New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Randalls, Governors, and Roosevelt Islands and the adjacent waters and skies above - thru February 23 -
The most recent Iceland Gull found and photographed - A. Evans - was at the Tribeca Upland pier area of Hudson Waterfront Park by the Hudson River off lower Manhattans west shore, this on Sunday, 2-23. An Iceland Gull was also photographed flyby -A. Cunningham- at Randalls Island on Saturday. Also found on that island were multiple Scaup of the 2 expected species, and some other waterfowl there included Common Goldeneyes, and other species typically found there in winter. As well, Pine and Orange-crowned Warblers were each continuing there, as they have all winter, and also seen were wintering Chipping, wintering Savannah, Field, and other Sparrow species. A few Canvasbacks made a very-modest showing for some observers, watching from around the W. 79 St. boat-basin -marina- off Riverside Park and out in the Hudson River, on Saturday, 2-22. A Snow Goose is ongoing at Central Park, where more Green-winged Teal have re-surfaced, and Common Merganser as well as Hooded Merganser continue, along with increased Wood Ducks and various other duckage. All areas of the county have had a bit of waterfowl movement and-or shuffling, such as more N. Shovelers choosing to move across to near Randalls Island, as some departed Central Park in the latest freeze. Pine and Orange-crowned Warblers have continued their all-winter stays, with individuals of Pine Warbler at Central Park in the Ramble - often near and at feeders there recently - and also at Randalls Island, and Orange-crowned persisting as well at Randalls, as noted above, while the ones elsewhere have been harder to find in some recent days. Other warbler species, especially Myrtle form of Yellow-rumped are likely still around the county, perhaps also a couple of other warbler species in various and sundry locations. Rusty Blackbirds appear to have wintered, with one most-regularly in Central Parks n. end, and a few others scattered thru Manhattan’s northern half. Red Fox Sparrows are typical over wintering birds in this county, sometimes with the far-more numerous White-throated Sparrows which winter in numbers here, and also will increase by mid-spring as many migrants are arriving and passing. Some other ongoing-wintering species in the county include Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Winter Wrens, both Red-breasted and greater numbers of White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, Black-capped Chickadees in numbers, rather-few Ruby-crowned Kinglets which remained and survived, Hermit Thrushes, Brown Thrashers in usual-skulker mode in limited locations, Gray Catbirds in more locations also in Manhattan, and of course many many more species. Common Ravens have continued thru the county, particularly noted from Manhattan all winter, and some showing courtship, mating, and nesting activity this month. Some raptors which were seen thru all weeks of this winter so far include Bald Eagles, Red-tailed and Coopers Hawks, and American Kestrels and Peregrine Falcons. Some Black Vultures continue to show at times, including over parts of Manhattan, and Turkey Vulture has been more than occasional all winter in very limited numbers. Other birds of prey also have wintered and some are still being noticed at times, including some owls. The start of general raptor and vulture migration is underway in some of our region, while some of our state-breeding raptors will just-now be winging north thru South and Central America, Mexico and the southernmost U.S. A Wild Turkey often called Astoria has remained on Roosevelt Island just east of Manhattan for this month, a very long-staying individual there. Thanks to many observers and photographers out on slightly milder days and finding nice birds, with reports submitted to non-x alerts and as always to eBird with the Macaulay Library for media. 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/ --
