[nysbirds-l] Jones Beach terns
During most of the day, a group of terns has been feeding on the ocean or resting on the beach at Field 6. Mostly Forster's with 7 Black Terns and a banded Royal Tern. The middle of the beach is covered by water but is allowing for close views of the terns from the parking lot. Rob in Massapequa -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Jones Beach terns
During most of the day, a group of terns has been feeding on the ocean or resting on the beach at Field 6. Mostly Forster's with 7 Black Terns and a banded Royal Tern. The middle of the beach is covered by water but is allowing for close views of the terns from the parking lot. Rob in Massapequa -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/16-17-18 (w/storm-notes, etc.)
While somewhat-muted excitement can be found by birders able to access the waters off & ponds & land by & close to the Atlantic, Long Island Sound, &/or other "points east”, thanks to a close approach by the latest storm, “Jose”, to affect our region, a further worrisome storm (in terms of potential harms to humans & much flora & fauna, and all life), named “Maria”, is pushing into the eastern Caribbean, and had been strengthening as it was moving on to or near multiple islands there. In addition to the recent near-total human devastation on some islands of the Caribbean, we may have nearly lost (& hopefully, not lost entirely) an entire species, the Barbuda Warbler, an endemic found on its namesake island - only much time & future surveying will tell how that bird fared thru their known catastrophic damage to all human settlement, and to most of the life of that island. It is a very rough year already for such storms of the tropical-cyclone type, and the seasonal cycle is very far from natural completion. “Maria” has the potential to hit multiple islands that have not had any time yet to recover from the most recent devastation, some of those islands host multiple endemic bird species as well as numerous other resident & migratory birds. The human toll is one of the parts of the damages from these horrible storms. We might all re-double our efforts to not bring any unnecessary stresses to the birds we are finding in our area, many of which are - those being seen right now - migrants which either winter (the majority of their annual life-cycles) in, or pass through some of the many areas being so seriously-affected by the storms this season. It is a good thing to realize what the entirety of our migrant birds’ lives include, not only the fairly brief times they pass through on biannual migrations, or even the few critical months that some take to breed in our forests, fields or wetlands (of those not doing so in taiga or tundra habitat); above all, neotropical-wintering migrants must have sound habitat to winter in, and that is the better part of any year for them. A modest or small number of species may be “fortunate” in ability to adapt somewhat to rapid changes in habitat or quality of habitat, but many, very many, likely do not. And there is no place else to go for some unique, endemic species (applicable to many living things, not just birds nor animals). For some, if their habitats go, they will be gone, not able to survive on this planet - extinguished forever. Please - give a thougt to this, and do nothing that might add the slightest stress to any migrants passing through. — — — Followers of the Maine-Birds list (as I often am) will know that an uncommonly-lengthy stay by a FORK-tailed Flycatcher is continuing this Tuesday (9/19) & has been seen often over now 4 days, at Gilsland Farm, in Falmouth, on the s./mid-coast of Maine. (Also making appearances just offshore on Monhegan Island in Maine quite recently were a Say’s Phoebe, & a Painted Bunting.) - - - - - Some migrants are present this Tuesday, Sept. 19th in Central Park, & interestingly these include a modest no. of species which are Caribbean-wintering, & including such species now a bit “late” such as Prairie Warbler; & also Blue-winged Warbler which is not a typical mid-fall migrant. Already at least 14 warbler spp. seen for Tues. in Central, with additions fairly likely. Additional reports for Tuesday and days ahead, yet to come. Also seen early Tuesday were several Common Nighthawks moving past the Great Lawn; while not at all unprecedented in daytime in Sept., their main migrations are typically a bit earlier. (As the season progresses, that species may show up in full daylight-hours a bit more than seen in the main periods of southbound movement.) - - - - - Saturday-Sunday-Monday, 16th-17th-18th September, 2017 Central Park (and a few other sites in) Manhattan, N.Y. City - Good migration on Friday & Saturday nights over all of the northeast was more in evidence as 'drop-in’ on Saturday in Central Park, a bit less so by Sunday, & far less by Monday, with many migrants having moved on by then. A modest surprise, no longer the shock it would have been just 20 years ago, was a young (prob. 2nd-year) Bald Eagle barely clearing some buildings on Central Park West, as it moved from east (thus over the park) to west, near W. 81 St., meaning it ‘chose' to overfly the American Museum of Natural History & its adjacent Margaret Mead Park, as it certainly continued on to the Hudson river a few short city blocks west: this was about 3 p.m. Monday. Some of the birds still around by Monday were lingerers, possibly including a number not yet fattened-up properly for a major onward migration. This is somewhat typical of southbound migration, & there will be more stragglers seen (as there are logically, many more total-individual birds, with young-of-the-year added to
[nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/16-17-18 (w/storm-notes, etc.)
