Hi all, Below is a nice summary write-up, by Doug Kurz, of the excellent Fall birding we had this past week in Central Park, NY, NY. Enjoy, Anders Peltomaa Manhattan
------------ It was a birdy weekend in the Park, giving the overall impression that we were still seeing the avian after-effects of the "superstorm." There was plenty of overhead flight including raptors, and good numbers of passerines were found throughout. Saturday seemed to be a bit better than Sunday in terms of overall numbers, but each day had its highlights. Saturday's star was a magnificent BARRED OWL, while Sunday gave us an adorable SAW-WHET OWL. Both birds were impacted by observers; the Barred Owl kept shifting to higher and higher roosts as the groups of finger-pointing birders increased, while the Saw-whet had to be protected by the Conservancy putting up barricades to keep out overzealous photographers and birders. A Conservancy worker told me that people had actually been climbing into the very branches where the poor little owl was roosting. I hope everyone will remember to respect the birds and keep as great a distance as practicable, particularly with roosting owls. (I'll never forget seeing a family of four birders, parents with two boys, beating a small pine tree with sticks on the median strip at Jones Beach, because they couldn't immediately locate a Saw-whet Owl. Fortunately they failed altogether, and the owl was there the whole time. I won't even say what I wanted to do to them!) Winter finches continue to impress. We had PINE SISKINS at the Evodia feeders and surrounding sweetgums, PURPLE FINCHES in the Oven and at the feeders, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL flyovers (not seen by me), RED CROSSBILL flyovers (I had five birds, two red and three yellow, flying westward over the Lower Lobe Sunday morning, giving the same kip-kip-kip-kip calls that we heard in September, so perhaps Type 3). Two female EVENING GROSBEAKS delighted viewers at the "blowdown meadow" southeast corner of Great Hill in the North End (thanks Sam Stuart et al.) Overhead raptors included good numbers of RED-SHOULDERED HAWK both days, dominated by juvenile birds of typical Eastern morph. Look for the black wing-ends and the adjacent translucent windows for easy identification. Even without the "windows" the black at the ends of the wings separates these birds nicely from Broad-winged or Red-tailed Hawks. I had about a dozen Red-shouldered over the weekend, at least as many Red-tailed, two Broad-winged, two Cooper's, one Osprey, and one Northern Harrier as flyovers. On the ground, impressive numbers of Tufted Titmouse were joined by numerous Hermit Thrushes, Dark-eyed Juncos, and White-throated Sparrows. These four species could be found just about everywhere. A complete list follows. Pied-billed Grebe (Reservoir, Sat.) Canada Goose Wood Duck (Sat. pair Upper Lobe, & one juv male off the Point) Mallard American Black Duck (two pair, Reservoir, Sat.) Northern Shoveler Bufflehead (Reservoir, and one f at the Pool) Ruddy Duck Turkey Vulture Northern Harrier (flyover) Cooper's Hawk (two flyovers) Red-shouldered Hawk (~10 flyovers) Broad-winged Hawk (2 flyovers) Red-tailed Hawk (12+ flyovers) Osprey (1 flyover) American Kestrel (one male Great lawn) American Coot (resrevoir) Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Mourning Dove Rock Dove (Pigeon) BARRED OWL (Sat.) NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL (Sun.) Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (quite a few) Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker Eastern Phoebe (one on Sat.) Blue-headed Vireo (S. of Strawberry Fields Sat. morning) Blue Jay American Crow (incl. flock of 20 flying southeast) Fish Crow (one flyover, calling) Tufted Titmouse (abundant) Black-capped Chickadee Red-breasted Nuthatch (several, including Evodia feeders) White-breasted Nuthatch (more numerous than Red Nut) Brown Creeper (several on Sat.) Winter Wren (Azalea Pond / Gill) Golden-crowned Kinglet (Pinetum) Ruby-crowned Kinglet American Robin Hermit Thrush (numerous) Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird European Starling Cedar Waxwing (some roosting, several floyover flocks) Yellow-rumped Warbler (Strawberry Fields, Pinetum) Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting (Great Hill) Eastern Towhee Savannah Sparrow (one East of Falconer's) Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow (Lower Lobe) Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco Red-winged Blackbird RUSTY BLACKBIRD (Azalea Pond) Common Grackle Baltimore Oriole (two in the Ramble) EVENING GROSBEAK (two adult females, Blowdown Meadow) Purple Finch (Evodia feeders and Oven) RED CROSSBILL (flock of five, 2 red + 3 yellow, calling, flying west southwest over lower lobe, Sunday morning, sounded like the Type 3 we had on Sept 1st) Pine Siskin (Evodia feeders) American Goldfinch Reported by others: EASTERN BLUEBIRD, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, Palm Warbler, Northern Parula, possible Common Redpoll P.S. on a separate note, Tueday morning after Hurricane Sandy, birded from shore of Long Island Sound in Sands Point (Port Washington Pieninsula, Nassau County). Highlights included Royal and Caspian Terns, Northern Gannet, Laughing Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gull, several Storm Petrels (prob. Leach's), two Jaegers (prob. Parasitic), Loons, Scoters, Bald Eagle Happy Birding! Doug Kurz __._,_.___ Reply via web post<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJyYmsxMWNvBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRtc2dJZAMxMTMyMARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzEzNTIxMzI2MTc-?act=reply&messageNum=11320> Reply to sender <dk...@mindspring.com?subject=Re%3A%20A%20November%20weekend%20in%20Central%20Park%2C%20and%20other%20notes> Reply to group <ebirds...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Re%3A%20A%20November%20weekend%20in%20Central%20Park%2C%20and%20other%20notes> Start a New Topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZWdjaHU5BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzNTIxMzI2MTc-> Messages in this topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc/message/11320;_ylc=X3oDMTM3YmRmNjUxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRtc2dJZAMxMTMyMARzZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzNTIxMzI2MTcEdHBjSWQDMTEzMjA->(1) Recent Activity: - New Members<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc/members;_ylc=X3oDMTJnbWRrcGF2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2bWJycwRzdGltZQMxMzUyMTMyNjE3?o=6> 3 Visit Your Group<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc;_ylc=X3oDMTJmM2RnN2dlBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEzNTIxMzI2MTc-> ebirdsnyc: bird sightings from the NYC area [image: Yahoo! Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlaTY5NGk1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzEzMzM2MzUwBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTA2NTc4NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTM1MjEzMjYxNw--> Switch to: Text-Only<ebirdsnyc-traditio...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Change+Delivery+Format:+Traditional>, Daily Digest<ebirdsnyc-dig...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Email+Delivery:+Digest>• Unsubscribe <ebirdsnyc-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> • Send us Feedback <ygroupsnotificati...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Feedback+on+the+redesigned+individual+mail+v1> . __,_._,___ -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
