Manhattan, N.Y. City - Wednesday, May 18th - thru 2 pm, It’s been another morning with excellent and fairly-diverse land-bird activity and observations-of in this county. The six vireo species were all recorded with Philadelphia again seen (and also heard, but one really-really wants and needs to see this one to confirm with careful scrutiny) and also White-eyed, as well as still-pushing-through Blue-headeds, many Yellow-throated and of course vast no’s. of Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos for the day (and the latter two also nesters in multiple locations in this county). Some of these vireo-sightings in parks and places that are less-birded, including parks in Harlem-to-the-Heights, as well as farther north, south & east of those neighborhoods’ greenspaces. Good overall migrant-activity in many, many areas of this *county* called 'New York’, in N.Y. City.
A SUMMER (in mostly-red plumage) Tanager was ongoing for the n. end of Central Park, sometimes in (on) a TulipPoplar tree in the upper area of the Great Hill, which is a good atrractor now for a variety of species including more than one tanager-at-a-time on some watches. Again being seen there by many & very-likely a lingering individual for recent days there. N.B., there are also multiple Scarlets all -around (and including near the same-as-Summer-seeing areas). For warblers the American Redstart is still the master of her domain in terms of relative abundances of all these many warblers on passage now… with at least 5 or so other species fiercely rivalling the Blackpoll for numerical increase and visibility by their observers - N. Parula, Magnolia, & even Black-and-white, and ‘Green/Black' (throated), as well, with a wild-card selection of other warblers in the potential 6th-in-line on that list position. How about Worm-eater? (just kidding but in fact that specie is showing well in many areas, a species that can escape strong detection efforts, at this phase of the songbird-crush through these parts, and is not at all ‘rare’, simply a bit underdetected by mid-May-madness). And we are not faring poorly at all for Bay-breasted Warbler -in either gender- as of now. The lowly-but-lovely Myrtle (a.k.a. butts’o’butter) are not as numerous by now, but still have numbers to shame any blazing-Blackburnians which also are still coming through in force, & some of which are escaping all but their most-determined seekers (as they sing or not for the many females moving) now. Canada Warbler also has been slyly and steadily moving through, and some of those simply pass through in the wet underfrowth less-noticed as do so many Mournings no matter the work put in to see some of them. Mourning Warbler is again on the review-cards of the Parulidae-show for the day and likely to be very-possible here for at least 10-14 more days in some locations as more continue to arrive and pass. Some of the many colors still being provided by Indigo Buntings, Scarlet (as well as perhaps again multi-Summer) Tanagers, Orioles of the 2 regular-spp., & many many other birds of passage as well as those which may breed locally. More than 20 warbler spp. again for the morn’ on N.Y. County islands, and all sorts of other land-bird sightings ongoing as well. (More local reports for the ‘morrow.) Shout-outs to all of the “Joes” and Josephs for this morning (& really everyone out in the watching, bird-walk leading, & enjoying the migrations.) good birds to all observers, 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/ --