That TROPICAL Kingbird, now fully-confirmed (by vocalizations recorded as well as thru observations) at Mt. Loretto Unique Area (NYS D.E.C.) on Staten Island (Richmond County, part of N.Y. City) as found by Dr. R. Veit on Sunday morning (9/25) - was viewed by at least dozens of observers, to dusk at that location, when seen going to (presumed, hoped-for) roost in the area by some of those still present. (This is a 2nd NY state record if accepted for the state archives.) Accompanying that bird were a fair number of Eastern Kingbirds - & that *latter* species was notably on the move today, in a modestly-later ‘push’ for that species. ((We had a few sightings of E. Kingbirds in Manhattan for Sunday, but none of the genus with any ‘yellow’ in the bellies!))
While making mention of the Tropical Kingbird, it can be added that a Summer Tanager was also found by Dr. Veit on the same location & was also seen by others on-scene for Sunday, and going back to just a few days *previous* - a Swainson’s Hawk has been confirmed at least in eBird, with some scope-photos also taken by its’ observer, A.V. Ciancimino of Staten Island, who named Dr. Veit as having assisted with the later identification of the raptor, from the flight-photos taken on Sept. 24th at Staten Island’s Wolfe’s Pond Park. (That raptor has not been reported again from the area since the day - Thursday - of its observation.). Shout-outs to all of the Richmond County birders, & of course to the eagle-eyed Dr. Veit, as well as J.R. R-G. for the report to this list-serve on the fantastic Sunday find. Lots of other nice bird sightings out there in “TK-land" on Sunday, as well. An interesting aside, re: Swainson’s Hawk occurences in N.Y. City, the one seen at Governors Island, N.Y. County (NYC) was a Sept. 26th discovery, back in 2020 - just one year ago. That past sighting was a collaborative-effort in a somewhat similar vein as well, observation and documentation from B. Cacace, with an assist by G. Willow at the time, on a photo-confirmation. Some quite-strong migration over Sunday night into Monday, and any reports - positive or not - on the *latest* with that T.-Kingbird will be much appreciated. (Birders that get into the species main / typical range often affectionately call Tropical Kingbirds “TK’s” as in some areas, they are a rather regular sighting. In the northeast U.S., not all so much... obviously!). Thank you in advance to any who can report on the Staten Island status of the rare ‘TK’ visitor on Monday. . . . The always-enjoyed Winter Finch Forecast is now available: https://finchnetwork.org/winter-finch-forecast-2021-2022-by-tyler-hoar . . . . . . . . New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s, and Governors Island[s] - Mainly reports for Sunday, Sept. 26: A (well-described) Dickcissel has been reported from Battery Park on Sunday, 9/26. With the (likely-still-continuing) Dickcissel at (very nearby) Governors Island, the former sighting is at least strongly-suggestive of a 2nd individual for the county, on Sunday. A 'female-plumaged' Blue Grosbeak was continuing at Governors Island to Sunday, 9/26, with multiple observers, and seen into the late afternoon around Fort Jay there. There is also still the chance that more than 1 Blue Grosbeak had continued on at Governors, as was so earlier this month. On 9/25, an omission (on my part) from the warbler species seen (and also photo-documented; C. Weiner) was the lingering breeding-male-type-plumaged** Hooded Warbler on Governors Island, making for at least a 23rd warbler species on the day, Saturday in N.Y. County - all of those species documented as well. Also nicely photo-documented (by C. Weiner) were both Yellow-crowned & Black-crowned Night-Herons by the ferry docks at South Ferry / Governors Island ferry, in lower Manhattan. The latter area is an irregularly-noted location for both species. A nice observation of Semipalmated Sandpiper from Pier 26 on the west side of Manhattan (A. Evans) at the Hudson river, not a site where a lot of shorebird migrants are regularly-recorded. One Lesser Yellowlegs was lingering yet again to Sunday at Governors Island, in the ‘maintenance puddle-pond’, which is at the southern portion of that island and requires close scrutiny in observation; there is fencing there, but also a good many view-angles. ** A reason to indicate a “breeding-male-type” of plumage, by appearance in the field, on an adult Hooded Warbler (if not singing) is that some adult females can have that ‘ ype' of plumage as well, and thus gender in that species cannot always be determined exclusively on-sight, although close views, and good photos, might be of help. (There’s an interesting, if older, note on the plumages in female Hooded Warblers in the Wilson Bulletin, from 1989, authored by E.S. Morton.) There is a lot more on plumage and gender in passerine birds (and limiting even just to American warbler species) which has been studied and extensively written about, some of which is