Kudos to Corey Finger for the discovery of an increasingly-tougher bird within N.Y. City (which once bred in its’ confines) - Upland Sandpiper, at Edgmere on the Rockaway peninsula of Queens Co., NY - enjoyed by dozens & dozens of birders from (at least) around the city, since the bird happily stayed for much of the Labor Day Monday, 9/6. That bird was one of at least ten shorebird species seen there, along with a good diversity of other species.
---- Migration has been ongoing - and on some nights, notably in the night of 9/6 into 9/7, birds were massed across all of eastern N. America south into Florida & the Gulf of Mexico, Texas, and onward - 'south by southwest’ (of NY state). More than enough migrants also did set down, or were passing thru in daylight on Tuesday, to make birding very productive. Connecticut Warblers have been showing around the region this week, & at least several in the NYC region and in the city itself, with a fair chance that more are ‘around’ - but as is typical, very ‘skulking' most of the time - thus escaping easy detections. Locating this species often will be (by) the patient -and quiet- observers. While not seen in NY, but at Cape May, N.J., a nice flight-photo of Connecticut Warbler (by Tom Johnson) seems worth sharing, via the Macaulay Library archive: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/366479661 <https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/366479661> - you don’t see a great many such photos nor do all of us get to watch that species from that vantage too often! (That one was from Saturday, 9/4, and other observers also were present for it.) ... New York County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan, Randall’s, & Governors Island[s] - Newly arrived was a drake N. Pintail at the 79th St. boat-basin (marina) on the Hudson River, within Riverside Park’s borders, as of Tuesday, 9/7. This may be the same individual that’s been there in past years, & also will perhaps come over to Central Park at times. Going back to Friday, Sept. 3rd, there were at least 15 Bobolinks counted at Governors Island (L Goggin), and (I ought to have added previously), that observer had seen-&-photographed Lesser Yellowlegs there on that day, subsequently seen by more observers, at least thru Sept. 6th. There also were at least a half-dozen warblers, plus a cooperative Y.-b. Cuckoo found for that island on 9/3, another indicator of the good migrant flights, on that and the following day. On Sat., Sept. 4th, a Blue-winged Teal was again re-found (I am assuming the same lingering individual recently) in the maintenance area ‘big puddle’ on Governors Island, & a very nice observation also for that location was a N. Harrier (both, by L. Beausoleil) and additionally a Palm Warbler was noted there the same day, while Central Park had another (of very few so far this season) Red-breasted Nuthatch, still a bit ‘early’ but not so early as to cause expectations to rise much, in terms of any irruptions being foretold… only time will tell. (A very very few Eve. Grosbeaks have been sighted in non-breeding areas in the northeast so far this season, but again, it’s early still…) One early-birder had a morning sighting of Common Nighthawk passing over Manhattan on the 4th, and another of same was very nicely photographed passing over the n. end of Central Park in the eve. of the 6th, see this in the Macaulay Library archive: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/367297201 (one of a set of 3 photos of that 1 Nighthawk). At least 17 species of warblers were still around Central Park to Labor Day Monday, with many observers reporting; that total included Worm-eating Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler, among the many others. Magnolia Warbler was among the species showing a fresh upsurge in numbers; in some areas of the county, Cape May Warbler was increased as well, along with some other species of typical Sept. migrants. On Tuesday, a part of the vanguard indicating nice additional migration-arrival were many more Yellow-shafted Flickers on the move & landing thru parts of Manhattan & elsewhere. Many birders again out on walks, which that day included a number of those led by/for non-profit organizations such as the Linnaean Society of New York, & the N.Y. City Audubon (NYCAS), and by others. The show of force by birders, and in many parts of the county, on Tuesday 9/7 gave a minimum of 22 warbler species on the day, with a goodly variety of those species also being seen south of mid-Manhattan, in the smaller parks and green-spaces, as well as in the most-covered parks. A modest up-tick in Nashville Warbler was noticeable by Tues., 9/7 along with other migrants' increases. As noted in a recent report, Blackpoll Warbler also is now less-improbable and more likely (and a very few of those were already on the move weeks earlier), while Bay-breasted, and also Pine are among the warblers that have been ongoing. Yellow-crowned Night-Herons continue to be seen at Randall’s Island thru this week, while one of that species was photographed at the s. tip of lower Manhattan, where just occasionally noticed, although may be somewhat more regular in that vicinity than realized. Two Black Vultures were seen flying over Manhattan on Tuesday; also being seen were Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagles, Ospreys, and some other raptors, particularly on Sept. 7th, as well as prior days. Swainson’s Thrush was no longer particularly uncommon, and Veery are near-regular lately, with some Wood Thrush also continuing. Scarlet Tanager no’s. were up at least slightly, and while a few reports of Philadelphia Vireo contine to pop up, there are increased no’s. of Red-eyed Vireo as well as ongoing Warbling Vireos. ... Some of the butterflies seen over recent days in Manhattan include Cloudless Sulphurs, Gray Hairstreaks, E. Tailed-Blues, American Snouts, Common Buckeyes, Wild Indigo Duskywings, and at least 12 additional species of butterfly. good birding to all, 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/ --
