[nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Bird Club Evening Presentation

2016-03-08 Thread Dennis Hrehowsik
Please join the Brooklyn Bird Club Tuesday, March 15th, 7:00 PM for:

*The Rarest Bird in the World: The Search for the Nechisar Nightjar*

*Presenter: Vernon R.L. Head*

*Location: Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch
 at Grand Army Plaza*

Vernon R.L. Head, chairman of BirdLife of South Africa, will present his
quest to solve the mystery of an isolated wing of an unknown species of
nightjar collected in Ethiopia in 2009. In his search for a possible new
species, Head is not just on a mission for a spectacular tick, but he
places his endeavor in the context of other rare and endangered species
suffering from human impact on the environment.

http://www.brooklynbirdclub.org/meetings.htm

Dennis Hrehowsik

Brooklyn

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Bird Club Evening Presentation

2016-03-08 Thread Dennis Hrehowsik
Please join the Brooklyn Bird Club Tuesday, March 15th, 7:00 PM for:

*The Rarest Bird in the World: The Search for the Nechisar Nightjar*

*Presenter: Vernon R.L. Head*

*Location: Brooklyn Public Library Central Branch
 at Grand Army Plaza*

Vernon R.L. Head, chairman of BirdLife of South Africa, will present his
quest to solve the mystery of an isolated wing of an unknown species of
nightjar collected in Ethiopia in 2009. In his search for a possible new
species, Head is not just on a mission for a spectacular tick, but he
places his endeavor in the context of other rare and endangered species
suffering from human impact on the environment.

http://www.brooklynbirdclub.org/meetings.htm

Dennis Hrehowsik

Brooklyn

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Barrow's Goldeneye Pelham Bay Park YES

2016-03-08 Thread Kenton Gomez
4pm,  to the right of the small island past Two Tree island as you look from 
Hunter island.  With now larger group of 20 or so Common. 

Sent from my iPhone
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[nysbirds-l] Barrow's Goldeneye Pelham Bay Park YES

2016-03-08 Thread Kenton Gomez
4pm,  to the right of the small island past Two Tree island as you look from 
Hunter island.  With now larger group of 20 or so Common. 

Sent from my iPhone
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[nysbirds-l] Oceanside and Baldwin Park

2016-03-08 Thread syschiff
Oceanside and Baldwin Park, 8 Mar

The Marine Nature Study Area, Oceanside was quiet. Of interest were a pair of 
fly-by Snow Geese and 2 Wood Ducks that landed at the entrance to Bedell Creek 
before taking off a bit later.

I drove over to Baldwin Park, a small detour on the way home. I heard the 
screeching before I got out of the car. Three MONK PARAKEETS were resting and 
calling on top of the lights opposite the parking lot (the first nest). and at 
least another dozen were on the next 3 lights. A second small nests is now on 
the fourth light.

The Osprey nest continues but it's too early for occupancy. I walked to the bay 
where there were 4 Red-throated Loons and a pair of fly-by Double-crested 
Cormorants

Sy Schiff

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Oceanside and Baldwin Park

2016-03-08 Thread syschiff
Oceanside and Baldwin Park, 8 Mar

The Marine Nature Study Area, Oceanside was quiet. Of interest were a pair of 
fly-by Snow Geese and 2 Wood Ducks that landed at the entrance to Bedell Creek 
before taking off a bit later.

I drove over to Baldwin Park, a small detour on the way home. I heard the 
screeching before I got out of the car. Three MONK PARAKEETS were resting and 
calling on top of the lights opposite the parking lot (the first nest). and at 
least another dozen were on the next 3 lights. A second small nests is now on 
the fourth light.

