Friday, 11 April, 2014 - Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City A good migration overnight, with 99.999 % -or thereabouts- of the birds passing Manhattan overnight continuing on northward. A (nearly) still basic-plumaged RED-NECKED GREBE continues on the reservoir; at ~ 9:30 a.m. in the center. No mergansers of any kind were noticed. A smaller number of N. Shovelers & Buffleheads, & a few Ruddy Ducks persist. A few Wood Ducks remain in the park.
The far northern & wooded part of the park provided some evidence for excellent overnight migration. A Green Heron showed up in the north end, perhaps the 1st of this year in Central. A good ongoing flight of Yellow-shafted Flickers and American Robins, in particular, with over 150 of the former and over 1,500 of the latter in the hour after sunrise in Manhattan - these were birds seen to be headed north onward out of the park, the general heading N-NE. Also seen were some smaller birds, moving on, & at least a few of these ID'd were Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and Junco (presumed - Slate-colored). Other birds in evidence on the ground & in trees included the previously-noted, in good numbers, and Hermit Thrush (60+ in the n. woods, & more in many other areas later), as well as Palm Warbler (25+ on Great Hill & in n. woods, also more in other areas). A look around the north end for other newly arrived species was a bit of a 'bust'... when I was out looking. In the Ramble & vicinity at least a couple of new arrivals included: Blue-headed Vireo, & Black-and-white Warbler. It would not be at all surprising to learn of a few more. The park is certainly looking as though ready to host some new migrants, with a lot of insect life now stirring, and many plants (including trees, shrubs) coming into bud and more each day showing some blooms. Two Baltimore Orioles continue in their 6th month in the park as they overwintered successfully, mainly still seen in the Ramble but some sightings have been slightly away from there. A few other species that could turn up as new arrivals any day now, are still present as overwintered birds, such as Brown Thrasher, and E. Towhee. As for some other birds, there were still the 3 other warbler spp. (besides the Black-and-white, & many Palm), in minimal numbers - Pine, Yellow-rumped, and Louisiana Waterthrush. It looked as though the Kinglet turnover from more Golden-crowned to more Ruby-crowned could have happened today - my own sightings included 2 Golden- crowned, and 6 Ruby-crowned - however others were still finding equally good no's. of Golden-cr. so it may be a bit longer, as would be typical, 'til Rubys rule. There was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Strawberry Fields e. slope at nearly mid-day and I believe a few more were spotted elsewhere. just one other note on what I'd call a migrant arrival: 1 Green Darner (Anax junius) at the meer this morning. 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/ --
