Very notable at Great Gull Island in NY waters, are the return of the Roseate Terns & a sighting of Gray-cheeked Thrush (which follows on a few other reports of that type of thrush in the northeast), today, 4/29. The Great Gull reports are via Joseph DiCostanzo with the Great Gull project / American Museum, Natural History, NY.
And seems worthy of a note that in Brooklyn (Kings County, NY) today were these species, amongst many others - BLUE GROSBEAK, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, KENTUCKY WARBLER (these all seen in Prospect Park), & CERULEAN WARBLER (this a first site record at Dreier-Offernan park, and found by Shane Blodgett, seen also by Alex Wilson; photo’d, & appears to be a poss. 1st-spring male with less-than full breastband) - kudos to all the Brooklyn birders on these & other finds. - - - Incidentally, on Hooded Warblers pushing north & east thru the region, there are now reports of that species up into northern New England; the recent event seems to have pushed a fairly broad array of neotropical-wintering migrants to either past where they are fully-expected &/or, in particular, into areas where, if expected, the usual arrival dates are from 1 to even 2 weeks later. And that some of these migrants have moved in numbers, not merely 1’s or two’s here & there, is indicative of an event affected by weather that was rather widespread. Examples of 2 northern New England Hoodeds, just today (4/29) a report from Burlington, VT; and a lingering bird seen again today at Harpswell, mid-coast Maine. On other species much farther north from breeding areas, Prothonotary Warbler had been seen in Nova Scotia (maritime Canada) as early as 18 April; the appearance of neotrop. migrants in mid-spring in the Canadian maritime provinces is a somewhat ‘special’ case, as birds are brought not just north to such areas, but also quite far east (relative to any of NY). It can be added, a fair number of the early or early-ish migrants now being found are also not in anything even close to peak numbers; many are still in rather low numbers, yet at the same time, arrivals of species such as Indigo Bunting are now being reported from the Hudson river valley in known breeding areas, & the numbers (of that species) seem not-insignificant. Additionally, the movements of migrants in the area of SE NY, including NYC and Long Island, and some of the near-shore counties, is complex, with what appear rather diverse & often-divergent-seeming flow of species (particulart species) and massed-migration, with timings & numbers also varying from barrier-beach islands, to large-river corridors, to near-shore upland ridges, and more to consider in the movement of migrants of so many varied kinds. - - On Red Phalarope in Manhattan (NYC), there apparently are some records going back into the 1960’s including an individual that lingered for some days, using more than one of the park’s water-bodies in its visit - thanks esp. to Peter Post for the additional information. This latter referring to a bird seen in Central Park more than a half-century ago. Sightings of Hooded Merganser in Central Park in late April are modestly late; at least 3 were noted by many on Fri. 4/28, with one of these still at the same location, Turtle Pond, Saturday. There was a recent report of Ring-necked Duck in Central, and I am inclined to think this was a solid ID, for 1 bird at the reservoir. _______ Saturday, 29 April, 2017 - Central Park & Riverside Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City At least 26 species of Warblers were found in Central Park today - even in less-birded Riverside Park, 17 species of warbler were noted, and that in only-afternoon hours, and mainly in the areas from W. 83 St. north to near W. 121 St. (the “drip” itself, near about W. 118 St., seemed not be active with visiting birds, perhaps because many puddles were all about in that park from the heavy showers of the pre-dawn hours.) Two Red-headed Woodpeckers were present in Central Park today, with a freshly-arrived adult seen by 100+ observers thru part of the day in the Ramble, & the long-lingering 1st-year Red-headed still in it’s ‘territory’ - but showing some signs it might be about to get more mobile. Some notes on sightings in Central &/or Riverside Parks, 4/29: Common Loon (fly-over, early a.m.) Red-necked Grebe (the “you can’t prove it’s the rehab-release” grebe continues at the reservoir in Central) Double-crested Cormorant (lotsa fly-overs, & in Central also) Great Egret (40+ fly-overs & a few also headed north, rather than east or west; additional several in Central) Snowy Egret (6+, flyovers including one seen from Riverside Park going across the Hudson river, nr. W. 108 St.) Green Heron (Central Park) Black-crowned Night-Heron (Central Park) Turkey Vulture (5 or more fly-overs seen from Central Park) Canada Goose Brant (multiple fly-overs, a.m. - and some in Hudson river, from Riverside Park) Wood Duck (still on C.P. reservoir, early a.m.) Gadwall (Central Park & Hudson river) Mallard Northern Shoveler (2, C.P. reservoir) Bufflehead (4 or more, C.P. reservoir) Hooded Merganser (1, on 4/29 and 3, on 4/28, Turtle Pond, Central Park) Ruddy Duck (at least several remaining at C.P) Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Wild