Manhattan, N.Y. City - Sunday, 30 June, & Monday, 1st of July, 2019 A fairly fast look all around Bryant Park on Sunday morn’ (30 June) as the park was opened officially ~7 am- revealed no warblers to me at all, but did provide ongoing (lingering) Gray Catbirds (at least 2), Song Sparrow (1 video’d. singing), and White-throated Sparrows (6+, several of them also singing) + the usual 3 urban-feral spp. (feral ‘rock’ pigeon, European or common starling, and house sparrow, all in numbers, plus a single Blue Jay & Mourning Dove to round out my fast-paced curcuit of the place.) It is still possible that one or more of the warblers, present a bit earlier in June, did linger there but evaded being seen on Sunday, or of course they may finally have moved on, or fallen prey to any number of typical or atypical risks.
Monday, 1st of July - on an actual “cold” front with good NW winds & following storms that affected all of the region on Sunday, some early wanderers or possible migrants came in; these at least including several (very very early, if returning) American Redstarts, and also a not-as-early Louisiana Waterthrush, along the edges of the Pond, in Central Park’s southeast corner. This latter warbler might well be a true south-bounder in migration presently. Also ‘ongoing', at least from mid-late June, were a couple of N. Parulas, and at least one female Black-and-white Warbler, all in the Ramble of Central Park; these perhaps more like ‘floaters’, that is birds which may not have gone farther north & have lingered locally, perhaps wandering a bit in the same park or just a bit beyond. It is also possible they represent early non-breeders (not able to, or did not manage to in more expected locations & habitat). Of these species, Black-and-white does nest not far at all from northern N.Y. City, and it is also almost annual as a ‘floater’ type of visitor in summer, esp. for Central Park where there is slightly greater observation & more records in summer season. N. Parula is an exceedingly rare breeder in the local area of N.Y. City. Central Park has at least 2 (singing male) Common Yellowthroats & there others ongoing on Manhattan island. There were some Yellow Warblers in locations from the south tip of Manhattan, to nearly the northern edges, & at least one was a female, possibly a first-year female, while several were males. Some Black Skimmers have appeared in NY County waters and there was also a fly-thru at Central Park on July 1st, after sunset at the Meer - first time I’ve been at that late an hour; the one bird seemed to appear coming from the NW & moved on & across to the SE but could have gone in another direction after being in view for a minute or less. This has been an occasional, mostly summer, visitor in Central Park in previous years. A few Spotted Sandpipers have been seen on Manhattan in the past few days, including at least 1 in Central Park. A drake Wood Duck was continuing at the Pond in Central Park’s southeast. Ongoing species in some other places in Manhattan island include Green Heron, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Great Crested Flyctacher, E. Wood-Pewee, E. Kingbird, Tree, Barn, and N. Rough-winged Swallows (the latter seen mostly from n. Manhattan, but close observations may reveal them elsewhere, as along the 3 ‘rivers’ or the estuaries of the area - Hudson, Harlem, and East River corridors & their associated small bays & inlets which Manhattan does have), Wood Thrush (at least 8 pairs scattered around Manhattan from at least Central Park & northwards; there are a minimum of 6 adult birds and at least 4 young in Central Park, total of ten birds at an absolute-observed minimum as of 7/1, and other parks likely have some nests with young or possibly fledged by now), Red-eyed & Warbling Vireos, Orchard & Baltimore (many) Orioles, Chipping, Song, & White-throated Sparrows (the latter summering, not breeding) and many other species, some visitors & some resident which include plenty of nesting species - along with the now more-scarce migrant-breeders as only partially noted above. ---- For butterflies, there continue to be a very good showing locally of American Snout, & while seeking that species can be good near where Hackberry trees are found (that is a host-plant to the Snout’s life-cycle), they’ve been showing up in a number of odd & unexpected sites too, in Manhattan & elsewhere in the area. Also turning up more than in some years are Common Buckeye, Red Admiral, as well as Question Mark butterflies - and at least a dozen additonal species of butterflies in Manhattan, in just the past few days. Many many other insects are and have been out crawling, flying &etc. --- "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 summer's 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/ --