The Osprey nest continues but it's too early for occupancy. I walked to the bay 
where there were 4 Red-throated Loons and a pair of fly-by Double-crested 
Cormorants

Sy Schiff

--

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Barrow's Goldeneye at Pelham Bay Park

2016-03-08 Thread Jack Rothman
First reported on ebird by Elizabeth Jamison, with a good photo, continues at 
Pelham Bay Park. This morning the bird was located with about 10 Common 
Goldeneye behind a small island alongside Two Tree Island. You can find the 
bird by scoping from the lookout at Hunter Island, you will definitely need a 
scope. Lots of Red-breasted Merganser, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead there too.
Jack Rothman

Sent from my iPad
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Barrow's Goldeneye at Pelham Bay Park

2016-03-08 Thread Jack Rothman
First reported on ebird by Elizabeth Jamison, with a good photo, continues at 
Pelham Bay Park. This morning the bird was located with about 10 Common 
Goldeneye behind a small island alongside Two Tree Island. You can find the 
bird by scoping from the lookout at Hunter Island, you will definitely need a 
scope. Lots of Red-breasted Merganser, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead there too.
Jack Rothman

Sent from my iPad
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End: Iceland Gull

2016-03-08 Thread Robert Taylor
Kumliens Iceland Gull continues on west end 2 lot, Lark Sparrow out, Boat
Tailed Grackles at Coast Guard as well as my FOS Oystercatchers

Good birding,
Rob in Massapequa

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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[nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End: Iceland Gull

2016-03-08 Thread Robert Taylor
Kumliens Iceland Gull continues on west end 2 lot, Lark Sparrow out, Boat
Tailed Grackles at Coast Guard as well as my FOS Oystercatchers

Good birding,
Rob in Massapequa

--

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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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Re: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park

2016-03-08 Thread Dominic Garcia-Hall
Shai, Brian

I did a panel discussion for the Linnaean Society in January on this very
subject (short write up on my blog). Our conclusion was that Bryant
actually experiences little inflow and outflow from surrounding parks.
Largely due to topographic effect of the buildings there which create a
formidable trap. A few of us are trying to put more data behind this.

By the way, at least two swamp sparrows were still at Bryant when I checked
at the beginning of last week.

The best example I've seen so far in a micro park is the thrasher (one of 2
originally, and still there yesterday) which has overwintered successfully
in a mere 20 square meters of plantings on 6th and 46th, a few blocks north
of Bryant.  This is more like a nano-park than a micro-park

Good birding
Dom

www.antbirder.blogspot.com

www.aventuraargentina.com

+ 1 646 429 2667

On 8 March 2016 at 08:14, Shaibal Mitra  wrote:

