Monday, Sept. 11 - a Hooded Warbler in male plumage at the small stream nearest
to the W. 77 St. park entrance, reported by Gabriel Willow, & later by other
observers.
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City -
Monday to Thursday, 11th to 14th of September, 2017
A good variety of migrants, in somewhat decreasing overall numbers, were found
so far these week-days, with perhaps over 100 (total) observers out searching
at many hours each day, esp. on Monday-Wed. & in the a.m. hours. There has been
some ongoing flight each overnight, the most seen earlier in the week, starting
Sunday night & less obviously thru Wed. night.
It’s interesting to ponder whether the now fairly slow-moving remnants of
“Irma”, the storm that did much damage in Florida (but truly devasted the human
and natural communities, or parts of, on a number of eastern Caribbean islands,
or parts of such as with Cuba’s north coast & cayos, in that storm’s path) may
have affected the far-larger part of the 'Atlantic region’ fly-ways for
migrants, & kept any Caribbean-wintering species from advancing southward; this
is a somewhat optimistic thought, as any birds that pushed into the direct path
of “Irma”’s influence may have found themselves in trouble on migration.
Whether or not it’s so, we in N.Y. City & well beyond in the northeast have
been seeing more of some migrants, both Caribbean-wintering as well as some
species wintering into Central & South America, in moderately higher no’s. than
typically found.
At least a few of the migrant species, such as Cape May Warbler, perhaps had
good breeding success this summer, and more are being seen - however, a fairly
good no. of the individuals of this species seen have also been adults, not
young-of-the-year. Further, in the instance of Cape May Warbler (and some other
species) it is quite possible that numbers also seemed higher than average on
the spring’s northbound passage, so the “successful breeding” season scenario
may or may not explain this recent high-numbers situation. In any event, on
some species of migrants just locally, birders have been happy to find & enjoy
regular sightings of species that in some years are not all that regularly seen
by so many seekers.
One note & request, when a particularly uncommon or rare bird is found &
reported-on, it is best that we not push in too closely to that bird (or
birds), and that we do nothing that might tend to scare off the bird[s]. Most
birders do give reasonable space to the birds, almost all of the time! Thank
you for considering the good of the birds themselves, & of course for
consideration to all other birders in any area, & especially those visited by
hundreds weekly.
On the 4 days as noted, at least the following species have been seen, many of
these by many observers, a very few only by a few. 25 species of warblers have
been found in the 4-day period, but some species likely have now moved on, & a
few may have been represented by single, or a very few individuals. By
Thursday 9/14, this warbler diversity was a bit lessened.
Sept. 11-14th in Central Park -
Common Loon (a few fly-overs, Monday & Tues.. 11th-12th)
Double-crested Cormorant (modest no. of fly-overs, plus a typically small no.
of visitors)
Great Blue Heron (regular for some time; at least 2 in park, and fly-overs
observed also)
Great Egret (few noted but still in park to Thursday, 14th)
Snowy Egret (not noted by me this period; the place to watch the sky is from
the n. end)
Green Heron (at least to Monday, 11th)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (ongoing visitors)
Turkey Vulture (few, noted Mon.-Tues.-Wed.)
Canada Goose
Wood Duck (1)
Gadwall (up to 18 in park, various water-bodies, as of Thursday)
American Black Duck (small no’s. with at least 4 on Meer Thurs.)
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (minimum of ten continuing for over a week - w/ at least 8 on
reservoir Thurs.)
Green-winged Teal (at least 1 continued into Tuesday, at reservoir, near/along
e. side when seen)
Osprey (few - ? - each day, in casual sky-watching in a.m. hours; others may
have observed more migrating)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (few)
Cooper's Hawk (Mon. thru Thursday)
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Spotted Sandpiper (to at least Wed.; not noted by me on Thurs. at typical
locations)
Laughing Gull (few, daily at reservoir, often on the now fully-exposed dike)
Ring-billed Gull
[American] Herring Gull {good no’s. of the 3 most-typical gull species at the
reservoir}
Great Black-backed Gull
['feral'] Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Mon. thru at least Wed., & probably more than just 2
individuals)
Chimney Swift (multiple on all days, diminished numbers noted by me on Thurs.)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Mon. thru Thurs.)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (several each day in CP; also being seen in some
smaller parks in Manhattan this week)
Downy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted Flicker (multiple, but not that many since Monday)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (multiple sightings of what are likely up to 3
individuals in 3 locations, one at the north end)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (multiple)
Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher (various sightings, including some w/ a few calls
heard, none ID’d positively to species)
Eastern Phoebe (very few, none noted by me on Thursday)
Great Crested Flycatcher (much diminished in no’s. by Thurs. but still at least
2)
Eastern Kingbird (1 Wed. morning & getting just very slightly late)
Blue-headed Vireo (at least 1 persisting in n. woods, to at least Tues.)
Warbling Vireo (few to Wed.)
Red-eyed Vireo (diminished no’s. by Thursday, but still multiple)
Blue Jay (fairly common now)
American Crow (daily sightings, multiple each day)
Common Raven (seen & heard on Tues. & Wed. a.m.)
Tree Swallow (few, high fly-overs on Mon. & Tues.)
Barn Swallow (few noted by me; others may have seen more)
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren (multiple)
Winter Wren (arrivals seen Mon. & Tues.)