While somewhat-muted excitement can be found by birders able to access the waters off & ponds & land by & close to the Atlantic, Long Island Sound, &/or other "points east”, thanks to a close approach by the latest storm, “Jose”, to affect our region, a further worrisome storm (in terms of potential harms to humans & much flora & fauna, and all life), named “Maria”, is pushing into the eastern Caribbean, and had been strengthening as it was moving on to or near multiple islands there. In addition to the recent near-total human devastation on some islands of the Caribbean, we may have nearly lost (& hopefully, not lost entirely) an entire species, the Barbuda Warbler, an endemic found on its namesake island - only much time & future surveying will tell how that bird fared thru their known catastrophic damage to all human settlement, and to most of the life of that island. It is a very rough year already for such storms of the tropical-cyclone type, and the seasonal cycle is very far from natural completion. “Maria” has the potential to hit multiple islands that have not had any time yet to recover from the most recent devastation, some of those islands host multiple endemic bird species as well as numerous other resident & migratory birds. The human toll is one of the parts of the damages from these horrible storms. We might all re-double our efforts to not bring any unnecessary stresses to the birds we are finding in our area, many of which are - those being seen right now - migrants which either winter (the majority of their annual life-cycles) in, or pass through some of the many areas being so seriously-affected by the storms this season. It is a good thing to realize what the entirety of our migrant birds’ lives include, not only the fairly brief times they pass through on biannual migrations, or even the few critical months that some take to breed in our forests, fields or wetlands (of those not doing so in taiga or tundra habitat); above all, neotropical-wintering migrants must have sound habitat to winter in, and that is the better part of any year for them. A modest or small number of species may be “fortunate” in ability to adapt somewhat to rapid changes in habitat or quality of habitat, but many, very many, likely do not. And there is no place else to go for some unique, endemic species (applicable to many living things, not just birds nor animals). For some, if their habitats go, they will be gone, not able to survive on this planet - extinguished forever. Please - give a thougt to this, and do nothing that might add the slightest stress to any migrants passing through. — — — Followers of the Maine-Birds list (as I often am) will know that an uncommonly-lengthy stay by a FORK-tailed Flycatcher is continuing this Tuesday (9/19) & has been seen often over now 4 days, at Gilsland Farm, in Falmouth, on the s./mid-coast of Maine. (Also making appearances just offshore on Monhegan Island in Maine quite recently were a Say’s Phoebe, & a Painted Bunting.) - - - - - Some migrants are present this Tuesday, Sept. 19th in Central Park, & interestingly these include a modest no. of species which are Caribbean-wintering, & including such species now a bit “late” such as Prairie Warbler; & also Blue-winged Warbler which is not a typical mid-fall migrant. Already at least 14 warbler spp. seen for Tues. in Central, with additions fairly likely. Additional reports for Tuesday and days ahead, yet to come. Also seen early Tuesday were several Common Nighthawks moving past the Great Lawn; while not at all unprecedented in daytime in Sept., their main migrations are typically a bit earlier. (As the season progresses, that species may show up in full daylight-hours a bit more than seen in the main periods of southbound movement.) - - - - - Saturday-Sunday-Monday, 16th-17th-18th September, 2017 Central Park (and a few other sites in) Manhattan, N.Y. City - Good migration on Friday & Saturday nights over all of the northeast was more in evidence as 'drop-in’ on Saturday in Central Park, a bit less so by Sunday, & far less by Monday, with many migrants having moved on by then. A modest surprise, no longer the shock it would have been just 20 years ago, was a young (prob. 2nd-year) Bald Eagle barely clearing some buildings on Central Park West, as it moved from east (thus over the park) to west, near W. 81 St., meaning it ‘chose' to overfly the American Museum of Natural History & its adjacent Margaret Mead Park, as it certainly continued on to the Hudson river a few short city blocks west: this was about 3 p.m. Monday. Some of the birds still around by Monday were lingerers, possibly including a number not yet fattened-up properly for a major onward migration. This is somewhat typical of southbound migration, & there will be more stragglers seen (as there are logically, many more total-individual birds, with young-of-the-year added to
