ‘corner’ of the park, occasionally coming out to be seen well (& photographed), and the sparrow was being watched / sought thru near-dusk on both days, possibly becoming bolder by Thursday. About the only other migrant noted there has been a N. Waterthrush, along with long-staying White-throated Sparrows, Gray Catbirds, and some other usuals of Bryant. Showing off its shorebird potential again, Inwood Hill Park’s lagoon & nearby mud-flats offered up among other birds a Semipalmated Plover & up to 25 Least Sandpipers, plus Semipalmated Sandpiper, on Thursday, 8/26. Also seen at Inwood was a Marsh Wren, on both days, 8/25-26 - the latter species also found on the move in other parts of the region. At Randall’s Island, up to 4 Yellow-crowned (& greater no’s. of Black-crowned) Night-Herons have been present. Common Nighthawk movement was visibly increased by Wednesday, as both early morning and evening to after dusk provided some, esp. over the west edges of Manhattan, but also in (over) Central Park and at least a few of the smaller parks of n. Manhattan. Up to 28 nighthawks in total (a.m. thru p.m.) for 8/25, and more than 40 for the ‘fall’ so far in the county. A single Monk Parakeet was continuing in n. Manhattan. Pied-billed Grebe was added (at the Central Park reservoir last several days) to the waterbirds recently showing up in the county (N. Shovelers, then Blue-winged & Green-winged Teal having been added to the summering & lately moving-on Wood Ducks, a few of those still lingering on at Central Park). There was a nice movement of Bobolink for Wed. early-hours, esp. along the Hudson river side of Manhattan, with some R.-w. Blackbirds also moving, and a small number of Baltimore Orioles as well as at least 1 Orchard Oriole in early diurnal flight. The number of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Scarlet Tanagers, & Veery increased very modestly by Wed., 8/25. E. Kingbirds & several species of Empidonax (with Alder/Willow *mostly* not distinguished), as well as Blue-gray Gnatcatchers have been moving, and showing in multiple locations, too. Ruby-throated Hummingbird movement has been ongoing (with good no’s. of stop-overs feeding in flowered areas, as well as speedy southward diurnal migrators). Chimney Swift movement seemed to slow a bit by Thursday however it will be picking up again. At least 22 species of warblers were part of the migration, with at least 20 of those species present by Tues. 8/24, and a further 2 species added for the following day, within N.Y. County - and, all of those species having been seen within Central Park in Manhattan & numerous of those also found in a variety of other parks and greenspaces in the county. Indeed, Manhattan *south of* 42nd Street had at least 12 species of warblers by 8/25 - although to my knowledge (and visits) no *one* park or greenspace of those areas had all those many species. Some diversity on the Hudson and East River sides of the island, and there have been a fair variety of new migrant species showing on Governors Island, since 8/24. By far, the bulk of warblers on migration have been American Redstarts so far this week. (It *seems* that the 2-weeks-staying Prothonotary Warbler moved on at last, having made a good run of a portion of Central Park’s watery abodes.) There were also modest increases of a number of species, such as N. Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler and Common Yellowthroat, while some species diminished such as Canada Warbler & others. Some less-birded areas have been quite productive in early-a.m. hours. Also having some migrants have been parks on the East River. Around the wider region, some Y.-br.
