New York County (in N.Y. City), including Manhattan, Randall’s Island and Governors Island thru Monday, April 10th -
An Iceland Gull has shown again at the West Harlem Piers park, north of the western terminus of 125th St. along the Hudson River, Manhattan, with photos also made on April 9th, at that location. That gull seems to wander, so it may not always be reliably found right there (if still in the area, by now). Now (at least) 8 species of warblers in New York County, as of April 10th, with at least 7 of those found in Central Park in that one day (on Monday). A highlight (and, not-quite an earliest record -some past year’s sightings were even before the 4/10 date- for that park and thus, not the earliest for the county, either, over the years) is a male-plumaged Hooded Warbler seen, and gorgeously photo’d., in Central Park’s mid-sector. At least one N. Parula has continued on at the n. end of Central Park. A Black-and-white Warbler was present by at least April 9th, in an under-birded area of the park, the grounds of the zoo, small portions of which may be viewed from just outside the perimeter of the zoo. Other ongoing warblers of the county (and in Central Park) have included Louisiana Waterthrush, and Pine, Palm, and Myrtle/Yellow-rumped Warblers, the latter 4 species all in the multiple, again especially-so for Palm Warbler. The overwintered Orange-crowned Warbler has continued at Morningside Park (where that species has overwintered previously as well), with multiple observers of that individual from Sat. 4/8, and on some prior days of this spring as well as, uncommonly thru the winter there, with other Orange-crowneds also continuing, particularly (as observed regularly) at Randall’s Island. There have been some reports of at least a few other unexpectedly-early migrant arrivals, some in Central Park, some elsewhere in the county. A House Wren seen in the Strawberry Fields section of Central Park on Sat., April 8th is among the recently arrived species of migrants into the county. Also arriving, White-eyed Vireo; because the latter is also a potential breeder in the county (and which does breed annually in N.Y. City), that arrival’s location within the county is not noted for now. By 4/8, there were more than several Blue-headed Vireos present on Manhattan, including at least 3 within various parts of Central Park in widely-separate locations. Re: an incidental note placed to this list-serve recently: For those unaware, Governors Island (in New York County) contains no apostrophe [ ‘ ] in the proper name; something I learned some years back, via NY birder Benjamin Cacace, and others who’ve been visitors to that island. Some of the species from recent several days in New York County included: [Atlantic] Brant (ongoing and expected for this month) Canada Goose Mute Swan (mostly off Randall’s Island, but also seen elsewhere at times) Wood Duck (esp. at Central Park, where still regular) Northern Shoveler Gadwall Mallard American Black Duck Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid) Green-winged Teal Ring-necked Duck (at the ‘model-boat’ pond of Central Park, a.k.a. the ‘Conservatory Water’) Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Red-breasted Merganser Ruddy Duck Pied-billed Grebe Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove American Coot American Oystercatcher (seen off Governors Island; scope is a ‘must' for attempts for this sp.) Killdeer American Woodcock Wilson's Snipe Laughing Gull (v. modest no’s.) Ring-billed Gull [American] Herring Gull Iceland Gull (West Harlem Piers - along Hudson River north of W. 125th St.) Great Black-backed Gull Red-throated Loon (including fly-bys) Common Loon (including fly-bys) Great Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret (multiple, esp. of fly-bys) Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Black Vulture (seen from a few select locations) Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Bald Eagle Red-shouldered Hawk (scarce by now) Red-tailed Hawk multiple owl spp. Belted Kingfisher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Yellow-shafted Flicker American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon Eastern Phoebe White-eyed Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Common Raven Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse (numbers have dropped somewhat or greatly, depending on exact location) Northern Rough-winged Swallow Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Ruby-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Kinglet Red-breasted Nuthatch (modest numbers passing/lingering) White-breasted Nuthatch Brown Creeper Blue-gray Gnatcatcher House Wren (recent arrivals) Winter Wren Carolina Wren European Starling Gray Catbird (some overwintered birds continuing) Brown Thrasher Northern Mockingbird Hermit Thrush (numerous) American Robin Cedar Waxwing (very scant) House Sparrow House Finch Purple Finch (small numbers lately) American Goldfinch Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow [Red] Fox Sparrow Slate-colored Junco White-crowned Sparrow (at least one -overwintered- was still in Central Park to April 9th) White-throated Sparrow Savannah Sparrow (ongoing in modest numbers for some county locations) Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Eastern Towhee Baltimore Oriole (overwintered; still present recently at Union Square Park, in Manhattan) Red-winged Blackbird Brown-headed Cowbird Rusty Blackbird (ongoing) Common Grackle - Louisiana Waterthrush (multiple) Black-and-white Warbler (from 4/9, Central Park zoo-grounds) Orange-crowned Warbler (multiple locations in the county; but not many - *ALL were overwintered individuals*) Hooded Warbler (brightly-plumaged, Central Park, seen by 4/10; not an earliest-record for there or the county) Northern Parula (at least one continuing, Central Park) Palm Warbler (many) Pine Warbler (multiple) Myrtle [Yellow-rumped] Warbler (modest no’s. continued) - Northern Cardinal - and likely some additional species of migrants. --- Much leaf-out of various trees and shrubs has begun, although many trees will still appear rather bare; blooms have increased all around, esp. of horticultural plantings, with many native plants also having bloomed or budded; all of this due to speed-up a bit with coming warmth in the entire region. With the greening and flowering of many plants, emergent insect diversity has increased and there are also some migratory insects appearing (Common Green Darner is among those) - more available foods for many, many birds thus also being available. Thanks to the hundreds of keen quiet observers out and about finding so many birds and offering many reports. 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/ --
