New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s and Governors Islands & the waters and skies adjacent. Sunday June 5th thru Wed., June 8th (in addition to far pre-sunrise of Sunday)
Even though migration was far-down in diversity in the past week or so, there were still at least 100+ species of birds for this week thus far in N.Y. County (taking Sat. night for a start to the week), with some ‘late’ runnning migrants and a few unexpected ones. As noted in prev. reports, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron is a species that can potentially be seen thru the summer in and from N.Y. County, and one area these are sometimes noticed is near the ferries to-from Governors & Staten Island (2 ferry terminals near each other) at the southern end of Manhattan; the Yellow-crowneds here are presumed just visitants for certain days or times-of-day (and maybe nights), not breeding at the locations. Out on Randall’s Island, any sightings of Yellow-crowned are potentially more-intriguing in summer & may represent birds that are at-least summering (if not breeding) in nearby uninhabitated isles; the species can also be sought, with efforts (!) by some who watch the skies in the typical passages of various ardeids for the mostly-east-west (& west-east) fly-way across Manhattan which can include places along the East River / Upper East Side area, northern sector of Central Park, upper West Side & sometimes n. Manhattan, and various points on the Hudson river shore; some of the ardeids (mainly seen are Great Egret and Snowy Egret in daylight) can be moving from roosts to feeding areas in the N.J. Meadowlands & vice-versa. There also may be a very-outside chance of getting lucky with Ibis or even some less-anticipated wading-bird fly-by in that passage-way of the skies. A Caspian Tern was *photographed* (M. Ross) moving past the Dyckman fields (part of Inwood Hill Park) along the Hudson River very late on Tues., 6/7. The regular terns of this county are Common Terns, and the place to be sure of seeing any of those now is from Governors Island at the small colony, but that latter species can also be found by chance and efforts in NY Harbor more-generally, and sometimes up the 2 ‘rivers’ (both also estuaries) that flow around Manhattan: Hudson & East Rivers, and very-scarcely elsewhere for this county. [ANY other tern species (besides Common) should be carefully documented - and if possible photo’d. and/or video’d. for added documentation.] Black-billed Cuckoos (as well as the usually more-commonly-found Yellow-billed) are moving through even yet (and can potentially continue to be shifting around the northeast well into June, some years perhaps still advancing into the north on into early July) and have been noted in N.Y. County in fairly good no’s. this late-spring. One excellent photo taken at Randall’s Island (C. Quinn) from Sunday, June 5th, even shows up the buff-tinged throat area on the adult, if one takes a careful look, this in the Macaulay Library archives: https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/456952321 The pair of Cliff Swallows have continued on at Randall’s Island as well, and multiple obs. have gone to see those. N.B., I spent about 45+ minutes w/ this pair on Wed., June 8th and was not seeking to watch at the nest, rather I observed feeding-in-flight. As expected, the other swallow spp., esp. Barn Swallows are far more-numerous in the same area. (Some patience may be required to observe the Cliff pair.) N.B., we have no very-recent sightings of a hybrid Cliff-Barn Swallow (1) that had been around the west edges of the Inwood area along the Hudson River. Thrushes that were still lingering (and now ‘late’ here) included at least one Veery, a few Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrushes, with Wood Thrush (only) nesting in multiple (but not very many) locations in the county, mostly in Manhattan for the nest-attempting species. The Veery in particular was running extremely-late for this county. Some warblers seen after-Sunday (June 6-8th) in the county included (above all): Yellow Warbler & Common Yellowthroat (both of which species are local-breeders and have nested multi. times in this county, the only 2 warbler spp. which regularly attempt nesting here), American Redstart (also a potential nester & which has less-commonly done so in N.Y. City; some have lingered in appropriate habitat in this county this spring), as well as Blackpoll Warbler (very few now, but still some stragglers), and the others all of which (known) are listed in a complete listing below. N.B., many of the warbler spp. seen in N.Y. County in the past week & running-‘late’ were also being seen by multi-observers in other parts of this city, in particular in parts of Kings County (Brooklyn, N.Y.C.) There were perhaps not much more than 100 species (up to poss. 110 or so) of wild and free unrestrained birds seen in the county in the period of this report; however by this date some of these (esp. for ex., some migrant warblers) may have moved on & the tally of the end of this week could be as low as about 80 species; not too atypical of the “midsummer” period for this county. Midsummer used as a term applicable to bird-movement; the actual