Friday, 1 March, 2013 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City Seeking gulls I again scanned those on the park's reservoir, but in looks beginning around noon and ending after 2 pm, I did not see any uncommon species, just the 3 most typical of the winter or most times of year here (Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed) - as more than consolation I was immediately aware of the near-breeding-plumaged Common Loon as had been previously seen, and also continuing were a hen Red-breasted Merganser, while it's possible that teal & ting-necked duck had moved on and out of the park, unseen by me today. A lot of yesterday's Wood Ducks also moved out. & some were seen in flight, although a certain number continued also. For morning flight, the most evident seemed to be many blackbirds, most or all appearing to be Red-winged, and Common Grackles, with American Robins also on the move in more modest numbers, & at least some other smaller birds at elevation. There were also at least 2 Killdeer on the East Meadow (near 97-99 Sts.) in the a.m. but I did not see those 2, nor any others (or any other open field birds) as I made my rounds of the park. A Great Blue Heron & a 1st-year Black-crowned Night Heron were at the Pond, where they'd been occasional to regular earlier in winter. Not to go on about local issues, but it was news to me that there are no more dog-free zones that a person can walk thru freely (the zoo has full-time entry fees) in Central Park, since Strawberry Fields has signage allowing dogs. "It's a dog's park" which could well be the official motto of a lot of NY city parks. Nuff said. It might be added that at the Ramble feeders, a European Goldfinch is ongoing and seen fairly regularly (as long as a White Stork is on this list!) and is not being claimed as a wild bird (feral, perhaps) nor is anyone claiming they actually knows the provenance (of the Eur. goldfinch, that is).
Good birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
