Manhattan / N.Y. County (in N.Y. City), Tuesday, April 21 through Thursday, April 23 -
A very active weather period, as has been so for much of this month in the region (& southern U.S. also, where almost all of our northbound migrants pass through reaching us). A Grasshopper Sparrow in Central Park on Thursday afternoon to evening provided a top highlight, seen by a modest no. of observers, and a rare find especially for spring there. More in the way of location & etc., below for that date. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER has continued in Central Park’s north end thru Thursday, 4/23 (photographed). This makes 6 full months that this individual was in the same area, starting as a 1st year, quite drab-looking youngster, now & for some time in a bright fully-colored-up breeding-type plumage. Same location as ever, the west edge of the N. Meadow ballfields’ southwest sector fences, & in trees on the east side of the park’s W. Drive (roadway), with nearest park entry points at W. 97th, & also at W. 100th Streets, off Central Park West. It will be interesting to see how long this individual lingers at the favored site; it may be that with a big push of fresh migration, this woodpecker will then move on to some location for potential mate-seeking. Incidentally, no one knows the sex of this bird. All that’s known is its age, now just a bit less than 1 full year. Manhattan Arrivals included: WHITE-EYED VIREO, SCARLET TANAGER, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. ... Tues., 4/21 - Quite the mix of weather, with some fog & low clouds pushing out thru the morning, then bright sun, & a big fierce t-storm, including tornadic winds to the north, and a bit of small hail for mid-afternoon, then yet more sun & strong NW wind as a serious cold front pushed thru the city and all of the wider region late in the day & into Tuesday night. Some birds departed on Monday night, yet some others certainly arrived as well. There were at least mini-fallouts of some species, perhaps more so the closer to the ocean. A Pileated Woodpecker was re-found at Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan; this surely the same female which had been found originally at Inwood Hill Park & had likely been in that area all along. There are plenty of wooded sections, some of them far less-birded as well as some that are not easily-accessed, for even a fairly large bird of that sort to take refuge in. On Thursday, House Wren & of course other migrant species moved in to Ft. Tryon Park (T.Gray). White-eyed Vireo was found in Central Park (in the Ramble); a Scarlet Tanager (male), also in Central Park (at Summit Rock). An Ovenbird was photographed in Riverside Park near W. 108th St. by K.Fung, & seen by me later in the day. A Vesper Sparrow continued by the Meer in Central Park, seen there again in early morning. although at least a few other birders trying there later on apparently could not re-locate it. More Chimney Swifts in modest no’s. were noted from multiple locations over Manhattan. ... Wed., Earth Day, 4/22 - A strong cold front; about cold enough for some snow flurries in the early morning; winds gusting from the WNW at 20-30+ m.p.h. - larger birds were still able to handle this in diurnal flight, and 2 adult Bald Eagles made a stop IN Central Park, right in front of some asonished birders in the park’s Ramble. A Black-throated Green Warbler was found at the west edge of the Ramble in Central Park. A Baltimore Oriole was seen at Fort Tryon Park. For perhaps the 1st day this year, Chimney Swifts were seen flying quite low, even skimming the water’s surface in at least 2 locations in Central Park, at the reservoir, and at the Meer (each also seen with somewhat greater no’s. of swallows). Among other locations, I had a look around Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan and 1 bird popped out as soon as I arrived (early, with almost no one else around besides some park workers) - a bright fresh-condition male Common Yellowthroat; other spp. of interest for that park were 2 Gray Catbirds which had survived all winter there (one was aggressively investigating the rubbish bins for potential breakfast items), 2 Slate-colored Juncos right in front of the NYPL by the library/literary lions & nearby, multiple Hermit Thrushes, 2 E. Towhees (male & female), & at least 5 spp. of sparrows: Swamp, [Red] Fox, Chipping, Song, & White-throated, the latter the only in modest no’s. there. I gave a bit more effort there after seeing the 1 warbler. ... Thursday, 4/23 - Some very light snow flurries occurred in Manhattan in the morning, even though air temp’s. at the surface were in the low 40’s (F.); light winds overnight especially after midnight allowed some new migration, both of exodus and some influx. A Grasshopper Sparrow was found in Central Park (not an annually-seen migrant there!) by D.Barrett, and at least some others got to see before day’s end as well - thanks for the eBird report, David! This was at the area locally called “sparrow rocks”, a low flat partly-rocky rise just west of the W. Drive of the park, near approx. W. 83-84th Streets - it is directly across the park drive from Summit Rock (which is the highest natural point in elevation in Central Park, incidentally, although it may not feel that way). While it is entirely possible that that sparrow had been in that location from a day or more prior, it’s equally plausible