New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Randalls, Governors, and Roosevelt Islands and the adjacent waters and skies-above - thru Thursday, April 3rd -
There are not many-ever of this bird in this county, and not a lot to be said for the sighting - a Razorbill is simply not one of the multitude of species which is to be expected in this county in most circumstances - one might theorize on the track, or tracks, used by a Razorbill in arriving to where seen on March 31, off Randalls Island by 3 astute as well as lucky observers - T. Healy, R. Zucker, and joining in soon-after, D. Aronov - was this a bird that started to stray westwards in Long Island Sound and went to the extreme west (the Sound abuts the eastern shores of Randalls Island, and in some sense meets the estuary we know as the East River yet-farther west, again in the vicinity of Randalls Island - or, could this member of the Alcidae family, a species well-known off ocean-coastal and offshore locations of the northeast into New Jersey, of course Long Island NY and much farther north - could this individual have strayed out of the Atlantic up into New York Harbor in the greater sense, then made its way north up to where seen off Randalls in New York County? -My own thought- and as a non-observer of this rarity for the county, would be the Long Island Sound route, however whatever logic one applies may or may not fit the actual path taken by such a bird in arriving where it did. A few photos were placed in eBird and thus the Macaulay Library, however those somewhat-grainy and rather-blurry pix were supplementary to a carefully-written, lengthy textual description. This mention to this list comes after a vetting thru eBird reviewers, and the sighting having been confirmed as that species therein. Other birders have also been and usually are semi-regular in checking on and around Randalls Island, in this instance no one has re-spotted this alcid nor any other, which is not at all surprising, for such a strayed, sea-going bird. One must hope the Razorbill was in good health and may have continued on to where it would normally show, in Atlantic waters and eventually as spring rolls on, farther north into breeding areas with Atlantic isles or far-north rocky places of the Atlantic shore doing well for the summer. The Razorbill, here at Randalls, was a first-known record for that island and waters nearby it, and perhaps just the 3rd-ever record in New York County, although I did not perform a search for any-or-all older, historical records- if any exist. Congratulations on this find to the 3 observers, showing the extent to which dedication to a -patch- can be very productive over time. Also seen from Randalls Island were an impressive -for this county and at one location and time- 7 Bonapartes Gulls on that same date of March 31 - the latter gull species has been found to be a scarce but regular migrant and occasional out of the peak-movement periods of the species, in this county, but is always a special find for any observers, in this instance the same as for the Razorbill sighting. Some other sightings of Bonapartes Gull were also occurring and this gull, as well as a number of other scarce-in-county gull species may certainly be sought in this month, as much passage of gulls is happening and will continue to for some weeks, into May as well. The sightings of American Oystercatchers from Randalls Island is also a now-annual event, and the latter species can also be checked-for in other locations, such as Governors Island and elsewhere around the N.Y. Harbor - the Randalls Island sightings can be of birds that are nesting, or attempting to nest, in smaller islands of western Long Island Sound off Bronx County and scope-able from Randalls - even using binoculars or camera lens may net a sighting there, but a scope will be the most-ideal meals of obtaining fair to decent views. Also seen on Randalls Island, and one day-after the sighting for Governors Island, was E. Meadowlark, and a likely-overwintered Orange-crowned Warbler that had persisted on Randalls, with regular sightings there, from a few areas thus possibly more than one individual of the warbler that had been wintering. Additional many highlights of Randalls Island on 3-31 included Wilsons Snipe, Snowy Egret as well as Great Egret, Laughing Gull which was previously-noted there and many more of the latter will be arriving soon, Red-throated Loon, an impressive-for-site number of Hooded Mergansers as well as expected-for-date Red-breasted Mergansers, also a trio of Long-tailed Ducks offshore, half-a-dozen scoped Black-crowned Night-Herons, nice raptor migration including many Osprey, a N. Harrier, a Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle and others including also numbers of Turkey Vultures migrating. Large numbers of Yellow-shafted Flickers and E. Phoebes were also seen there on 3-31, plus 4 N. Rough-winged Swallows and just 1 Tree Swallow, although more of the last have been on the move all around the county, some on territory such as on Governors Island, and back to the