The two BLACK-NECKED STILTS found & photographed at Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area in Geneseo, NY (Genesee County) on May 20th are certainly notable. One of the same species was found & also was photographed at Baie-du-Febvre, on Lac Saint-Pierre, Quebec (Canada) on May 18th, & was also seen there to May 19th. This appears to be the most-northerly sighting in eastern Canada (east of Alberta) for the year thus far. Additionally, at Sandy Hook, New Jersey on May 20th, Nerses Kazanjian & Jason Denesevich found (& many more observers saw) two Black-necked Stilts.
In light of the Mississippi Kite reported Monday from Brooklyn (Kings County), NY, it is worth mentioning that same species (and rather obviously not the same individual) was also observed flying past the Braddock Bay hawk-watch (near Rochester, NY) on the same day, May 20th, where the hawk counter & observers also recorded 4 Black Vultures, & a total flight-watch count of 2,160 birds, of which 1,300 were Broad-winged Hawks. There also were 128 Bald Eagles in the day’s count there. The Derby Hill hawk-watch in Mexico, NY saw a flight of 3,231 vultures and birds of prey, of which 2,787 were Broad-winged Hawks - all also on May 20th. And in light of the Burrowing Owl sighting from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge area / Big Egg Marsh in New York City on Thursday, May 16th, it’s worth noting the one that provided the province of Quebec a first provincial record on May 11th, a “one-day wonder” at the location in Abitibi, Quebec (Canada). --- Excellent migration overnight for Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights, with a lot of flyover well past N.Y. City (esp. on Friday night), and more ‘drop-ins’ for at least Manhattan on Sunday, 5/19. Many landbird migrant species have made it as far as the U.S.-Canada border & some well beyond by now, & this includes some of the more northerly-breeding, and later-to-migrate species. Manhattan, N.Y. City - Saturday, Sunday, & Monday, 18-19-20 May, 2019: Saturday’s female Chuck-wills-widow in the Central Park Ramble, reported near the Gill early on by Will Papp was eventually seen by well over 200 observers throughout the day. Sadly on the day prior, an E. Whip-poor-will was found at a downtown Manhattan location, possibly injured due to building collision; I believe that that bird was brought to a local rehabber for observation. A Yellow-breasted CHAT was seen at the western edge of the Central Park Ramble on Saturday, 5/18, first-of year for that park, with many observers. A PHILADELPHIA Vireo was seen well by at least 1 dozen observers in the Central Park Ramble on Sunday, 5/19. An intriguing report for a (non-vocal?) Bicknell’s Thrush came from several observers, at the edge of the Central Park Ramble on Sunday - it is within the time-frame of the species arrival & passage thru the region. This also can be a tough ID to make from a non-vocal bird on passage, as some Gray-cheeked Thrushes may appear to resemble the Bicknell’s. Mourning Warblers - an (expected) increase in sightings for the warm weekend; what may have been the same individual male was found in a wooded area immediately south of Fort Tryon Park’s formal south entrance on Saturday, 5/19, & a male again seen there, by more observers, on Sunday, 5/20. There have been (so far) modest numbers of the species reported from Manhattan this spring. By now, some have been found on breeding territories as far north as the province of Quebec (Canada) yet this species passage may be expected to continue into June, even locally in N.Y. City, as it is generally one of the latest of New York’s spring songbird migrants to complete the northbound passage. Easiest to detect are singing males, while many females (& of course, some males as well) will pass undiscovered on migration. A Yellow-throated Warbler was reported in the Central Park Ramble on Saturday with multiple observers. Warblers showing further increase over this past weekend included Bay-breasted, Tennessee, Blackpoll, & American Redstart, as well as good numbers of many other species. Unfortunately for those not able to arrive on the (one) day of it’s discovery, the Swainson’s Warbler of last Thursday, 5/16 turned out a “one-day wonder” when it appeared in the Central Park Ramble although with effort, many were able to view, and certainly to hear, this southern-affinity NY-state rarity. Despite efforts no one succeeded in re-finding this bird on the morning-after or any days following its May 16th appearance. Summer Tanagers - a 1st-spring male and a female were seen in Central Park on Sunday, 5/19; many Scarlet Tanagers also appeared to arrive on the same morning (i.e., Saturday night). A Blue Grosbeak was seen Sunday (5/19) in the Central Park Ramble. A single Bufflehead was on the Central Park reservoir thru at least Saturday, 5/18. A somewhat ‘late' Ruby-crowned Kinglet was separately the same day reported at the Clinton Community Garden on W. 48th St. in mid-Manhattan, by D. Mullins. There are ongoing sightings of Purple Finches, and Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers from various locations in Manhattan thru at least Monday, 5/20. Only the sapsuckers might be assigned a “late” status; these are, or appear all to be long-lingering individual sapsuckers per each location found past mid-May. In some of these locations, the total area is small enough, and enough observers are regular enough, to give an accounting of the status of individual sapsuckers - it would be interesting to see if some (any) remain to summer, as non-breeding birds. An American Woodcock in the Central Park Ramble was still present there to at least Sunday, 5/19, quite late for a Manhattan spring sighting of the species. There were great numbers of 2 species of migrants in particular on Monday, 5/20 - and each can be somewhat indicative here for the winding-down phase of songbird migration for Manhattan - and perhaps the larger surrounding area - Blackpoll Warbler, which were seen in the low hundreds (for all of Manhattan, & esp. in the northern half of the island including the north end of Central Park) for the day, & Cedar Waxwing, which were seen by some of us in numbers well into the hundreds, with likely many many hundreds, if not 1,000++, passing thru over the course of the day. That stated, there will of course be a lot more migration to come, but peak days for land birds may have passed at least for N.Y. City by now, on the recent switch in the weather & wind patterns in particular, as well as simply the date with lengthening photo-period, & with other factors playing in. -- Among rarer dragonflies for Manhattan, a Painted Skimmer was well-photographed in the Conservatory Gardens of Central Park on Sunday, 5/19 by Mike Freeman. This species might be having a good spring regionally and it has been seen elsewhere in & around the area. A fair variety of dragonfly species have been arriving or emerging with the burst of very warm weather. The same is so of butterflies, and at least 16 species of butterfly have been found & photographed in Manhattan so far this spring, perhaps more by now. There also have been signs that some additional species of butterfly, which are far more common in the south are poised to show more often in this area, at least into the N.Y. City area & perhaps farther north. One to keep an eye out for is American Snout (especially if there are any Hackberry [Celtis] trees nearby), and another is Gray Hairstreak. --- "Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.” - Terry Tempest Williams (contemporary activist, and author of many books) good 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/ --