it arrived overnight (after Wed. evening). This species has been found rather more often in N.Y. County in fall migration rather than in spring. Although a rare bird for the county, the species breeds in several locations not more than 20 miles away, & many more within 100 miles. They -like a good many species found in the region as breeders- have a fairly good knack for finding its way directly to the breeding sites. This sort of ‘local stray’ (in that sense) may be especially driven by weather-events, but it’s hard to be sure. This one could easily be a bird-of-the-week, for the county, perhaps ‘tied’ with the Pileated Woodpecker of northernmost Manhattan. Also, the Grasshopper allowed for ten members of the sparrow ‘tribe’ to be seen in one park for the day, including junco & towhee. (There were still a few [Red] Fox Sparrows lingering in Central Park.) For the most part, it ‘felt’ and looked as though many sparrows (& some other kinds of migrants) had moved on in the night of 4/22-23. There were also a fair number of Hermit Thrush in some areas of N.Y. County where possibly they had not been until 4/23. I made a tour of Randall’s Island, & found just modest sparrow variety, with Field, Chipping, Song, Swamp, White-throated, & at least 18 Savannah Sparrows, many of those in the SE quadrant of the Randall’s large set of fields. The only warbler spp. noted by me at Randall’s were a modest no. of Palm, and a few Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], whereas in Central & Riverside Parks (& by reports, from Fort Tryon, Inwood Hill, & a few more Manhattan parks) there was still at least modest warbler diversity, with many of the same species as found all this week - Pine, Palm, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], Black-and-white, N. Parula (Morningside Park, obs. S.Chang), Ovenbird (at least 2, one still persisting in the area of Central Park’s n. woods north of the Blockhouse, & one found in Tompkins Square Park by L.Goggin), Common Yellowthroat (at least several continuing), & both of the Waterthrush species (mostly, in terms of sightings from around Manhattan, the first 3 of these species, and at least a few of the 4th listed sp.), plus Yellow Warbler in the late eve., at the w. edge of the Lake south of the Ladies pavillion area, & in Riverside Park’s south sector (A.Drogin). 10 Warbler species on the day - plenty more in May... No longer so very-notable, there were 5 Black Vultures circling up from northwestern Queens as seen from Randall’s Island, slowly gaining some elevation & slowly moving north up past the center of the island & into the southern edges of Bronx County. Also seen by a number of observers on Manhattan were Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagle, and at an early hour, with snow flurries still falling, I photographed a perched Broad-winged Hawk in the n. woods of Central Park, a likely straggler after Wednesday-Thursday’s rather good regional flight of that species (multi-hundreds were seen from hawk-watch sites just a bit west & northwest over the Hudson river & vicinity, migrating in earnest; for ex. more than 700 B.-w. Hawks were counted in 2 days, 4/22-23, at Montclair hawk-watch in the town of that name in northeastern New Jersey, which is very near to N.Y. City. And at Hook Mt. hawk watch in eastern Rockland County, NY there were just over 1,000 Broad-winged Hawks counted in the same 2-day period). Ospreys also continue moving locally, as do some other raptor species. -- Virginia Rail[s] which had been rehabbed & released by the local Wild Bird Fund were still at the release-site, the Loch in Central Park, into Thursday, with some birders continuing to seek it / them out there. (If doing so, please use commonsense & try to practice safe social-spatial distancing for the good of all.) The Loch is in a fairly narrow corridor with not many areas of broad space to be spatially-distanced, especially on its’ most-used s.-e. pathway. If you have seen & perhaps photographed birds (& this can apply to many birds, many situations in many locations), please consider moving on to allow for others who may wish to utilise such an area for a while, and even if others are not apparent at all times. Hopefully, what considerations one gives will be returned as well. It’s all part of working together to get to a better place in the pandemic we all face. To my knowledge & awareness, this is how birders have been acting in their wanderings & walks. The city parks are filled with bloom - flowering & other trees, shrubs, many ornamental flowers - as are many other city greenspaces. A number of native plants also are coming into bloom or already were, & so some now ‘fruiting’ or with seeds. Leaf-out had slowed a bit with some of the very cool weather (snow flurries seen on Thursday morning in Manhattan), however there are more leaf-buds showing every day now. All of that also means that insects and other invertebrates have been coming out as well. And that 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 E. Red Bat, Groundhog, Raccoon, & even some indications of the rather rare coyote - as captured in photos, amongst various others. Tulips are now in full flower in N.Y. City and many varieties of Lilacs as well... —— 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 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/[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/ --
