Thursday, 20 March, 2014 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City The transitioning-plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE continued at the reservoir, seen 7:45 a.m. & 8:15 a.m. on the western side; it seemed to be slowly working a bit to the south at the latter time. Also present there again were a drake Ring-necked Duck (se) and at least 3 Red-breasted Mergansers (2 hen or young males, & a drake), at least 5 Wood Ducks, modest no's. of N. Shovelers, Gadwall, and Buffleheads, & a great many Canada Geese. Gulls (which as most park regulars know, come & go in & out of the reservoir on an hourly-daily basis, the number & potential variety changing almost constantly even as some individuals may habitually return for weeks or months in a row) were coming in, & settling on lingering ice - the east half of the reservoir was still essentially ice-covered, although this should change in the next few days - & I checked for any uncommon gull sp. but did not note; it's worth scanning through flocks at any time. Also lingering at the reservoir were just 2 Ruddy Ducks, & at least 4 Hooded Mergansers. (No sign of a Pied-billed Grebe which had appeared there over a week ago, & seems to have moved on quickly.)
At the feeders in the Ramble, the bright male Baltimore Oriole was already present & feeding on one of the many fresh orange halves regularly placed out this winter; the drab-plumaged PINE WARBLER also made a brief appearance, coming to investigate one of the coconut- shell feeders; also present in the area were multiple "red" Fox Sparrows, and a Rusty Blackbird. In a number of other parts of the park, "red" Fox Sparrows were not so hard to find; I counted 22 in all from s. end thru n. end, with at least 8 in the Ramble area alone. At the west side of "the Point" on the lake, an adult Black-crowned Night-Heron was sitting low by the water, & at "the Pond" in the park's south end, a breeding (with partial plumes) Great Blue Heron was standing by ice at the south side, closer to the sw corner. Additional single drake Wood Ducks were noted at: Pond, Lake, & Meer. The Meer also had a pair of Hooded Mergansers & a few Buffleheads, as well as Gadwall & other usuals. Song Sparrows are about in slightly higher number than those which overwintered. A few half-hardy species did overwinter successfully, including a couple of Brown Thrashers, at least 1 Gray Catbird, and a few E. Towhees. (I'm not aware of other half-hardy or more uncommon overwinterers but there may have been.) A modest number of adult male Yellow-bellied Sapasuckers, and a very few Yellow-shafted Flickers, were again found, these few perhaps arrived in the last week or more. Red-winged Blackbirds are singing in a few places, most in evidence at the Meer from my a.m. wandering. welcome - the vernal equinox in just a few hours from now. 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/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/ --