Randalls Island bonanzas of 3-31, Sparrows which included Red Fox, Savannah, Chipping, Field Sparrow, and others of that tribe expected for the early to mid spring here. A Rusty Blackbird was the least-common of the icteridae seen on the day there at Randalls, and in addition to the Orange-crowned Warbler likely-lingering there, also found were Pine, Palm and Myrtle Warblers, and while regular out by Randalls the numbers of Fish Crow tallied on 3-31 there were impressive at over 90 of that crow species, a species which is showing in a number of locations around N.Y. County lately. Many many more additional species of birds were noted from Randalls on 3-31 in particular, as well as on some other recent days, although again, we have -no newer or additional reports- for a Razorbill. A Northern Gannet was reported -and confirmed via eBird- for Thursday, 4-3, on the Hudson River just off the west side of midtown Manhattan - surely one of the more additionally-bizarre and rather surprising reports of the current week here, this Gannet also coming on the same day as several or more were being watched and photographed off the east end of Bronx County, NY - those Bronx-area Gannets having encroached into western Long Island Sound, after days of additional-prior sightings of that species in the Sound as far west as the Bronx, NYC. It is conceivable that one of those western-Long Island Sound birds chose to move even further west to the Hudson and thence out to the outer harbor of N.Y. City, where at its outer edges many N. Gannets can be found, annually and expected out that way - it is also quite possible that 1 fun-loving, adventurous, or more-seriously slightly-displaced N. Gannet got up under the Verrazano Narrows bridge connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn i.e. westernmost Long Island and flew past the Statue of Liberty and so forth in the harbor to be noticed not very far west of Times Square 42nd Street of Manhattan island albeit off on the brackish-salty very tidal Hudson River nearby. A very unexpected sightings, in any event for this county. A slightly-newer additional sighting of Lesser Black-backed Gull was made from the Battery of southern-most Manhattan island, on 3-31, following a sighting the day before from Central Park, of that species. Common Ravens are being seen in many, many areas of N.Y. County as are American Crows - and on Roosevelt Island, and only-there for many many many months has been the single, ongoing female Wild Turkey, right on into this month. No scope was required for the recent sighting and photos of Greater Yellowlegs, seen off the northern tip of Manhattan at Inwood Hill Park - H. Russ, photos - and much later in the same day were two of that species, again photographed, and apparently-possibly taking off near the evening hours, to points-unknown. The 2 yellowlegs-species are rather scant but seem regular in migration in this county, and Inwoods shores and northern Manhattan mudflats overall have been fairly good areas to find these on occasion. In more-typical migrators of the early spring in this county, 4 of the expected early-showing species of American warblers were being seen regularly this week, into Thursday, including Louisiana Waterthrush, Pine, Palm, and Myrtle-form of Yellow-rumped Warblers all being seen at Central Park and of the last three species, sightings again from a multitude of other New York County locations. It can be noted that the Yellow-rumpeds are in low numbers by comparison to the hordes of that latter warbler species which will inundate the warbler-arrivals of mid and later spring, those Myrtle Warblers being seen now in early spring here likely represent some which had wintered not too distantly, while others arriving could have in-part spent their winter and start of spring as far south as south-of-Texas, i.e. in eastern to southern Mexico and parts of Central America. There will be further reports of some of the many ongoing migrants plus some lingering species for the county, and some more-targeted reports pertaining to heavily-watched locations on Manhattan in-part, for coming days, We also will have a bit of the roundup of owls seen in the county over the past six months or so, a very impressive species tally and many of those owls in relatively-undisturbed places, for some of the scarcer species here. Thanks to many many keen observers for a huge volume of reports and photos, with alerts thru non-x apps and as-always thru eBird with the Macaulay Library for media archives. Some among the multitude of sightings came, in addition to independent observers and photographers, via organized group-birding-walks by and for not-for-profit organizations such as the NYC Bird Alliance, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Linnaean Society of New York, as well as other non-profit organizations that work in and for education, outreach, and science-based understanding of our natural world. Good birding to all, Tom Fiore manhattan -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") 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