midsummer-by-calendar, around the start of August, features a good many returnees amongst southbound migrants re-appearing and some will have come through in numbers by then, in this county. It seemed in some hindsight to have been both an extended migration-period and for many many individual birds, also a very late movement thru this area. A list of species seen over 4 days from Sunday to Wed., June 5th to 8th in N.Y. County - [Atlantic] Brant (very few lingered) Canada Goose (many with plenty of goslings) Wood Duck (at least 1 drake at Central Park, poss. more than 1) Gadwall (multiples scattered around all of the county’s waters) Mallard (common and widespread, many with ducklings) Mallard (Domestic type) American Black Duck (not-rare and scattered around the county’s waters) Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid - this ’type’ may be as common in this county as ‘pure’ Am.Black Duck) - Rock Pigeon (ubiquitous) Mourning Dove (common and nests) Yellow-billed Cuckoo (small numbers continued) Black-billed Cuckoo (at least a few continued) Common Nighthawk (several to at least 6/6) Chimney Swift (widespread, now in more-limited no’s. around the county) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (few now, those lingering could be non-breeders, but also has nested in this county) Killdeer (multiple, incl. at least a few on manhattan island’s shores, some have bred and had chicks on 2 islands) Spotted Sandpiper (multiple, most were seen from the ‘outer' islands in this period) Laughing Gull (not that uncommon, esp. NY Harbor area, & the ‘outer’ islands, but can be encountered anywhere in the county in summer) Ring-billed Gull (uncommon now) [American] Herring Gull (common, near-ubquitous at least as fly-bys) Great Black-backed Gull (not-rare, also some recently-fledged individuals being seen at some locations) CASPIAN Tern (1, photo’d. along Hudson River on the late-afternoon/eve. of Tuesday, June 7th; M. Ross) Black Skimmer (2 across Hudson river in N.J. waters, but viewed from Manhattan-side, near NY harbor, June 8th) Double-crested Cormorant (many, and still seem to be moving a bit in some directional-group-movement at times) - Great Blue Heron (small no’s. incl. as fly-bys, also seen in Central & other larger parks) Great Egret (fairly common & regular as fly-bys - see notes on these above checklist) Snowy Egret (fairly regualr as fly-bys) Green Heron (small no’s. nesting now) Black-crowned Night-Heron (regular at some locations) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (‘rare’, but likely a regular) - Black Vulture (uncommon but regularly seen from the county, esp. from n. Manhattan) Turkey Vulture (uncommon now but semi-regular fly-overs, also as noted for previous) Osprey (several potential-nesters; a few of the sightings may be of birds nesting on locations in Queens & Kings Counties of N.Y. City) Cooper's Hawk (at least one, perhaps a non-breeder starting a summer in the city) Bald Eagle (few now, but still a bit regular as fly-bys) Red-tailed Hawk (fairly common and many nested, multiple locations with numbers of young) Great Horned Owl (more than the 1) Eastern Screech-Owl (breeds) Belted Kingfisher (few now, & perhaps non-breeders seen in this period) - Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (several continue in small parks and green-spaces; there may some that summer-thru, all are NONbreeders) Red-bellied Woodpecker (regular, many nested and ongoing) Downy Woodpecker (regular, many ongoing nests) Hairy Woodpecker (uncommon; some have nested) Yellow-shafted Flicker (not that common, many have nested) American Kestrel (multiple nesting succeeses, f.-common in this county as ‘resident-breeders’) Peregrine Falcon (multiple and many of the pairs w/ success at nesting) - Eastern Wood-Pewee (uncommon now, many can nest however, some have) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (rare now, and should be cleared-out for 'boreal-breeding') Acadian Flycatcher (ongoing in at least 3 locations in the county; may be watched as summer comes, some may be non-breeders) Willow Flycatcher (in several locations) Alder/Willow Flycatcher a.k.a. "Traill’s Flycatcher” (a few still lingering into this report’s period) Empidonax sp. (a few lingering) Eastern Phoebe (several NESTED; also possible to have rare non-breeders that summer over here) Great Crested Flycatcher (several pairs nested in Central Park, multiple other locations as well and still some seemingly passing-thru VERY late, in this county) Eastern Kingbird (multiple nesting and not too uncommon) Warbling Vireo (many nesting in a lot of locations all over the county) Red-eyed Vireo (some nesting now, however this species can also move or linger notoriously-late) - Blue Jay (f. common and many have nested) American Crow (as for previous) Fish Crow (uncommon but regular in the county now) American/Fish Crow (undetermined individuals are also regular) Common Raven (multiple locations, any NESTING????) Black-capped Chickadee (uncommon to near-rare now) Tufted Titmouse (uncommon but v. regular nester) - Northern Rough-winged Swallow (small no’s. now) Tree Swallow (nesting in multiple locations including on Manhattan island) Barn Swallow (nesting - comments as per previous) Cliff