Tuesday, 31 March, 2020 - New York County, including Manhattan & other smaller isles. (N.Y. County is one part of New York City, which has 5 counties, or ‘boroughs’.)
Tuesday (& to a smaller extent Mon. & the prior few days) brought fresh influx of spring migrants - for the most part, of modest increases of some species already present or which had been. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER continues through 3/31 which has spent the entire winter & more in Central Park - its ‘territory’, as it had been all winter on the east side of Central Park’s West Drive (roadway), & a bit east of the s.w. portion of the N. Meadow ballfields, this location nearest the park entrance at W. 97th St. - that woodpecker most recently in fine bright plumage with a fully-red ‘hood’. Check for it between the edge of the ballfield & up around the cindered-path wide bridle trail which paralells the main W. Drive roadway… The sex of that bird is unknown, the species is not sex-able by sight alone: females & males look similar. It is possible this bird could linger some weeks longer; it also may well take off to a breeding area at about any time. Another several Louisiana Waterthrushes arrived to Central Park on Tuesday, with the first of this species in & around the Ramble area as well as at The Pond; there were likely a bare minimum of two but easily may have been 3 or more. These after the first for Manhattan which was found on Friday in Central Park’s north end. There have been multiple (but stlll not all that many per day) Pine Warblers in various locations, occasionally 3 at one time, more often just 1 or 2. There have been a scant few Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers moving through, which is not unusual for the early part of warbler movement in N.Y. County - even as the main spring movement of Myrtle Warblers here is quite some weeks away. Night-Herons slightly increased over last weekend, with a couple of Yellow-crowned also showing (adding to the one of the latter species which overwintered at Randall’s Island) and some new arrivals of Black-crowned as well. In addition there have been over-flights of these (latter species) but especially of Great Blue Herons (with over 30 in the prior 2 days, and multiple sightings of 5, 6, 7, or more in northbound migration) & there have been some Great Egret fly-overs as well, in addition to the scant no’s. so far found regularly feeding in Manhattan’s parks. Some additional N.Y. County birds seen in the 3 days from Sunday to Tuesday, 29-30-31 March: Canada Goose (common, widespread) [Atlantic] Brant (modest no’s., around the waters surrounding and adjacent to Manhattan island) Mute Swan (several sightings for above period - not settled in Manhattan) Wood Duck (multiple, including at least some low fly-bys, plus those lingering in Central Park) Gadwall (multiple locations) American Black Duck (multiple) Mallard (very common) Northern Shoveler (ongoing in Central Park) Green-winged Teal (1 hen, Central Park Meer, 3/31 - lingering, or just a passage-migrant?) Ring-necked Duck (fly-over from e. side of Manhattan on 3/30) Bufflehead (multiple) Common Goldeneye (several on East River & Randall’s Island) Hooded Merganser (few lingering, Central Park) Red-breasted Merganser (N.Y. Harbor, from s. end of Manhattan, 3/30) Ruddy Duck (multiple on East River, above E. 96th, also still in Central Park) Red-throated Loon (few) Common Loon (very few so far) Pied-billed Grebe (1 ongoing, Central Park reservoir, thru 3/31) Great Cormorant (some lingering off East River to at least 3/30) Double-crested Cormorant (many fly-overs, & in various locations) Great Blue Heron (many flyovers, also a few lingering in the parks) Great Egret (small no’s. of flyovers, also a few in the parks) Black-crowned Night-Heron (scant no’s. so far, running a bit ‘late’) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (minimum of 3, Randall’s Island, 3/31) Black Vulture (sightings continue mainly from northern Manhattan) Turkey Vulture (modest no’s. with sightings most numerous from n. Manhattan) Osprey (small numbers, all as fly-overs) Bald Eagle (several locations, fly-overs) Sharp-shinned Hawk (few) Cooper's Hawk (several) Red-tailed Hawk (common resident of N.Y. City; many now nesting as well in this city) American Coot (several continued in Central Park) Killdeer (Randall’s Island, & also likely to be nesting on Governors Island/N.Y. County) Spotted Sandpiper (again on e. side of reservoir to Mon. 3/30 - still quite early) American Woodcock (a few sightings, various locations including Central Park) Laughing Gull (2, N.Y. Harbor, 3/30) Ring-billed Gull (common) [American] Herring Gull (common) Great Black-backed Gull (fairly common, esp. at Central Park & around both of the rivers) ['feral'] Rock Pigeon (ubiquitous) Mourning Dove (very common now) American Kestrel (city