Thursday, 17 September, 2009 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
Birding was rather good, despite the 'raw' weather for mid-September: wind chill hasn't factored in for recent years here, as it may have in the old days, when "cold fronts" really were cold by September... today may have seen a bit less diversity, while volume of a few species picked up, & most noticeable were the increase in or arrival of some "later" fall migrants. The sparrows are now beginning to make a real showing, with a Vesper seemingly a bit early for this location. Of the warblers, 2 different Yellow-breasted Chats, one at the wildflower meadow, & another at Strawberry Fields & vicinity were the most notable & at least 16 additional species of warblers included Tennessee, Cape May, more Palm warblers, & others. Winter Wren, Ruby- crownned Kinglet, & at least 6 species of sparrows including the Vesper on the knoll (north of the NE part of the N. Meadow ballfields), Lincoln's, Swamp, & Chipping, with expected White- throateds increasing plus resident Song, were among the new and/or very recent arrivals. I didn't watch for hawks much & noticed only a few Osprey going over, but there could have been some other migrating raptors. There were also a fair number of hummingbirds, all presumed Ruby-throated but not all definitely ID'd as some zipped by, while others stayed & visited the many flowers still blooming. In some places that held some migrants on Wednesday there were fewer today and overall, diversity seemed to have dropped off slightly overnight. A smattering of icterids were moving, too.
Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan _________ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES Archives: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
