New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Randalls, Governors, and Roosevelt Islands - and the skies above and adjacent waters - to Friday, June 14th
There are still birds on the move, including plenty of passerines, as well as shore and sea birds and others, as of this day, and thru this past week, passing this county, city, and for some, headed on to locations north of New York State, some going far-north. Some species seen at times previously this spring have shown again in some of same locations, and in some instances there is a chance breeding is taking place, albeit not always in this county itself. Among such species, American Oystercatchers have been seen several times recently from Randalls Island, and it looks plausible they may be attempting, or actually, breeding on isles just off in Bronx-county waters. Also seen with some regularity this month have been Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, although again, lacking any clear breeding in N.Y. County itself. An odd and very-late appearance over the past weekend, but not lingering, was a single Hooded Merganser, in Central Park at The Pool, where there had been a very long-lingering pair, and sometimes over the winter more than just two, of Green-winged Teal. That late merganser was in line with some other equally-late sightings of that species in and near N.Y. City this month. Some of the many species of migratory American warblers seen are listed -with annotations for some- in the full species listings below. Among many additional species for the past week in, or passing N.Y. County, and including Saturday, June 8, have been these birds - Atlantic Brant - almost all had moved out by now. Canada Goose Wood Duck - was ongoing at Central Park, and in-eclipse, can be rather shy. Gadwall American Black Duck Mallard Hooded Merganser - as noted at top. Osprey - few recently, but some within this past week. Bald Eagle - still being seen regularly in the county. Cooper's Hawk - scarce. Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Peregrine Falcon Wild Turkey - the hen, nicknamed Astoria by some local birders, had continued in same areas of Roosevelt Island this week. American Oystercatcher - as noted above. Killdeer - noted from a number of locations, most-often on Governors and Randalls Islands, also elsewhere. Spotted Sandpiper American Woodcock - there was at least 1 still lurking in Bryant Park, midtown-Manhattan this past week, far later than a typical migrant of the species. Laughing Gull - has become fairly regular, some sightings from Central Park, and far more seen elsewhere. Ring-billed Gull - scarce but some still persisting. [American] Herring Gull - the most-common summer gull, here. Great Black-backed Gull Common Tern - the near-default tern species, and breeding at Governors Island, with -any other- tern species wanting photos or videos, and particularly for reports from now into July - this for N.Y. County and not in general. feral Rock Pigeon - the city-pigeon of all of this city, and very common. Mourning Dove - also fairly common. Monk Parakeet - still some in the county, with few recent public reports. Black-billed Cuckoo - far fewer of this cuckoo species than the next listed. Yellow-billed Cuckoo - both of the cuckoos were still passing but with far fewer reports of late. Common Nighthawk - few reports and few sightings. There are other nocturnal birds, still in the county. Chimney Swift - fair to good numbers, while many have moved on in the past week. - Ruby-throated Hummingbird - absent, it seems from any most-recent observations. Belted Kingfisher - very scarce, with a very few sightings in past week or more. Common Loon - fly-bys, last weekend. Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret - particularly noticed as fly-overs. Green Heron - shy for now. Black-crowned Night-Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - particularly from Randalls Island. Black Vulture - sightings are still coming in particular from watch-sites in northern Manhattan, and some elsewhere. Turkey Vulture - also seen over multiple areas of the county, including occasionally still over Manhattan. Red-bellied Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - a modest number of these are, again, summering, or at least lingering far, far later than any would which could attempt breeding in other locations. -Not a breeding species in this county.- Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker Yellow-shafted Flicker Olive-sided Flycatcher - possibly the last of the spring migrators went thru over the past weekend here. Eastern Wood-Pewee - ongoing, as a scarce or uncommonly recorded county breeder. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - few were still being found into early this week. Not all that late for the species. Acadian Flycatcher - several, including an ongoing chance of breeding pairs. other Empidonax-genus flycatchers - of the three species that are expected in the region additional to the above two, we have Willow Flycatcher lingering on, and a potential breeder. Otherwise, many in the genus Empidonax have moved on by now, out of the county. Eastern Phoebe - scarce, and a likely breeder - but also not often noticed in sometimes-obscure locations. Great Crested Flycatcher - any still present are likely nesting or are attempting to here. Eastern Kingbird - nesting in multiple locations. White-eyed Vireo - notable for the month, and a potential breeder in this county, as the species breeds each year in N.Y. City. Yellow-throated Vireo - also notable for this month, and also a possible breeder. This species has bred even in Central Park, albeit not often, and not noticed by many when it had, successfully. Warbling Vireo - the most-regular and most-apparent breeding vireo of this county. Red-eyed Vireo - smaller numbers than the prior vireo which breed as well, some in the largest areas of woodland, but on occasion might be found in an unexpected site in this county in summer. Blue Jay Northern Raven - multiple, continuing, some with fledged young from nesting in this county. American Crow Fish Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Barn Swallow - any other additional swallow or martin species might be seen, as summer continues... we must hope for some further sightings of the Cliff Swallows and also possibilities of Purple Martin nesting in the county. Black-capped Chickadee Tufted Titmouse White-breasted Nuthatch Carolina Wren House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - an interesting late sighting; this species has at least scarcely nested in the county. Gray-cheeked Thrush - all of the multiple birds of this type in the past week seemed to sing, or call with the vocalizations of this species, and not the bicknells song or call types. Swainson's Thrush - v. small numbers made passage thru this week. Hermit Thrush - a very few lingered on, in one instance in Bryant Park, midtown-Manhattan. Wood Thrush - fairly good numbers, all by now looking likely as making breeding attempts - do NOT disturb! American Robin Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher - in extremely quiet mode, when with nests. European Starling House Sparrow - one of, if not the most common passerine bird in the county and in New York City. Cedar Waxwing - good numbers, some appear to have started the nesting process. Scarlet Tanager - last? may have been over the previous weekend, but worth watching-listening for even now. - Eastern Towhee - not seen nor heard at all lately. Chipping Sparrow - scant, a small number usually breed in the county. Song Sparrow - the most-frequent and typical breeding -native- sparrow of the county. Lincoln's Sparrow - one has lingered on at Bryant Park, in midtown, far later than is normal for the species. Swamp Sparrow - few, and almost-certainly non-breeders, some may summer thru each year, in this county. White-throated Sparrow - many ongoing in some locations, esp. around Manhattan - regularly summering with none at all trying to breed here. Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak - a species to watch, if found ongoing into the calendar-summer here. Indigo Bunting - a very few still present a week prior, possibly all moved on now. Bobolink - very few females were still passing into last weekend. Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Orchard Oriole - in multiple sites and by now, all remaining are likely either trying to breed, or are assisting with the process of other pairs. Baltimore Oriole - the much more common of the 2 oriole species breeding in the county. Multiple nestings are now taking place. House Finch American Goldfinch - exceedingly scant, but at least a few still passing or lingering into this week. - A surprising number of migratory warbler species were still being seen, and while some were in the literal migrant-trap of Bryant Park, midtown Manhattan and some of those watched by many dozens of observers, there also have been ongoing warblers for other locations, indicating actual passage for some still going thru, not only a few that were-are trapped in one smaller park in the midst of high-rise midtown. For some species such as Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats, the lingers may well be attempting to breed in the county, hopefully with success. A lot of the rest are simply late-migrators, and for a very few species such as Blackpoll and Mourning Warbler, the passage in the 2nd week of June is not extremely unusual here, for modest numbers of individuals, that is - most of all of the warbler species have moved on to breeding locations. Many of the species listed were not being seen past Monday, or the prior weekend, however at least one-dozen of these warbler species were still in the county into this week, for a few species running exceedingly late, and for many, seen in low to single numbers. Among the warblers still lingering, other than the 2 potential-breeders noted above, some of the lingerers may not have chances for likely breeding, but in some cases, there may still be that possibility. Nashville Warbler - late for even a straggler, in this county. Northern Parula Yellow Warbler - multiple, as is expected, found in some areas where breeding is at least possible. Chestnut-sided Warbler Magnolia Warbler - a fairly good passage, as with Blackburnian, for this warbler species, well into June. Black-throated Blue Warbler Myrtle, also still called Yellow-rumped, Warbler - quite late. Black-throated Green Warbler - rather late, still around into the last weekend here. Blackburnian Warbler - some fairly good passage was seen a lot later into spring than is typical, but this may not have been a typical spring overall, if such can even be quantified. Bay-breasted Warbler Blackpoll Warbler - still passing, with almost all still moving having been quiet females of the species. Black-and-white Warbler - one of the more typical of summering stragglers here, of the many warbler species. American Redstart - this species, if seen thru late June, might be watched for any indications of nesting, although these may also be stragglers, as with a lot of the other warblers still being seen this far into June, in this county. Worm-eating Warbler - decidely late. A species which nests in the nearby counties to north and west of N.Y. City, and however usually will need much more -quiet- woods than is offered in any locations in this county. Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Mourning Warbler - a modest number in addition to the several individuals stlll being seen in Bryant Park, but the species migrations have slowed, as would be expected by now. Common Yellowthroat - some or all still lingering may be trying to breed in the county, or simply stragglers. Canada Warbler - as with others listed with no specifics, most of these have moved on, but a few may yet be found, in some cases, the more quiet females that might linger or be straggling thru. Certainly likely some other, additional species were also found. Some birds given brief reports via the alerts were not noted-above, and at least a few were simply slips of a fast-thumb etc. in a too-quickly made report. Many of the birds are on nests or have nestlings or fledgelings near, and some species have been very quiet and retiring with this season. Please continue to do nothing at all that might disturb any native nesting birds, thank you!! The birds will thank us all for this. . . . The season of many more insects is upon us, and many hundreds, actually far-more, of these creatures in their species-diversity are out flying, crawling, jumping, swimming, etc. - among these many have been many more butterflies, and dragonflies and damselflies, along with many other types of active insect and invertebrate life. Of mammals, there have been at least a few species of bats, plus native mice, native cottontail rabbits, native woodchucks - also might be called eastern-marmots- and eastern chipmunks, squirrels, and yes a few coyotes roaming here and there, in the county called New York. A great variety of plant life had already bloomed, while some trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are just coming into flower. Many locations are very green with foliage and grasses, etc. all having had plenty of rain, this entire spring. Thanks to many quiet, courteous, keen observers and photographers who are and were still out finding birds and all else in nature. We all will want to be careful in coming hot days, the more so when humidities are high, and when sun is very strong. Good birding to all, 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/ --