MARSH Wren (uncommon, if annual in Central, one was found at Turtle Pond by
Lenore Swenson & seen also by m.obs.)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (multiple, in diminished no’s. by Thursday)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (thru Wed.)
Veery (1 or 2 thru Wed.)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (several of this type in n. woods Mon.-Tues.)
Swainson's Thrush (multiple)
Wood Thrush (fewer, as of Thursday)
American Robin
Gray Catbird (some have departed, many still around, & more yet to pass thru)
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher (few)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (in diminished no’s. as of Thursday)
Blue-winged Warbler (scarce now, & possibly those present to Wed. have departed)
Tennessee Warbler (much diminished no’s. by Thurs. but still a few)
Nashville Warbler (several, into Wed.)
Northern Parula (multiple, diminished no’s. by Thursday)
Yellow Warbler (few, but still present into Thurs.)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (few, but still present into Thurs.)
Magnolia Warbler (diminished no’s. by Thurs.)
Cape May Warbler (still doing well, with up to 4 locations into Thurs./ up to
12+ on Monday/11th)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple)
Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (few, & those seen mainly in n. end, to Tues.)
Black-throated Green Warbler (few, still present to at least Wed.)
Pine Warbler (few, & still fairly early for this species here)
Palm Warbler (few, now of both “yellow” & “western” forms in several locations)
Bay-breasted Warbler (continuing to Thursday, few compared with a week+ ago)
Blackpoll Warbler (few compared with a week+ ago)
Black-and-white Warbler (fewer, but still in multiple locations)
American Redstart (far fewer but still in multiples & many areas of Central
Park)
Ovenbird (multiple)
Northern Waterthrush (scarce, but still several to at least Wed.)
*Connecticut Warbler (*although a few word-of-mouth reports -w/o any details-
for Monday/11th, last definite sighting was the 10th in Central Park)
Mourning Warbler (ongoing into Thursday, & very slightly late)
Common Yellowthroat (multiple)
Hooded Warbler (several into Thursday, with adults still present, as well as
first-year birds)
Wilson's Warbler (several, to Thursday)
Canada Warbler (last noted by me on Tues., perhaps still some lingerning)
Scarlet Tanager (fewer as of Thursday)
Eastern Towhee (Wed., north end area)
Chipping Sparrow (scarce so far, &/but still early in their migration season)
Field Sparrow (1, Tuesday, n. end)
*** Lark Sparrow (*** no further sightings, after Sept. 10th in Central Park)
Savannah Sparrow (few, and still rather early, into Wed.)
Song Sparrow (sparsely distributed around entire park, this is a year-round
species in low no’s. as well as a common early-spring & mid-late fall migrant)
Lincoln's Sparrow (few so far, and still a bit early)
Swamp Sparrow (very few so far, & still early)
White-throated Sparrow (few, lingering for at least some weeks; this species
very irregularly summers, and is usually in very small no’s. if it does so; a
NON-breeder in Central.)
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (sparse, by Wed.)
Indigo Bunting (few, and still slightly early for a big push)
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird (a few this week)
Baltimore Oriole (sparse since Monday, more likely to pass thru in coming weeks)
House Finch
American Goldfinch (scarce by Thursday)
House Sparrow
Thanks in particular to all the many quiet & ethically-minded birders including
all of the guides who lead walks in Central Park for non-profit org’s such as
the Linnaean Society of New York, the NYC Audubon (NYCAS), the American Museum
of Natural History (AMNH), & a newer org. with the acroynm “NYCH2O".
...
In addition to daily birding in Central Park, Manhattan (esp. in mornings, and
also some early eve’s.), I’ve made quick runs to Hook Mt. just north of Nyack,
NY (in eastern Rockland Co.) where an organized hawk-watch (with Trudy Battaly
as compiler & coordinator) is done through the fall raptor-migration season -
visiting earlier this week on 3 successive days, with good numbers of a variety
of species seen on Monday, still a good number but not quite as many on
Tuesday, & far fewer in no’s. but still nice variety for Wed. (with different
counters each day) at this all-volunteer watch site, and a number of other
hawk-watchers & visitors. The Broad-winged Hawk migration has begun in earnest
in the northeast, and some sites in New England have seen 1,000+ of that
species in one day, even more than once already this season - the typical peak
week for the species will be sometime in the next 10 days or less, & many sites
are worth a visit to try & see the spectacle. Hook Mt. is one of the sites
where a hike (of a mile or more) is required to reach the summit where the
watch is conducted, & there are a few rough patches on the trail, esp. for
anyone not accustomed to mountain walking. Other sites include those where one
can essentially just drive up, & walk a short way to a hawk-watch vista. Much
more info can be found at the web pages of http://hawcount.org
<http://hawcount.org/> (including some info on each site that is included in
this non-profit’s many member watch sites) At most, one must bring your own
liquids, food, & any other necessuities. Also there are no restroom facilities
at the summit of Hook Mt. nor at the start of the shorter trails to it. (One
longer trail begins at the Rockland Lake State Park executive golf course, just
east of the parking area, and there, one needs to be courteous to golfers &
other park users). Of course, raptors in migration also may be seen from
potentially many vantage points, with some barrier beaches, & various ridges &
hills or mountain tops being obvious areas. It is possible to see a good
variety & even numbers of raptors from Central Park as well - the more so with
dedicated watching!! (as with any location or type of bird observation).
good birding,
Tom Fiore
manhattan
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