New York County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan, Randall’s Island, and Governors Island Monday, Tues., Wed. - February 7th, 8th, 9th -
Two Western Tanagers continue, and those remain in their respective separate neighborhood / areas of Manhattan, the more-regularly-seen (by far) being the long-staying bird at Carl Schurz Park, often seen by or near a feeder array just east of East End Ave. & a bit south of the E. 86th St. main park entrance (up steps from there to feeders), or, just west of the n.w. gate to the Catbird Playground in that park. The other W. Tanager can be harder to find, and sometimes also not readily seen so well, at and around the Clinton / Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood streets just east of or along e. side of Tenth Ave. and 47th-48th Streets, sometimes in & around Hell’s Kitchen Park and sometimes in/around Clinton Community Garden on W. 48th, where one can look in thru the iron fence (open only to key-holders but some decent views are possible from sidewalk), and the tanager lingering there also may be on adjacent buildings, roofs, etc. as it wanders a bit & is not (or seems not to be) reliable at any one particular place or time of day. Please continue to show respect to all in these residential neighborhoods; both areas can be busy at times. Once again at least one Iceland Gull was found at the Central Park reservoir on Monday 2/7, in some mist, drizzle, and later the 'now-regular visitor' Bald Eagle showing -and continuing to show- that it likes gull for its meals….. and as is the fairly-established pattern, scaring off many gulls - although on some days, many of the flock will circle or at least show again later the same day; some days though most of the gulls remain off and away from the reservoir. A Glaucous Gull was seen & photo’d. almost alongside an Iceland Gull on the C.P. reservoir on Wednesday, along with from over 250 (to at times, more than 500) other gulls, most apparently Ring-billed, with [American] Herring and some Great Black-backed Gulls. There’s been at least a possibility that (again) more than 1 Iceland Gull have been coming in to the C.P. reservoir, perhaps even on the reservoir simultaneously at times. (Thanks to C. Weiner for her photos showing Iceland & Glaucous near each other Wed. there, as seen by at least a few other watchers also). And on Tuesday at Central Park, there was a Lesser Black-backed Gull showing for part of the day, with a Peregrine causing commotion in the gull crowds, although the Lesser Black-backed was reported as returning to the reservoir surface after the raptor's passage. As weather turns rather milder here, some ice may be melting on waterbodies; this may or may not affect the visits by gulls to, in particular the C.P. reservoir. An uncommon sighting was of a Lesser Black-backed Gull on the Hudson river on Wed. off the Fort Tryon Park area and floating along, as have some B. Eagles recently in that area as well. So long as ice-floes persist, it could be worth checking what passengers they may have, & also what birds show interest in lingering near them. There was a report of 'the Slaty-backed' from the C.P. reservoir by a single observer on Tuesday (2/8) - others, including myself were unable to locate that species on the day there, and there'd not been any apparent intervening reports of the species (anywhere in the area) for 5 days (since Feb. 2nd, when hundreds viewed & documented the rare gull at the reservoir); anyhow it is certainly worth continuing to watch out for that species, and if at all possible, to try and obtain some photos if that or other ultra-rarities are suspected. No additional reports of Slaty-backed have surfaced, locally. The rather regular incursions of raptors, esp. ‘the' Bald Eagle that is ‘expected’ to show at the C.P. reservoir, do contribute to a potential difficulty for observers as that & some other raptors flush up the gulls, in particular, and in addition, there can be a lot of shuffling and close flocking at times on the reservoir, adding to the good fun -or real work- of sorting through what is found there. A hen Long-tailed Duck was seen & photo’d. Tuesday on the Hudson River off the Dyckman fields section of Inwood Hill Park; that area is to the north of the western terminus of Dyckman St., upper Manhattan. At least 2 Common Goldeneyes were off Randall’s Island, where they can be fairly regular, although sometimes distant for views. Also seen on Randall’s Island again Tuesday were 2 lingering Snow Geese, and there have been Mute Swans (2) showing again around Randall’s Island as well as a younger swan on the Hudson river off Inwood Hill Park, where they've shown up in the past occasionally. A pair of N. Pintails are continuing at Sherman Creek, north of Swindler Cove Park, on the Harlem River just north of the eastern end of Dyckman St. (upper Manhattan) and a drake N. Pintail has shown again at the 79th St. boat-basin (marina) on the Hudson River, off Riverside Park. At least 8 American Pipits were noted on Randall’s Island on Monday, in flight after they were seen in a field. Savannah Sparrows are showing up at a few locations, and might be watched for along with other potential field-birds. A long-suffering but lingering adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron has been seen intermittently at Randall’s Island as well as Black-crowned Night-Heron, and Great Blue Herons there and (the latter only) in a number of other locations around the county. There were still a few warblers that have made it thru all the cold & snowy days; a couple of Ovenbirds & at least one Common Yellowthroat (Hudson Yards) and the ongoing Myrtle/Yellow-rumped Warblers, including at least one at Inwood Hill Park, along with those out on Governors Island in “the Hills” shrubberies. Ovenbird is among the hardy species ongoing around E. 20th St. in a small green-space, along with some others in Manhattan. The Hudson Yards area also has held one, with Common Yellowthroat & also Gray Catbird, E. Towhee; possibly some other overwinterers could be hanging in at that area; all the noted birds seen to Wednesday, 2/9. Some other mid-town or other parks & greenspaces may yet hold some of these, and where there are sites that these birds can and have found small warmed areas to roost or take temp. ’shelter’ in. Rusty Blackbird[s] have continued at Central Park and, a bit more widespread, some Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles have been in various areas of the county. Sparrows in Central Park (& possibly elsewhere) have continued to include at least several Chippings and Field, and, also in more areas of the county, ongoing [Red] Fox, some Swamp (fewer), and the usual Song and White-throated Sparrows as well as Slate-colored Juncos. The uncommon-wintering sparrows in Central have been (at least mainly) at the n. end of the park over recent weeks. Bald Eagles have been seen on ice-floes in the Hudson river, mostly north of the G. Washinton bridge, & there also have been continuing & freshly-reported sightings from various locations which include Central Park & multiple other areas of N.Y. County. Peregrine Falcon also is being well-reported from multiple locations, all being likely local residents. And the same for the many, many Red-tailed Hawks all around with some having had courtship activities &/or nest-making. Corvids have included some Fish Crows out on Governors Island, in particular, and the Common Raven sightings are also continuing from a number of locations in the county. The most common of this group are, as usual, American Crows which are fairly widespread and can be seen in groups at times as winter goes along. good birding to all, and thanks to the many out and about also offering many great reports of sightings. 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/ --
