The birders coming (and already there) to Nickerson Beach, on the Atlantic shores of Nassau County (Long Island) NY on Saturday 6/10 morning had plenty of terns to look through, but no reports at all came thru for a White-winged Tern, which seemed to last show in early morning on Friday 6/9, then offshore, and then going-away. Numbers of birders on Saturday reached easily into high triple-digits in hopes of a three-peat of the days of the W-w. Tern’s return show.
- - - - - - - New York County (in N.Y. City) including Manhattan - with Central Park and Inwood Hill Park - and Governors Island and Randall’s Island into Saturday, June 10th - Some interesting fairly-late movement of land-birds was still occurring into Saturday in N.Y. County. Some of the species are also interesting as at-least possible / potential breeders in some locations of the county. Small but multiple numbers of Scarlet Tanagers were still about, including a few singing males in the larger parks. A couple of Yellow-billed Cuckoos showed, which can be a later-moving species (as well as occasionally quite early in the spring arrival calendar) - this cuckoo species has bred in N.Y. City, so these could bear watching if any are lingering. Some Mourning Warblers (including males, some singing in early morning) were still pushing thru in Manhattan; this included a couple of them in smaller parks along with the larger parks. At least 12 warbler species were still being seen in the county, a fairly high number now into the 2nd week of June. Those species include the aforementioned as well as - Ovenbirds, Northern Waterthrushes (at least 2 in Central Park were ongoing), Common Yellowthroats, American Redstarts, Northern Parulas, Magnolia Warblers, Blackburnian Warbler, Yellow Warblers,, Blackpoll Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, and Canada Warblers. Only the Blackburnian was a single-sighting (an apparent first-year male, in northern Manhattan), and some species were still found in low double-digits - esp. Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Yellow Warbler. There might well be a few other species of warblers lingering (for example Black-and-white Warbler, a species that’s had a history of stragglers staying in the county into even the summer in some years; there was also a further ‘report' of Worm-eating Warbler, with no details however other than the location noted as Central Park, that from 6/8). Acadian Flycatchers were ongoing in a few locations, as are Willow Flycatchers - the latter on the 2 islands other than Manhattan: Governors and Randall’s Island[s]. There are some reports for other species of Empidonax-genus Flycatchers, with Yellow-bellied among those a bit more likely this ‘late’. Ongoing are numbers of E. Wood-Pewees, Great Crested Flycatchers, and E. Kingbirds all of which nest in the county, the latter species most-easily, and regularly observed as breeders. Also still being seen were a very few Swainson’s Thrush and Veery (including the most-observed in Central Park), with some of Swainson’s Thrush showing in lower Manhattan areas. Some of the Wood Thrushes in n. Manhattan seem to be doing all-right in nesting. At a few of the parks such as Inwood Hill Park (at northern end of Manhattan, and with more forest cover than any other part of Manhattan) there are still some warblers, with 2 or even 3 spp. as potential breeders - the ‘usuals’. Good numbers (as expected) of Cedar Waxwings have continued and some flocks / groups have had over 50 birds at a time; some are also nesting, while many of the ones seen just now could still be passing through, to more-distant nesting areas and where fruits may ripen a bit later. A favored fruit (ffod source) of the waxwings at this time in this county (and elsewhere) are mulberries, which have been ripening on some local trees (and there also is much insect-prey taken by the waxwings at this season). A drake Wood Duck continues on in Central Park, sometimes moving about and recently in the southeast part of that park; the species also was showing in a few other locations of the county in recent days. Cliff Swallows continue their successful nestings at Randall’s Island, and there are more than one area of their nests. (Please continue to be respecful of these in observing, as with all wild-native nesting birds.) At Governors Island, nice counts of Common Tern were seen, including those on the (access restricted) piers, as well as observations of these over the N.Y. Harbor area. Lower no’s. of Common Terns are also regularly seen from some other areas, esp. the lower-Manhattan areas or boats and cruises across N.Y. Harbor. Many more birds continue, many of them also nesting. The local weather into Sunday (6/11) from Saturday night may produce some fresh drop-in of very late-moving land birds. Thanks to many for many reports & sightings. 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/ --
