An outstanding find and observation for the location in Westchester County, NY was a Parasitic Jaeger, seen off Edith G. Read Sanctuary, with 3 and then at least five observers, including two of our best-&-brightest of veteran watchers along with the younger finders, part of the time conducting a Sound-watch (Long Island Sound). … New York County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, and Governors Island Saturday, Oct. 30th:
An excellent watch from Manhattan in the vicinity of Greenwich Village (along the Hudson River, via the Greenway path for access), with a number of observers present, spotted a group of Forster’s Terns (that species of Sterna [genus of] tern is slightly-surprisingly ‘rare’ for N.Y. County, and has not been found often in modern bird-observing in that county.) Thus the 7 individuals of that species seen (& photo-documented) are of high interest, and that would be so no matter the date (season) in N.Y. County. (This species was seen elsewhere, especially at Atlantic coastal areas of western to central Long Island, in numbers on the day.) Also seen in the same watch-period, along the Hudson River, from Pier 45 specifically, were a Bonaparte’s Gull & a Lesser Black-backed Gull, as well as 3 Greater Yellowlegs (the latter 2 species not as uncommon, but also not at all commonly found, esp. on active-migration in N.Y. County), & seen a bit later on were 7 Red-breasted Mergansers (the latter regular in county waters as winter approaches & resumes, but still a bit uncommon for this date, this year), as well as some Brant (presumably, all Atlantic Brant), Laughing Gulls, plenty of the 3 most-regular local gull species (Ring-billed, American Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls), a migrant fly-by Common Loon, multiples of migrating Double-crested Cormorants, 2 Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagle, Tree Swallows (13 were seen on the move; that species widely-noted on the move today in the region), and other species of water & ‘land’ birds on the move, or resting-feeding in the local area. (Observers there included D. Aronov, A. Burke, A. Cunningham, & T. Healy; & with some of same birds, esp., some of the Forster’s Terns also seen at this location by T. Plowman, too). The watch was conducted from near sunrise-time into very late morning. There is much potential all along the Hudson River, & these intrepid observers and some others have been lately attempting to find, and show that potential, with some great birds at times. Good no’s. of Laughing Gulls were seen out around N.Y. Harbor on Saturday, although not so many as to make for any records. 8 Common Mergansers, as well as Red-breasted Mergansers were reported from the Dyckman Fields section of Inwood Hill Park, those north of the western terminus of Dyckman St. in northern Manhattan, & also reported from there were Red-throated & Common Loons (as had been seen as well from the lower-Manhattan 'river-watch team'). Additionally at Dyckman Fields, an American Pipit was noted, perhaps more a fly-by than a visitor. A Marsh Wren was found on Governors Island (A. Barry) where a Vesper Sparrow also was seen. A Wood Thrush was found on Saturday at Stuyvesant-town (lower-east Manhattan; R. Lulov) - and may possibly be able to linger for some time, there. (Stuy-town has the distinction of a location where the very first species, by date, to be listed in its eBird hot-spot column is a Varied Thrush which many, many birders were able to see just *under one decade ago* there; there have also been at least 25 spp. of warblers in Stuy-town in that same time-period, and a great many other migrant & visitant species; it’s one of the great ‘patches’ of the county). The long-lingering Marsh Wren[s] by The Pond in Central Park, seen by many again on Saturday, with one bird having moved a little, around to s.e. edge of the pond-shore. In that same section were ongoing Winter Wrens, & a Blue-headed Vireo there was one of fewer still being found in the county, on Sat., although others were also seen in Central Park in a few different locations. E. Phoebes were seen in quite a number of sites on Saturday, & it will be interesting to see if even a few linger on for some time. [Red] Fox Sparrows have been increasingly noted, and there may well be more to show in the coming days. Pine Warbler for The Pinetum makes sense, and others also having been in othe pine-tree locations, those at Central Park and photo-documented by multiple observers Saturday, possibly recently-lingering individuals there - one gentle reminder: that species has been seen in Central Park during mid-winter, more than twice in various past years, & is not too rare in winter in the region, even though not so noted exceptionally-often. (When found in winter in the area, on many occasions, these will sometimes, or even frequently, come in to feeders & in particular to suet-feeders and enjoy some extra caloric content with a bit less work than usual.) The Orange-crowned Warbler was still around the same area of Central Park’s n. end where one had been for some days, & is happy in its’ small fenced sections of flowers and shrubberies. There are some other warbler species still lingering, and a few still around in quite a few disparate locations. Red-breasted Nuthatches continue around the county, and may have increased slightly here. Now we also give some hope for all in the state as well, around the sightings of good finch finds, including those detailed from the Adirondacks (thank you, Joan Collins for the great report!) and from even all the way to our state’s Atlantic barrier-beaches with the White-winged Crossbill that made it there (Long Island, NY) recently. Purple Finches have also been showing a bit more in recent days, around the N.Y. City area, and in N.Y. County. A Swainson’s Thrush was confirmed for an eBird report, sighted on Friday, Oct. 29th in the Central Park Ramble area (observers D. Bedford, A. Simmons); quite late now for that species, although there have been later, rarely, in the county, the city, and the state. And, as we’re on thrush movement & occurrence, the last Veery (which was very late) placed in the Oct. eBird listings for N.Y. County this fall was one seen at Riverside Park on Oct. 25th (A. Drogin). The Central Park reservoir continued to show drake Hooded Merganser, American Coots, Pied-billed Grebe, & other rather-regular spp. of the season, recently including some Buffleheads. And those Randall’s Island Yellow-crowned Night-Herons were still present into Saturday. - - A species of flower-fly (in the Syrphidae family) that most-likely is new to Central Park, & perhaps new to the county (and perhaps, new to the state), was seen & photo & video-documented at the 'mums-a-million' site in that park’s northeast sector, with additional observers arriving later, on Saturday. The genus of that newly-discovered-for-Central species is Meromacrus, which is a mainly-meso-American (i.e. Central American and Mexican) group of the Syrphidae, and has been found in Texas in some modest diversity as well - with at least a few records of 1 species (likely the same one just found for Central Park), in parts of the mid-Atlantic U.S.A. - this fly was found by M. Freeman, and I was fortunate to also be among the witnesses & photographers as well. The fly seen is in some references called by a common English name, Carolinian Elegant; the species scientific name is acutus. N.B., expect quite-busy goings-on with the floral displays on any warm weekend, the more so if sun is out. These areas can be among the busiest small spaces in all of a very popular park, when at peak-bloom combining with fine weather. 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/[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/ --
