Thursday, 1st of June, 2017 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City Fresh migration overnight from Wed. into Thursday, & (not unusually) still a fair variety of migrants moving, as well as some breeders on territories.
Among highlights from Thursday, SUMMER Tanager (adult male, in the north woods; also note there was a different SummerT. sighting in the Ramble on Tuesday, 30th May), both Black-billed & Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 6 species of Flycatchers including Olive-sided, Yellow-bellied, Acadian, Great Crested, & Eastern Wood-Pewee as well as E. Kingbird (plus a singing Alder Flycatcher late Wed. at the Pool), 3 Vireo species: Yellow-throated, Warbling, Red-eyed; Red-breasted Nuthatch, 4 Thrush species (with a putative Bicknell’s, not singing but calling, and seen very well at the Loch; plus Gray-cheeked (singing), Wood & Swainson’s Thrushes, at least 12 Warbler species, including a minimum of 4 singing male Mourning Warblers in 4 locations, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, E. Towhee & 4 Sparrow spp. (Song, Swamp, Chipping, and White-throated), & Purple Finches (at least 2 in the n. woods, along with very modest no. of American Goldfinch on the move still), & many other more-common or resident / summer-visitor species. Also, as recently as 2 days prior (30th May), at least 3 other warbler species were present in Central besides the dozen noted below (they were: [late] Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, and Wilson’s Warblers. A full list, just modestly annotated - Double-crested Cormorant (ongoing visitors & fly-overs) Great Egret (ongoing visitors & fly-overs) Snowy Egret (regular fly-overs seen from n. end of park) Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Canada Goose Wood Duck (1, male) Gadwall (several) Mallard Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Ring-billed Gull (few) [American] Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull ['feral'] Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Black-billed Cuckoo (north woods, also heard calling there) Yellow-billed Cuckoo (north woods, seen well) Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird (prob. just a late migrant still) Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Yellow-shafted Flicker Olive-sided Flycatcher (typical haunt in snag on Great Hill, early a.m.) Eastern Wood-Pewee (multiple) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (minimum of 2 seen & heard) Acadian Flycatcher (Ramble & n. end, each heard as well as seen) Alder Flycatcher (Wednesday, at sw corner of The Pool; singing, 6 p.m.) Great Crested Flycatcher (multiple) Eastern Kingbird (multiple) Yellow-throated Vireo (area to be watched, location not disclosed) Warbling Vireo (multiple) Red-eyed Vireo (several south from reservoir, & more in north end) Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow (few, fly-bys) Northern Rough-winged Swallow (few) Barn Swallow (relatively few) Black-capped Chickadee (2) Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch (1, female, n. end) White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (location not disclosed) Gray-cheeked Thrush (seen singing, Great Hill) probable - Bicknell's Thrush (calling & seen well, 6 a.m., Loch area) Swainson's Thrush (at least 2, in n. woods) Wood Thrush (few) American Robin Gray Catbird (many) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (locations not disclosed) European Starling Cedar Waxwing (relatively few noticed) Northern Parula (several, n. end & south) Yellow Warbler (several) Chestnut-sided Warbler (several) Magnolia Warbler (at least several) Blackburnian Warbler (1 male, n. woods) Blackpoll Warbler (rather scant numbers) Black-and-white Warbler (several) American Redstart (multiple: 15+ park-wide) Ovenbird (n. end) Northern Waterthrush (Lake edge, w. side) Mourning Warbler (minimum of 4 singing males, 3 of them glimpsed; 2 in north woods, seeming to be singing only pre-6 a.m.; another just w. of Conservatory Garden; also 1 near C.P. West & W. 94th St. - N.B., the chances are there were a few more in the park overall & the date is not unusual at all for more than 1 or 2 of this species; females are likely about in this week, as well.) Common Yellowthroat (still some, but hardly as many Thursday as were noted on Wed., when 20+ were spread all around the park, a majority noted then being singing males) Canada Warbler (Loch & n. woods) Summer Tanager (as noted above, an adult male, singing a bit, then seemed quiet for much of a.m., but calling occ., east of the Blockhouse area & also at times south of there) Eastern Towhee (all locations not disclosed) Chipping Sparrow (all locations not disclosed) Song Sparrow (several) Swamp Sparrow (one, Loch) White-throated Sparrow (a few continue, and the species has summered in Central in many years) Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female type, n. woods) Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird (2 males seen) Orchard Oriole (location not disclosed) Baltimore Oriole (common / breeders) Purple Finch (2 in north end, loosely associating or at least near a small flock of Am. Goldfinches) House Finch American Goldfinch (flock of about ten, poss. more in adjacent trees, e. edge of north woods) House Sparrow - - - - - Watching migrant birds for most of the month of May from more than a dozen provinces in eastern China (People’s Republic of) was interesting; China has a vast number of resident & breeding species, and is on one of the busiest “flyways” in the world for migrants, many of them headed to Siberia & the arctic through the spring. Some of the migrants & more than a mere few of the resident or breeding-resident species are threatened or even endangered, some very endangered, even if some steps have been taken to try and help these species, and habitat in general, to alleviate pressures - a small number of the species seen on this trip have known populations of fewer than 500 individuals, and one or two have surveyed populations in the several dozens at this time (Chinese Crested Tern, Kozlowski’s Bunting, amongst the most at-risk). However there are also a lot of areasound in China, mostly farther from the densest population centers, where there is a lot of good habitat, and where some species may be found in abundance. And giving great hopes for the future of birds, and habitat for wildlife in general, is that many, many people living in China are now very interested and involved in observing & studying birds. In some ways, this is the start of a potentially bigger environmental movement, just as has happened in other places in the world; there are now real “birders” spread around China, and while they may be of all ages, a great many are young. It is also notable that a good many are also women, & that women have filled roles in leading some of the clubs, organizations, and promotion of conservation in the People’s Republic. On this trip, about 25% of the roughly 1,400 species in China’s bird checklist were observed. The areas covered were from near the island of Taiwan (on the mainland) to within the latitude & fairly near to Vladivostok, Russian Siberia (but still in China) - a vast distance. Transport was mainly in small motor coach, but also by super-fast “bullet” train, which outshone any rail transit known in the United States, by far. And yes, the food was much better, everywhere, than is found in almost any American Chinese restaurant. This was especially so when the food was home-cooking. A surprise to this relative China-novice was how common it was to find ice cream treats, which were varied, but included both Asian ingredients, & what we think of as traditional flavors here, such as chocolate & vanilla. Prices for those varied from (equal to) 15 cents, up to $1.50 in some shops, for the fancier treats. These were incidentally seen in many areas where few or almost no western visitors are going. And maybe my greatest foodie surprise was the Bunuelos that were served up fresh-fried & hot, in an early a.m. stop in the far north of China; yes, that too seems to have origins in China (even if Japan made some of that into an art-form, as tempura…) More important, at the bunuelo stand, were the Daurian Starlings that were on wires & in trees nearby. For those who can make it there, I recommend China - as many as 4 or more visits are likely needed, if one wanted to sample a larger swath of the diversity of culture & more of the very diverse avifauna. And there is the island of Taiwan, which has a good many unique species & still a good bit of original habitat in its high mountains. - - - - - - "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." - Aldo Leopold (1887–1948), U.S. wildlife biologist, conservationist, professor, author, best known for his book "A Sand County Almanac” (1949), which has sold more than two million copies. Good -and ethical- birding, 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/ --