Swallow (at least 1 pair continuing around the NEST area, Randall’s I.) - White-breasted Nuthatch (inconspicuous now; some nesting) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (a few are still in the county…) House Wren (multiple nesters) Carolina Wren (multiple nesters) European Starling (ubiquitous & rather pestiferous for summer) Gray Catbird (multiple nesting on all the islands of the county) Brown Thrasher (rarely-noted but regular nester in the county) Northern Mockingbird (f. common, nesting all around county) - Veery (RARE for June, 1 lingered in Central Park Gray-cheeked Thrush (small no’s. lingered into this report’s period but poss. cleared-out by now) Gray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thrush (some of this ‘category,' also comment as for previous species) Swainson's Thrush (few, lingering late but perhaps all cleared-out by now) Wood Thrush (uncommon, and increasingly-scarce nesting in the county) American Robin (near-ubiquitous nester on all islands of the county) - Cedar Waxwing (many continuing - and multiple nestings in many many locations) House Sparrow (ultra-ubquitous and very pestiferous; will harm many native birds) House Finch (f. common, local, on all of the larger islands of the county) Purple Finch (very notably LATE; at least 4, thru at least Monday, June 6 at Central Park; a late-and-long season for these this year!) American Goldfinch (modest no’s. still around and at least a few were nesting, perhaps under-observed for summer) - Chipping Sparrow (small no’s. are nesting in the county) White-throated Sparrow (modest no’s. continue ALL as NONbreeders, as happens EVERY June & some thru summer in this county) Savannah Sparrow (a few of note so late; will be watched for what happens next) Song Sparrow (many nested and on all of the islands of the county) Swamp Sparrow (few, some may spend all summer) Eastern Towhee (increasingly-scant nester of this county) Orchard Oriole (modest no’s. with some nestings) Baltimore Oriole (good no’s. overall, virtually all are nesting or ‘helpers-at-nests’ now) Red-winged Blackbird (f. common nester; all of the islands in the county) Brown-headed Cowbird (uncommon but some have fledged or are being fed by their varied songbird host-species) Common Grackle (f. common and many nest) Grackle species (there have been a few additional appearances of poss. Boat-tailed Grackle on the ‘outer' islands) - Ovenbird (scarce in summer, but some may stay thru, as NONbreeders) Black-and-white Warbler (uncommon but has been detected a number of times previously in June & even early July) Tennessee Warbler (now likely cleared-out, present to at least Mon. June 6th) Mourning Warbler (present to at least Wed. June 8th) Common Yellowthroat (multiple attempting nesting, some likely successfully; all islands of the county) American Redstart (small no’s. were lingering into this period, it is a potential nester as well) Northern Parula (very few lingered to at least Tues., June 7th; this species has nested VERY-rarely in N.Y. City) Magnolia Warbler (ongoing in Central Park thru Wed., June 8th, late now; perhaps a non-breeding individual) Yellow Warbler (many in all islands of the county and some nesting, including on Manhattan island; still present in Central Park as is Com. Yellowthroat) Blackpoll Warbler (small decreasing no’s. for this period, a few still singing on Wed. June 8th, late even for this species by now) Canada Warbler (few were lingering to at least Mon., June 6th) Wilson’s Warbler (2 thru Tuesday, June 7th - in Central Park and Inwood Hill Park) - Scarlet Tanager (several were lingering into this period) Northern Cardinal (f. common breeder on all islands of this county) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (v. scarce but a poss. breeding species; also could be few non-breeding lingerers) Indigo Bunting (comments as per prev. - this species has bred in the county on occasion) Thanks to the many hundreds of observers continuing to observe into the last-hurrahs of migration - and into the full period of nestings. - - - - [At least] thirty species of butterflies have *so-far* this season been detected in N.Y. County; one that I saw as recently as Wed. June 8th was American Snout, by a Hackberry tree (the host to the caterpillars of this butterfly and also to several other butterfly species that can be seen at times in the county); other sightings in recent days have included Variegated Fritillary, Red-banded Hairstreak, Common Buckeye, and a variety of skippers such as Wild Indigo Duskywing, Common Sootywing, Sachem, and various other butterflies. Nice to find Monarchs doing well and some laying their eggs on Common (or other) Milkweeds locally too. Huge diversity in insects and arthropods is now occuring as is expected in the months of June and on through all of the remainder of summer. Painted Skimmer is just one of many many odonate species being seen. Several species of Syrphidae that were new to the county were added to the long list (65+) of species of that group of often-very-patterned flies (also known as "hover-flies" and esp. as flower-flies), in recent weeks, and it’s still possible that more can be added. 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/ --