resident species, many are nesting as well) Peregrine Falcon (city resident species, many are nesting as well) Belted Kingfisher (modest numbers) Red-headed Woodpecker (1, Central Park as noted above) Red-bellied Woodpecker (fairly common resident; possibly a very few in local movements) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (slowly increasing, still modest no’s. all thru March) Downy Woodpecker (common local resident) Hairy Woodpecker (rather scarce local resident) Yellow-shafted Flicker (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) Eastern Phoebe (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) Blue Jay (ongoing in numbers, some light movemets in addition to local-breeders) Common Raven (few, but steady no’s. of sightings - & some photo-documented) American Crow (residents, and perhaps some local movers) Fish Crow (uncommon but still present in a few locations) Northern Rough-winged Swallow (still scarce; a few over E. River & Randall’s Island) Tree Swallow (relatively few; some likely continue on nest-territories at Governors Island) Black-capped Chickadee (extremely scarce now) Tufted Titmouse (scant no’s. in various locations) White-breasted Nuthatch (modest no’s. continue) Brown Creeper (fair increase over recent days; multiple locations) Carolina Wren (modest no’s.) Winter Wren (scant, but a slight increase) Golden-crowned Kinglet (good numbers continued; seen in many, many locations) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (scant numbers - as is still expected for end of March) Hermit Thrush (modest no’s., with a very few recent arrivals) American Robin (common) Gray Catbird (there are still more / most in smaller Manhattan parks & almost none in any larger parks) Northern Mockingbird (increasingly active) Brown Thrasher (scant but some hanging in where they’d been lately) European Starling (ubiquitous & pestiferous - threatens native nesting birds) Eastern Towhee (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) Chipping Sparrow (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) Field Sparrow (few) [Red] Fox Sparrow (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) Song Sparrow (rather common after a recent huge influx) Swamp Sparrow (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) White-throated Sparrow (still rather common, many singing regularly now) Slate-colored Junco (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) Northern Cardinal (a common city resident) Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (very few; these may be locally-wintered individuals that are on the move) Pine Warbler (modest numbers, many locations) Louisiana Waterthrush (several, Central Park - seen in at least 3 locations on 3/31, but may represent just two birds) Red-winged Blackbird (fairly common, more females & some 1st-spring males also being seen in addition to adult males) Eastern Meadowlark (several on Monday, 3/30 - 2 fly-overs; 1 report from e. side of Manhattan) Rusty Blackbird (a few lingering in Central Park) Common Grackle (modest no’s., many locations) Brown-headed Cowbird (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) Purple Finch (at least to Monday, 3/30 in Manhattan) House Finch (in many locations) American Goldfinch (modest increase over recent days; multiple locations) House Sparrow (hyper-abundant and often pestiferous, can interfere with some native species) The city parks are filled with bloom - flowering & other trees, shrubs, many ornamental flowers - as are many other city greenspaces. A modest number of native plants also are coming into bud & some with blooms. All of that also means that insects and other invertebrates have been coming out as well. And that, further is of course good for the many insectivorous & omnivorous birds which are arriving (& will be in greater numbers in coming weeks). We’ve had ongoing spring mammal sightings in N.Y. County, with groundhog being amongst various others. —— Every evening all around this hard-hit city, cheers have erupted at the hour of 7PM, the sound often lingering for many many minutes up & down the 'concrete canyons' of Manhattan and from all points well beyond - these are the people of our world giving thanks to all of those who care for us, and help out in times like these, not least the enormous sacrifices being made by so many healthcare providers in all fields right now - Please help all of them, too by maintaining all protocols recommended by experts in this time of viral pandemic - doing so could save many lives! [Personal note: I’m mainting strict social/spatial distancing indoors & out, solo birding & using my own power getting around. Let’s all be safe and considerate out there. Thank You!] Tom Fiore manattan -- 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/[email protected]/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/ --