Turkey (continuing, Central Park) Clapper Rail (continuing in inappropriate habitat, C.P. Loch, a released-there rehabbed bird) Greater Yellowlegs (calling fly-over, Central Park, a.m.) Solitary Sandpiper (at least 2, north end, Central Park) Spotted Sandpiper (Central Park & Hudson river from Riverside Park) Laughing Gull (12+ fly-overs, Central Park, poss. reg. stop-ins at reservoir there in afternoon) Ring-billed Gull (very few) [American] Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull ['feral'] Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Chimney Swift (25+ moving north, perhaps a dozen over Central; one noted from Riverside Park) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (several, including one seen moving north in afternoon, Riverside) Belted Kingfisher (early a.m., The Pond, Central Park) Red-headed Woodpecker (2 individuals, one freshly-arrived, the other a long-lingering 1st-year bird) Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Yellow-shafted Flicker (slight movement, a few detected also in brief run to West 28 St. in Manhattan) Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher (several of putative “willow” type which were non-vocal, Central Park) Least Flycatcher (several, Central Park - some were vocal) Eastern Phoebe (one, Riverside Park, slightly “late”) Great Crested Flycatcher (several, Central Park & 1, Riverside Park) Eastern Kingbird (multiple, both parks) White-eyed Vireo (Central Park) Blue-headed Vireo (Central and Riverside Parks) Yellow-throated Vireo (Central Park) Warbling Vireo (Central and Riverside Parks) Red-eyed Vireo (Central Park) Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee (few) Tufted Titmouse Red-breasted Nuthatch (2, Central Park) White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren (Central & Riverside Parks) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (not that many) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Central & Riverside Parks) Veery (multiple, Central Park) Swainson's Thrush (more than 5, Central Park, & one in Riverside Park) Hermit Thrush (multiple) Wood Thrush (several) American Robin Gray Catbird (near-common) Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher (multiple) European Starling - Blue-winged Warbler (few) Tennessee Warbler (6+, with 4+ in Central Park, at least 2 in Riverside Park, mostly detected by songs) Orange-crowned Warbler (continuing in Central Park) Nashville Warbler (multiple, a few of these in Riverside Park as well) Northern Parula (multiple) Yellow Warbler (relatively few) Chestnut-sided Warbler (few) Magnolia Warbler (at least 3 in Central Park) Cape May Warbler (minimum of 4, Central Park; also 1 singing male in Riverside Park, near W. 117 St.) Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple) Myrtle [ak.a. Yellow-rumped] Warbler (many, many hundreds; detected in a few street trees in Manhattan as well) Black-throated Green Warbler (multiple) Blackburnian Warbler (2, Central Park, & one in Riverside Park near W. 117 St.) Yellow-throated Warbler (singing male albilora race; NOT provably the same individual seen in Central previously) Pine Warbler (Central Park, p.m.) Prairie Warbler (several, and one in Riverside Park) Palm Warbler (multiple) Blackpoll Warbler (one, Riverside Park & rep’td. in Central again) Worm-eating Warbler (Central Park) Ovenbird (multiple) Northern Waterthrush (multiple) Louisiana Waterthrush (Central Park, rather ‘late’ but hardly unprecedented) Common Yellowthroat (multiple, including females) Hooded Warbler (minimum of 4 individual males in Central Park, some singing at times) Wilson's Warbler (Central Park) Canada Warbler (Central Park) - Scarlet Tanager (several, Central, & at least one, Riverside Park in the sanctuary area) Eastern Towhee (multiple) Chipping Sparrow Savannah Sparrow (Central Park) Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow (several, Central Park) Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow (at least several, Central Park) Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak (more than a few, also seen in Riverside Park) Indigo Bunting (several, including one at Riverside Park) Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole (Central Park) Baltimore Oriole (multiple males, & one female in Central; also noted in Riverside Park, plus 2 in street trees) Purple Finch (a few in Central Park) House Finch American Goldfinch (multiple) House Sparrow Since we are mentioning migrants, there were Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) as well as the butterflies American Lady (in some numbers), & Orange Sulphur, Question-mark, and (1) Gray Hairstreak, seen in the afternoon at Riverside Park. (these are relatively-expected, though Gray Hairstreak can be quite variable in numbers, & not always easy to detect) - - - - "Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You are just talking.” - Wangari Muta Mathaii (1940-2011; activist, author, planter of trees, member of Parliament in Kenya, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, the first environmentalist in the world and first African woman to receive that honor) good -and ethical- birding, Tom Fiore manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