fascinating. Many studies are also ongoing. We’re still getting some Great Crested Flycatchers, although a bit late, this is the time when some of the later sightings may be noted; one was photographed on Sunday at Ft. Tryon Park (M. & P. Waldron) and just a few others were noted elsewhere. Also still being seen are some Empidonax [genus] flycatchers, with at least a few being ‘called’ to species but many best left ID’d. to generic-level. It’s worth noting that very extensive lists of species (i.e., good species-diversity) have been posted by some of the observers working northern-Manhattan parks, in particular Inwood Hill Park & Fort Tryon Park, as well as from other parks in that area such as Swindler Cove Park & Sherman Creek, and also Highbridge Park. Many in all parts of the county have been noting the movements, which are fairly-typical of the season, for Blue Jay, with some reports of up to hundreds per day on the move - this is also being seen regionally. An interesting observation of Black-capped Chickadee, from Bryant Park in mid-Manhattan is a sure sign that some of that species are on the move, as had been noted previously but in fairly low / modest numbers so far. N.B.- Bryant Park may have what at a glance seems a modest history of species-diversity for migrant birds, but… there sure have been some amazing finds at that park one city block west of Times Square, USA. (And some of the women and men who have found any number of the birds there also offer a wonderful look at diversity in our many great NYC and visiting birders, but that’s very much so of many places in the fair city of New York.) Nice arrivals of sparrows and that ’tribe’ of late, now including the influx of Savannah Sparrow into the larger parks (at least) of Manhattan; other sparrows that have been arriving include White-crowned (most-viewed just lately at Inwood Hill Park), White-throated, Swamp, Field, Chipping, and to single-out a species, Lincoln’s Sparrows which have been recorded in as many as a dozen different parks and greenspaces in N.Y. County in recent days. There also have been a small increase of E. Towhees in some locations. Of course with Song Sparrow, which are year-round in N.Y. County, but also are common & numerous as migrants when their times come. Small numbers of Broad-winged Hawk passed by Manhattan on Sunday, with upwards of 20 seen, & many of those also crossing over parts of Central Park. Hardly a ‘legendary’ day for the species there, but in a season when sightings of them were rather sparse so far, we’ll take any at all, and be grateful. At least 11 species of diurnal raptors (9 of the species on migration) were seen over Manhattan on Sunday, these also including - Bald Eagle, Osprey, N. Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, [Broad-winged as noted]; Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, and as perhaps non-migrators that day - Red-tailed Hawk, and Peregrine Falcon. All of these species had multiple observers at various locations and times. Turkey Vultures were also seen, some likely on the move in migration. Up to five Ruddy Ducks were on the Central Park reservoir at first-light (& also seen at dusk) on Sunday, 9/25, after at least 1 of that species had been seen, intermittently, in several prior days there. The earliest of many waterfowl-arrivals in that park are often *not* those which end up as wintering or fall-lingerers, as first & early arrivers are often equally-early to move on. This is a long-established pattern at -in particular- that largest body of water in Central Park but also parallels what may be seen in other locations regarding various waterfowl or other waterbirds’ arrivals each autumn (& some of course coming in calendar-summer). A minimum of 16 Warbler species were seen in Central Park’s Ramble area alone on Sunday, and over all of Manhattan at least 19 species, with possibly at least one more (for a total of 20 species of Warblers on 9/26) in the county overall. Once again on Sunday, nice numbers of Blackpoll Warbler were of note. More than 120 species of birds were found in New York County on Sunday, 9/25. A very few E. Kingbirds were a part of that nice total, with so many observers out & about all around the county for the breezy but quite pleasant early-Autumn day. Thanks to Ben Cacace for the note re: the recent Bobolink numbers at Governors Island in N.Y. County; there may yet be some later-lingerers of the species. - - - - Some recent butterflies of at least local-interest: an Ocola Skipper was seen & photographed at Fort Tryon Park’s heather garden just a few days ago, and at Central Park’s Conservatory Garden, an uncommon-for-that-park Viceroy was photo-documented & the latter, at least, was still around the C.P. Meer’s shores as of Sunday. There were still at least 2-dozen butterfly species being seen in this past week in N.Y. County. Monarchs continued to move in nice numbers, although somewhat fewer now. 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/ --
