Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City - migration the past week, to today, Friday, 14 August, 2015
Migration has been ongoing with the pace picking up a bit this week, & in the last 3 days in particular. Among various southbound birds, warblers have featured most strongly, with at least 20 species tallied on the week, and at least 16 of those seen as of Friday, with good counts on prior days as well. The highlight in terms of relative scarcity, the male Golden-winged Warbler found in the north woods on Wed. (Tom Perlman) which lingered with a flock & was found at about 8:30 am, & again late in the day around 5. It was sought again in that area, but to my knowledge was not relocated in subsequent days. The area where it was found, the tall-tree woods near the West Drive & approx. 104th St. (on both sides of the park drive) has been fairly active for some days, although spotting some of the birds can be especially challenging at times, not helped by the closure of a path that connects to the north side of the Loch (which is also closed- off), limiting a typically-good section of woods. There are a few dead-end wood-chip paths that can be explored, and in general, the higher ground, have been among the busy areas in the north end's woods. (note that for any who rarely or never visit this part of the park, birding with a friend or two is not a bad idea, as well as keeping an eye on what is going on in the vicinity, as there can be activities that are nothing you will want to be involved in!) That said, the Ramble area & vicinity has more than held its own, with diversity, and for some species, numbers of individual migrants. A variety of areas have been somewhat productive, among them a few of those that are near water. This seems likely to continue to be so, at least thru the warm weather. Also being noted in the past few days, & possibly earlier, were: Olive- sided Flycatcher[s], various Empidonax (including Least & Willow giving diagnostic calls, perhaps other species also), & Great Crested Flycatchers, plus diurnal-migrant E. Kingbirds, 4 of the Swallow spp. (no Cliff that I'm aware of), Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (in numbers), Warbling & Red-eyed Vireos (in numbers, & migrants besides those lingering local-nesters), a smattering of Wood & Swainson's Thrushes, as well as Veery, a couple of Scarlet Tanagers, & many Baltimore Orioles & occ. other icterids (mainly Red-winged Blackbirds & Brown-headed Cowbirds, in their annual, less-known July to early Aug. movements, well ahead of the separate & larger fall migration), plus some other species. I had a sighting of what may well have been a Philadelphia Vireo, but the view was not quite long or close enough to feel 100% confidence & put it on the list (north woods, simply got away after a short view). In shorebirds actually stopping in, there have been typical Solitary (few) & Spotted Sandpipers, as well as flyovers of some singles & small groups of other typical species of this time-period... (there also have been a few drop-ins at the mudflat areas in other parts of Manhattan, on the n. end & west side/Hudson sections of the island's waterfront. A few sky-watches have been modestly productive, with Bald Eagle, Black Vulture, & ongoing Turkey Vulture sightings, as well as Osprey and American Kestrel. (the better days being Wed. & Thurs. with much fair- weather cloud cover allowing greater visibility of birds up high. The Chimney Swift numbers also have been increasing; this is a good time to start watching for common nighthawks on migration, some of them already moving in various areas of the northeast.) A semi-complete list is below; of course additional species may also have turned up - this is a tally of sightings for the past week (mainly last 3 days, though), & takes in sightings by other known birders whom I have spoken with directly &/or birded with, in Central. Not included (much) are year-round & summer visitors & resident birds. Double-crested Cormorant (many ongoing) Great Blue Heron (ongoing) Great Egret (ongoing) Snowy Egret (common north end flyovers) Green Heron (ongoing) Black-crowned Night-Heron (many ongoing) Black Vulture (2 in last 2 days) Turkey Vulture (multiples) Wood Duck (few) Northern Shoveler (few) Solitary Sandpiper (few, & v. skittish too) Spotted Sandpiper (multiple, mostly from res.) Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird , Yellow-shafted Flicker Olive-sided Flycatcher (2 locations in last 2 days) Eastern Wood-Pewee (still relatively few around) Willow Flycatcher (few calling, & closely-observ.) Least Flycatcher (some calling & closely-observ.) Empidonax Flycatcher (species undet. - multiple) Great Crested Flycatcher (modest number) Eastern Kingbird (multiple, diurnal migrants lately) Yellow-throated Vireo (1) Warbling Vireo (many are migrants) Red-eyed Vireo (also migrants now) Tree Swallow (migrants) N. Rough-winged Swallow (migrants) Bank Swallow (few, migrants) Barn Swallow (multiple migrants) Black-capped Chickadee (scarce breeders) Red-breasted Nuthatch (1 or 2 in past week) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (in double-digits now) Veery (few) Swainson's Thrush (very few) Wood Thrush (few) Cedar Waxwing (locals active) Golden-winged Warbler (Wed. - in north woods) Blue-winged Warbler (in multiple) Tennessee Warbler (several) Nashville Warbler (1 or 2) Northern Parula (a few so far) Yellow Warbler (ongoing, in multiple) Chestnut-sided Warbler (uncommon but multiple) Magnolia Warbler (a few so far) Black-throated Blue Warbler (1 or 2) Blackburnian Warbler (several, various plumages) Prairie Warbler (several) Black-and-white Warbler (good numbers) American Redstart (more common than last week) Worm-eating Warbler (several, n. end & Ramble) Ovenbird (few so far) Northern Waterthrush (ongoing, fairly common) Louisiana Waterthrush (scarce; few this week) Common Yellowthroat (few so far) Hooded Warbler (at least 2 so far) Canada Warbler (multiple) Scarlet Tanager (few so far) Bobolink (mostly early a.m. fly-bys) Red-winged Blackbird (migrant flocks) Brown-headed Cowbird (migrant flocks) Orchard Oriole (a few - most are gone by Sept. 1st) Baltimore Oriole (many, migrants & still local-nesters) ................ mammals - Chipmunks (introduced). NO Kinkajous...! bugs - Red-Banded Hairstreaks, continue in numbers. good mid-August birding, Tom Fiore, Manhattan The assumption that animals are without rights - and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance - is a positively outrageous example of crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantor of morality. ~ A. Schopenhauer, from "The Basis of Morality" -- 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/ --
