With recent sightings of a rare Rosss Goose occurring lately at the shores of Caven Point / bay and at the nearby golf course etc, often with, or in company of, some Canada Geese, there have been those few N.Y. City observers making forays to Liberty Island, by way of the ferry over to see the Statue of Liberty and stand at / on the base of the famed Lady Liberty of the harbor, and scope over to the rare goose - the bird at that particular location had been finely photographed on the day of the Lower Hudson CBC, NJ section organized by Shayna Marchese, with at least the below photo, and others, from participant S. Xu, and also observed, as well as some photos by at least 11 additional participants on the Liberty State Park, NJ CBC sector of the Lower Hudson count - on 12/17, surely a major highlight of the overall count due to the rarity of this goose in our area. Note that the count - which includes such locations as Central Park, and multiple other well known city parks of Manhattan and elsewhere in N.Y. County NYC, is and long has been titled the Lower Hudson-NJ CBC, a dual-state count, which is not as uncommon as might be thought, and not unique in that regard to the wider region. The Rosss Goose was seen and again photod on 12/21 from the Liberty SP viewpoint, and in the Macaulay Library again thanks to M. Stubblefield, featuring a flight-shot of the goose, in 2nd link below. The goose also seen by many in the days between 12/17 and 12/21 at the above-noted area, after any earlier locations. - Yes, the Rosss is meant to include an apostrophe and this lack is simply due to vagaries of typing on mobile devices with textual issues...
https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/612361690 https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/612497673 ... ... Of very minor interest by comparison in Central Park, a Chipping Sparrow has been present in the n. end of that park near the plant nursery, in company with expected juncos. That just one of at least several Chippings around N.Y. County / Manhattan to this week. A Lincolns Sparrow or two in lower Manhattan, including at Union Square Park being more unusual into late Dec, but as a trend of that species to be documented to this late or further into winter in the area, and region. Also again a bit notable how many species of American warblers had lingered even to this week in N.Y. County and for a few of those species, seeming to point to a regional late-lingering trend for such as, a bit notably, Prairie Warbler, which are still being seen in several states adjacent to and including NYC, this week. Not a species formerly seen as a likely wintering bird in our area. Whether this bodes any trend for these warblers, cf the unusual B.t. Green Warbler found in Brooklyn for their - Kings - CBC to 12/16, is to be seen and surely studied as these well-documented such sightings add up in our modern era of observation. The recent Western Tanager of Manhattan, NYC at Morningside Park has not been found in some days despite some good observational efforts at that and nearby areas. It well may have fully moved on, and also might yet be re-found in the county at some other location this winter. In the case of the very rare Black-chinned HummIngbird of Randalls Island of N.Y. City, it is hoped the bird managed to get as far south as would be required for winter survival. Such vagrants have, at least rarely, been known to get to where they would stand a far better chance thru a winter, but it also is likely some cannot make the journey south if staying on so deep into a year or season, and not lingering where food is sufficient and constant. There are certainly some hummingbird species that have made it far thru winters when very much taken-care of thru constant attention to feeding, including the daily heating of always re-stocked feeders, in some instances. Our current hard freeze now in all of NY state, to Long Island and N.Y. City is obviously a tough time for non-hardy birds attempting to winter in the north. Still, on some rather rare occasions a bird of that sort may surprise us with toughness - and, perhaps, luck. Some fresh arrivals of waterbirds look to be likely now after the deep freeze in more northern parts of the northeast. A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and Pied-billed Grebe are somewhat common or not-unexpected additions to the birds seen lately in Central Parks reservoir, for Manhattan. We ought to be watchful for a chance at Redhead again in the county, with a bit of influx of that duck in our region recently. Some scaup are also showing increases lately. And rarer ducks may be possible! Good winter birds to all and continued good CBC efforts all around, Tom Fiore manhattan -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") NYSbirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/nysbirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) birding_DOT_aba_DOT_org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
