Monday, 28 April, 2014 - Central park, Manhattan, N.Y. City A Yellow-throated Warbler (and presumably the same from the Mall / bandshell area, early a.m.) was observed, photographed, admired, gawked at, etc. by at least 100+ observers later this day, with an additional nice sighting when Gabriel Willow's large NYC Audubon group came along and noticed that a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was also in proximity; this also admired by over 50 observers before it moved a bit north. The location for the warbler continued at about 50-75 yards south of the south side of the Tavern on the Green historic restaurant, or / also, a slightly shorter distance south of the 65 Street Transverse Road eastbound entry at Central Park West, & the warbler being seen mainly from the west side of the West Drive of the park, although occasional good views were had by watching from the east side of the W. Drive & looking up & across the Drive... the warbler was very briefly seen coming to the lawn area beneath the (mostly) elm trees, but almost all of its time has been in high or highest branches, offering occasionally good, and less-often great, views - it was singing a little earlier in the afternoon but then went nearly quiet through about 6 p.m., when many were still there observing, perhaps some until right about now!
It may be possible to determine thru photos which form this warbler is (the white-lored or the yellow-lored) and also (IF there are 2 different forms or any other plumage characteristics are obviously different enough) if the p.m. "Tavern" bird was a different one from the a.m. "bandshell" bird. For now, it's assumed the same individual - and certainly a male with songs heard, in each location. At least 15 other warbler species were found in Central Park today (some perhaps just as single individuals, such as the male Hooded, which was most of the day not far north of or around the Point, & slightly northeast by a modest rise with a park bench; most of the others include more commonly-seen species of warblers which will become regular in the month of May with the likely exception of Pine & Louisiana Waterthrush, which typically diminish in numbers here thru May. The other warblers in addition to Yellow-throated, seen today in Central, included: Ovenbird; Louisiana Waterthrush; Northern Waterthrush; Black-and-white (multiple); Nashville; Common Yellowthroat; Hooded (male, Ramble); Northern Parula; Yellow; Palm (many); Pine (few); [the Myrtle form of]Yellow-rumped (many); Prairie; Black-throated Green; American Redstart. There were likely at least a few other newly-arrived migrants that may or may not have been well-reported yet. The most active areas seemed to be, as is often so, in parts of the Ramble area, & the north end, yet the southern realms of the Park also get migrants, as best shown today by the mobile Yellow-throated Warbler of which all the sightings (a.m. & p.m.) were south of 72 Street, and also at the Pond & Hallett Sanctuary were a modest number & variety of migrants later in the day. There did not seem to be a raptor movement found as had happened by mid-day the day before. There was a bit of morning flight & diurnal "reverse migration" where some migrants come back from the north to the south over the park, then start to find shelter in the park (or in some cases elsewhere presumably nearby) and disperse &/or form loose feeding flocks. Incidentally for those who also enjoy blooms, a lot of the park is showing off its blooming trees, shrubs, & earlier-season flower plantings right now. The rightly famous Cherry tree groves, many along the reservoir's outer edges & adjacent old bridle paths on both east & west sides, are now coming into full bloom, and in some areas, crabapples are in bloom now, as well as the earlier lilac varieties (nice plantings near the north side of Sheep Meadow, just across the northeast fence, and within the Conservatory Garden which of course has many plantings now blooming. Additional areas of bloom include the recent plantings all along the East Drive & east of the reservoir in the East 85th-95th Street sections, & around the Pond area in the south-east-most part of the Park, just in from Central Park South & Fifth-Sixth Avenues. There are a lot of other modest and elegant plantings, & there are also a variety of native (planted here, but native) wildflowers, shrubs, and trees in addition to the vast array of non-native specimen trees, shrubs, and plantings. A fair variety of native spring wildflowers may be seen in the Ramble & in the north woods areas, with some careful scrutiny. It's a great park for birding, and the birds like it for all of the plantings & the big old trees. Good birds & blooms, Tom Fiore, Manhattan _______________________ On Apr 28, 2014, at 4:22 PM, Anders Peltomaa wrote: I have a second hand report from Sandra Paci that the Yellow-throated Warbler has been refound (by Miriam, who found the Cerulean warbler) in the same area as Gerard described. South of Tavern on the Green. Hoping I can connect with it after work Anders Peltomaa ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' – Martin Luther King, Jr. -- 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/ --
