Saturday, Oct. 17th - In N.Y. County which includes Manhattan island, Randall’s Island, and Governors Island
An American Bittern was found & photographed at Randall’s Island (NW ‘quadrant') by S. Blazer & D. Zappone. They - & many many other observers - also saw a lingering Red-throated Loon off the shore at Randall’s Island - and some obs. again found Nelson’s Sparrow[s] there - with a Nelson’s Sparrow also continuing in northern Manhattan, at Inwood Hill Park. 2 American Pipits were also noted as they flew over, from Inwood Hill Park (N. O’Reilly) on 10/17. For N.Y. County, at least 19 American Warblers were seen on the day; of that tally by many, many observers; 18 species were found in Central Park alone. A male-type-plumaged Hooded Warbler in the C.P. Ramble was a bird that had lingered there for many days. All of the remaining 18 species for the county were seen in the multiple, although some are now in apparently very scant numbers (as is somewhat expected). By far the most-numerous of the warblers now in N.Y. County are Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], Palm (of the 2 forms), followed by Common Yellowthroat. Below are the list of warbler species for 10/17: Tennessee Warbler Nashville Warbler Northern Parula Yellow Warbler Magnolia Warbler Cape May Warbler Black-throated Blue Warbler Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler Black-throated Green Warbler Pine Warbler Palm Warbler Blackpoll Warbler Black-and-white Warbler American Redstart Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Common Yellowthroat Hooded Warbler Wilson's Warbler At least 3 E. Meadowlarks were seen on Governors Island on Sat., 10/17, that following the observation of 5 of that species 2 days previously there by J. Thorp. (It’s been a somewhat above-average season for the species in the county, already and the season is not at all done.) A very large flock of Chimney Swift - 110 birds - were seen, photographed, & reported by D.B. Bolton at a Fifth Ave. location in Manhattan late in the day. The first Buffleheads of the season appeared at the Central Park reservoir (& very possibly, in other N.Y. County waters), and lingering birds in Central Park also included multiple Wood Ducks, & numbers of Gadwall, Northern Shoveler, & Ruddy Ducks, with at least 2 American Coots. A very small no. of E. Wood-Pewee have been seen, & a few also photo-documented in N.Y. County in recent days, including to 10/17. With the findings of such rare-vagrant flycatchers as Fork-tailed Flyctacher in Ulster County, NY (on 10/17, terrific photos of that adult-breeding-plumaged bird, perhaps a misdirected ‘austral migrant’) and Say’s Phoebes in various eastern states, as well as a steady supply of Western Kingbirds in a no. of states & in NY’s southeast region, there is plenty of emphasis on triple-checking any & all flycatcher species from now right on through the middle of next spring. With Veery becoming scarce (most are long-gone & south of the U.S.-Mexico border by now), the photograph (by A. Deutsch) taken at Union Square Park on Friday, 10/16 offered incontrovertible evidence of that species still there. (A few sightings also were reported elsewhere into 10/17.) Modest but multiple no’s. of Scarlet Tanager were seen in various locations around Manhattan. Sparrow diversity continues to be very good, with such species as Lincoln’s, White-crowned, Field, Savannah, Swamp & others all seen in the multiple. Pine Siskins have continued in scores of locations, with flocks in double-digit numbers not uncommon. There have also been Purple Finches in good numbers as American Goldfinch have been increasing as well. - - - - - "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” - Teddy Roosevelt (26th president of the U.S.A.) "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." - Frederick Douglass (1818-1895; U.S. statesman, orator, writer) Thanks to all who practice and support ethical birding in the field every day & night, 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/ --
