New York County (in N.Y. City), with mainly-Manhattan sightings - Tues., Oct. 25 - *Yellow-breasted Chat* (viewed by 20++ observers including a large group of participants in a not-for-profit Linnaean Society of New York guided bird walk) was around the northeast portion of the Ramble; it is possible that this is a bird that has lingered, stealthily, for some many days (or not); also, Indigo Bunting in part seen with a group bird-walk led for the N.Y.C.A.S., in Central Park. An ongoing Northern Waterthrush was also still in that park, at “the Pool”, after weeks of near-‘residence' there within Central Park. Multiple Rusty Blackbirds were in various locations. A major movement of Yellow-rumped Warblers, along with many other migrants was seen, from multiple points; possibly to greatest evidence in the western parts of Central Park at times, and thru some of Riverside Park esp. from W. 96th St. south, and also in at least some of lower Manhattan at times; many of these working thru the tree-tops and doing fly-catching as well as, in places on the lawns and wherever insect prey were being caught, as the day went along. Another area with extremely high activity at one point of the morning, the “Pinetum” and nearby, to Summit Rock, really most of the Great Lawn, with many hundreds of White-throated Sparrows and a lot of other sparrow spp. (Juncos included, plus Chipping, Song, and a mix of others such as a few White-crowned, etc.) and with an additional mix of (the ongoing invasions of) Tufted Titmice ("filtered-out”, there were still vast numbers of the other recent arrivals), some Black-capped Chickadees, plenty of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and some Golden-crowned Kinglets, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, and a smatter of warbler species besides the many Yellow-rumped; all of this activity thanks to hatches of insect and other arthropod life, esp. notable as the day brightened up a little - and there were quite a lot of other species taking advantage as well. An E. Wood-Pewee was noted in the guided walk led for participants to the A.M.N.H. (American Museum of Natural History, N.Y.) series, at Central Park. E. Phoebes of course in many areas of the county. In addition to good sparrow numbers were (again) a high count of E. Towhees, a species which can and does over-winter in the area, including in N.Y. County, usually in modest to low no’s. Purple Finches continue to be on the move, and days later this week could be productive for some finch-seeking on winds out of northerly directions, as well as of course a potential for later-season raptors, waterbirds, and most any species that have potential movements at this time of the year. There are some late reports of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, thus far not confirmed.
All (of Tuesday’s N.Y. County ) warbler sightings 'topped off' with a Prairie Warbler at Canal Park (A. Evans) in lower Manhattan: that is, such a modest park which over the years has produced an impressive array of migrants and other birds. A Grasshopper Sparrow was seen & phone-photo’d. (N. Lynch) by the South St. Seaport, in lower Manhattan. A variety of other migrants, some in good numbers, were seen in parts of mid and lower Manhattan. A bit of a minor-movement of Black-throated Blue Warblers on the day, seen in higher numbers across the county than had been for many days. In contrast to the many Yellow-rumped (all noted to be of the expected ‘Myrtle’ form) Warblers, there were relatively fewer Palm Warbler, although the latter was seen in multiple locations. There was a report of a deceased Orange-crowned Warbler, a likely victim of collison-on-glass (window) in midtown Manhattan, a fate that is sadly still all to regular and is a particular hazard on foggy migration nights and days. The wider area has been subject to some occasionally-dense fogs lately. More than 65 species of birds were on Randall’s Island (and its’ adjacent waters and near-sky-spaces) on Tuesday morning. . We *may* not have had any observations from Governors Island on Tuesday, where likely some good active migration also took place! There were still many dozens (in total) of Chimney Swifts seen headed for (a few) known roost-sites in Manhattan, on Tuesday at the near-dusk hour. good birding, 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/ --