> Very interesting, Alan, and thanks for sharing. Bryant Park is evidently
> an excellent study site for winter bird dynamics, as well as for migrants.
>
> Jacob Drucker summarized some of the variables affecting bird occurrence
> in urban micro-parks here:
>
> http://linnaeannewyork.org/birding-resources-rba/bird-micro-parks.html
>
> In view of his analysis of the spatial arrangement of habitat patches in
> NYC, I am curious to know if anyone has been tracking winter numbers in
> more isolated micro-parks, like St. Johns Park in Tribeca. Given Bryant's
> relative proximity to Central Park, it seems quite likely that some birds
> might simply have moved over to the larger park when conditions
> deteriorated at Bryant. If anyone has effort-corrected data for Central
> Park, it would be great to see how the numbers of various species changed
> across this generally mild winter season.
>
> Swamp Sparrows in particular seem to have fared well this winter, being
> present in most of the likely winter habitat patches I've checked during
> the past couple of weeks--a pattern in stark contrast to those of the last
> two, very severe winters, when swampies were almost completely frozen out
> of most wintering sites on Long Island.
>
> In terms of spring arriving, each species has its own fairly stereotyped
> migration phenology. Although blackbirds and robins are already "in" and
> Eastern Phoebes will be arriving any minute now, any Swamp Sparrow or
> Hermit Thrush you see through the next couple of weeks will be one that
> wintered here or not far from here (it will be at least six more weeks
> before we hear the tromp-tromp-tromp of thousands of Catbird feet on the
> march). But we've been learning over these past few years that individual
> birds that survived the winter north of their usual range, for instance at
> feeders or micro-parks, often go missing in mid-March--probably because the
> longer days and milder temperatures allow them to explore the broader
> landscape. The flip side of this is that this wandering about brings some
> of these birds in front of birders for the first time, so mid-March to
> early April has become a new window for searching for western vagrants in
> our area.
>
> Shai Mitra
> Bay Shore
> 
> From: bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu [
> bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Alan Drogin [
> dro...@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 12:10 AM
> To: NYS Birds
> Subject: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park
>
> As the Christmas Bird Count attests, Bryant Park had a very decent
> population of  winter “hardies” - Catbirds, Fox Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, a
> Hermit Thrush, and even a Common Yellowthroat in the Grace Plaza - most
> staying well into January until the first blizzard hit.  Still, with a few
> ice rink food concession stands staying in business, the numbers declined
> relatively slowly.  The last Swamp Sparrow, which liked to huddle over the
> air vent grate along the northern edge of the rink finally disappeared by
> the second ice storm in early February.  Except for the typical populations
> of House and White-throated Sparrows, two Catbirds remain.  The only
> species I’ve observed every winter that tends to slowly increase in these
> last weeks of winter are Song Sparrows.  That, and the forecasted
> unseasonably warmer temperatures are a sign things will only get better.
>
> Happy City Birding,
> Alan Drogin
> --
>
> NYSbirds-L List Info:
> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
> 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html
>
> Please submit your observations to eBird:
> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
>
> --
>
> 
> Support CSI students each time you shop with 

Re: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park

2016-03-08 Thread Dominic Garcia-Hall
Shai, Brian

I did a panel discussion for the Linnaean Society in January on this very
subject (short write up on my blog). Our conclusion was that Bryant
actually experiences little inflow and outflow from surrounding parks.
Largely due to topographic effect of the buildings there which create a
formidable trap. A few of us are trying to put more data behind this.

By the way, at least two swamp sparrows were still at Bryant when I checked
at the beginning of last week.

The best example I've seen so far in a micro park is the thrasher (one of 2
originally, and still there yesterday) which has overwintered successfully
in a mere 20 square meters of plantings on 6th and 46th, a few blocks north
of Bryant.  This is more like a nano-park than a micro-park

Good birding
Dom

www.antbirder.blogspot.com

www.aventuraargentina.com

+ 1 646 429 2667

On 8 March 2016 at 08:14, Shaibal Mitra  wrote:

> Very interesting, Alan, and thanks for sharing. Bryant Park is evidently
> an excellent study site for winter bird dynamics, as well as for migrants.
>
> Jacob Drucker summarized some of the variables affecting bird occurrence
> in urban micro-parks here:
>
> http://linnaeannewyork.org/birding-resources-rba/bird-micro-parks.html
>
> In view of his analysis of the spatial arrangement of habitat patches in
> NYC, I am curious to know if anyone has been tracking winter numbers in
> more isolated micro-parks, like St. Johns Park in Tribeca. Given Bryant's
> relative proximity to Central Park, it seems quite likely that some birds
> might simply have moved over to the larger park when conditions
> deteriorated at Bryant. If anyone has effort-corrected data for Central
> Park, it would be great to see how the numbers of various species changed
> across this generally mild winter season.
>
> Swamp Sparrows in particular seem to have fared well this winter, being
> present in most of the likely winter habitat patches I've checked during
> the past couple of weeks--a pattern in stark contrast to those of the last
> two, very severe winters, when swampies were almost completely frozen out
> of most wintering sites on Long Island.
>
> In terms of spring arriving, each species has its own fairly stereotyped
> migration phenology. Although blackbirds and robins are already "in" and
> Eastern Phoebes will be arriving any minute now, any Swamp Sparrow or
> Hermit Thrush you see through the next couple of weeks will be one that
> wintered here or not far from here (it will be at least six more weeks
> before we hear the tromp-tromp-tromp of thousands of Catbird feet on the
> march). But we've been learning over these past few years that individual
> birds that survived the winter north of their usual range, for instance at
> feeders or micro-parks, often go missing in mid-March--probably because the
> longer days and milder temperatures allow them to explore the broader
> landscape. The flip side of this is that this wandering about brings some
> of these birds in front of birders for the first time, so mid-March to
> early April has become a new window for searching for western vagrants in
> our area.
>
> Shai Mitra
> Bay Shore
> 
> From: bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu [
> bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Alan Drogin [
> dro...@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 12:10 AM
> To: NYS Birds
> Subject: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park
>
> As the Christmas Bird Count attests, Bryant Park had a very decent
> population of  winter “hardies” - Catbirds, Fox Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, a
> Hermit Thrush, and even a Common Yellowthroat in the Grace Plaza - most
> staying well into January until the first blizzard hit.  Still, with a few
> ice rink food concession stands staying in business, the numbers declined
> relatively slowly.  The last Swamp Sparrow, which liked to huddle over the
> air vent grate along the northern edge of the rink finally disappeared by
> the second ice storm in early February.  Except for the typical populations
> of House and White-throated Sparrows, two Catbirds remain.  The only
> species I’ve observed every winter that tends to slowly increase in these
> last weeks of winter are Song Sparrows.  That, and the forecasted
> unseasonably warmer temperatures are a sign things will only get better.
>
> Happy City Birding,
> Alan Drogin
> --
>
> NYSbirds-L List Info:
> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
> 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html
>
> Please submit your observations to eBird:
> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
>
> --
>
> 
> Support CSI students each time you shop with Amazon Smile<
> 

RE: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park

2016-03-08 Thread Shaibal Mitra
Very interesting, Alan, and thanks for sharing. Bryant Park is evidently an 
excellent study site for winter bird dynamics, as well as for migrants.

Jacob Drucker summarized some of the variables affecting bird occurrence in 
urban micro-parks here:

http://linnaeannewyork.org/birding-resources-rba/bird-micro-parks.html

In view of his analysis of the spatial arrangement of habitat patches in NYC, I 
am curious to know if anyone has been tracking winter numbers in more isolated 
micro-parks, like St. Johns Park in Tribeca. Given Bryant's relative proximity 
to Central Park, it seems quite likely that some birds might simply have moved 
over to the larger park when conditions deteriorated at Bryant. If anyone has 
effort-corrected data for Central Park, it would be great to see how the 
numbers of various species changed across this generally mild winter season.

Swamp Sparrows in particular seem to have fared well this winter, being present 
in most of the likely winter habitat patches I've checked during the past 
couple of weeks--a pattern in stark contrast to those of the last two, very 
severe winters, when swampies were almost completely frozen out of most 
wintering sites on Long Island.

In terms of spring arriving, each species has its own fairly stereotyped 
migration phenology. Although blackbirds and robins are already "in" and 
Eastern Phoebes will be arriving any minute now, any Swamp Sparrow or Hermit 
Thrush you see through the next couple of weeks will be one that wintered here 
or not far from here (it will be at least six more weeks before we hear the 
tromp-tromp-tromp of thousands of Catbird feet on the march). But we've been 
learning over these past few years that individual birds that survived the 
winter north of their usual range, for instance at feeders or micro-parks, 
often go missing in mid-March--probably because the longer days and milder 
temperatures allow them to explore the broader landscape. The flip side of this 
is that this wandering about brings some of these birds in front of birders for 
the first time, so mid-March to early April has become a new window for 
searching for western vagrants in our area.

