Inwood Hill Park, northern Manhattan (NYC) Friday, 9 December 2016 The Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher (found Thursday 12/8 by John Keane) was continuing to be seen today in the area described in prior posts on this individual - at least 15 birders were there (at various times) by about noon to try to see it - and among them, Isaac Grant, myself, and Jose Ramirez (who first spotted!) and we 3 then watched, and HEARD (after 9 a.m.) - giving what (to my ears) sounded like soft "seet" or seep" calls, a number of them and given singly - I do not speak for any other birders, and we ought hear from them, how they perceive[d] what was heard! In addition, I failed (-later, when the bird may have no longer been vocal-) to capture audio in a short video-attempt with a point-and-shoot (that is, zero audio of the Empidonax in what is a sound-filled clip, with wind, some traffic and my unwanted exclamation as the bird came very near to us!) - it is possible that other observers managed some audio of the flycatcher in attempting to do that, and if so it is hoped any sound-files might be shared, no matter the quality? Thanks to all who made appearances, and a particular thanks to Joe DiCostanzo who was showing some of us, on- scene, some good illustration-work by artists who have depicted these Empidonax in various works (such as David Sibley in particular);
IF (and I am qualifying it as "if") my hearing of the calls of this bird this morning are reasonably accurate, the sounds heard seem inconsistent with those I am aware of for Yellow-bellied, and perhaps more consistent with a "western" type (or what was once known, in the collective, as WESTERN) but, again, some thoughts from others on- scene, and in any audio-captures? I can't give too much more (than the good photos made available show) on the appearance of this bird, other than that a few features (as observed) did not seem "just right" for a typical Yellow-bellied; I was also wondering about the somewhat bold (on a few occasions) behavior of this individual, coming out on the paved path, & to the open edge of the field, a few times in the 4+ hours I spent in the area (with a total of perhaps 45-50+ minutes of viewing - much of the time I was not aware, or the bird was not easy to find, and I think that may be consistent with how some others (there for a while) found the viewing of; the bird would seem to be "lost" from us for periods, and then, more than a few times, pop up nearly in front of us - often at eye-level or below and just a few times much more than ~5 feet above the ground! Of course, a hungry & either very "late", or rather off-course migrant, could well behave in ways unexpected in a more-typical migration appearance! (The bird seen this day did seem to be feeding on miniscule insect &/or arthropod prey, but how much? And it can't be good for what the weather is now bringing in colder temperatures, and wind-chill. I believe the initial observation today 12/9 was at after 9 am, and that attempts to see the bird before then were not successful; also it seems the first sighting of this bird on Thursday 12/8 may have been not before 9, and perhaps a good bit later. Incidentally (and seriously), an observation was made at one point, that the Empidonax had defecated & some went to see if they might retrieve any of that matter, but it was too difficult just then to determine the 'landing-zone', as this was above an area just off-path with much natural leaf-liiter and other such detritus. It was actually a brief moment of added excitement - yes, we birders are an odd collection! Thanks to everyone who has offered excellent comment and photography, & more on this interesting sighting. In some other sightings at Inwood, while positioned at the edges of the soccer lawn (white goal nets at east & west ends) by the water & western path of the field, some of us had too-brief sightings of a warbler, which was quite yellow underneath, and which for a few seconds went up quite high in distant tree (by the water), then down & perhaps "lost" in a mass of brush & such, where we barely glimpsed it again; my 'call' on that was initially of a Nashville, but it may have been some other species, perhaps even one showing a bit of 'wing- bars' (I and the others were at least sure of it being a warbler, & - most probably- an eastern-breeding species!!) - and a far more definitive sighting were the 2 Bald Eagles that soared over, rather briefly at mid-morning, an adult & a younger bird, both directly overhead and then apparently gone on southwards. - - - - - - Separate sighting: today, 12/9, at City Hall Park in lower Manhattan, a Western Tanager was seen (by others) - for now the 17th day in a row, if my date calculations are accurate! (And we again thank Cedric Duhalde for that tanager of his finding!!) 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/ --