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore

From: bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu 
[bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Alan Drogin 
[dro...@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 12:10 AM
To: NYS Birds
Subject: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park

As the Christmas Bird Count attests, Bryant Park had a very decent population 
of  winter “hardies” - Catbirds, Fox Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, a Hermit Thrush, 
and even a Common Yellowthroat in the Grace Plaza - most staying well into 
January until the first blizzard hit.  Still, with a few ice rink food 
concession stands staying in business, the numbers declined relatively slowly.  
The last Swamp Sparrow, which liked to huddle over the air vent grate along the 
northern edge of the rink finally disappeared by the second ice storm in early 
February.  Except for the typical populations of House and White-throated 
Sparrows, two Catbirds remain.  The only species I’ve observed every winter 
that tends to slowly increase in these last weeks of winter are Song Sparrows.  
That, and the forecasted unseasonably warmer temperatures are a sign things 
will only get better.

Happy City Birding,
Alan Drogin
--

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http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
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ARCHIVES:
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2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--


Support CSI students each time you shop with Amazon 
Smile

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ARCHIVES:
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2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L
3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html

Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/

--



RE: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park

2016-03-08 Thread Shaibal Mitra
Very interesting, Alan, and thanks for sharing. Bryant Park is evidently an 
excellent study site for winter bird dynamics, as well as for migrants.

Jacob Drucker summarized some of the variables affecting bird occurrence in 
urban micro-parks here:

http://linnaeannewyork.org/birding-resources-rba/bird-micro-parks.html

In view of his analysis of the spatial arrangement of habitat patches in NYC, I 
am curious to know if anyone has been tracking winter numbers in more isolated 
micro-parks, like St. Johns Park in Tribeca. Given Bryant's relative proximity 
to Central Park, it seems quite likely that some birds might simply have moved 
over to the larger park when conditions deteriorated at Bryant. If anyone has 
effort-corrected data for Central Park, it would be great to see how the 
numbers of various species changed across this generally mild winter season.

Swamp Sparrows in particular seem to have fared well this winter, being present 
in most of the likely winter habitat patches I've checked during the past 
couple of weeks--a pattern in stark contrast to those of the last two, very 
severe winters, when swampies were almost completely frozen out of most 
wintering sites on Long Island.

In terms of spring arriving, each species has its own fairly stereotyped 
migration phenology. Although blackbirds and robins are already "in" and 
Eastern Phoebes will be arriving any minute now, any Swamp Sparrow or Hermit 
Thrush you see through the next couple of weeks will be one that wintered here 
or not far from here (it will be at least six more weeks before we hear the 
tromp-tromp-tromp of thousands of Catbird feet on the march). But we've been 
learning over these past few years that individual birds that survived the 
winter north of their usual range, for instance at feeders or micro-parks, 
often go missing in mid-March--probably because the longer days and milder 
temperatures allow them to explore the broader landscape. The flip side of this 
is that this wandering about brings some of these birds in front of birders for 
the first time, so mid-March to early April has become a new window for 
searching for western vagrants in our area.

Shai Mitra
Bay Shore

From: bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu 
[bounce-120245026-3714...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Alan Drogin 
[dro...@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, March 8, 2016 12:10 AM
To: NYS Birds
Subject: [nysbirds-l] What's Left - Bryant Park

As the Christmas Bird Count attests, Bryant Park had a very decent population 
of  winter “hardies” - Catbirds, Fox Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, a Hermit Thrush, 
and even a Common Yellowthroat in the Grace Plaza - most staying well into 
January until the first blizzard hit.  Still, with a few ice rink food 
concession stands staying in business, the numbers declined relatively slowly.  
The last Swamp Sparrow, which liked to huddle over the air vent grate along the 
northern edge of the rink finally disappeared by the second ice storm in early 
February.  Except for the typical populations of House and White-throated 
Sparrows, two Catbirds remain.  The only species I’ve observed every winter 
that tends to slowly increase in these last weeks of winter are Song Sparrows.  
That, and the forecasted unseasonably warmer temperatures are a sign things 
will only get better.

Happy City Birding,
Alan Drogin
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