[nysbirds-l] Hudson Yards Birds
A couple of weeks ago I returned to birding the Hudson Yards, a whole five months after the quarantine banned visits to the office, and a time of year notorious for low expectations. I did expect there would be more buildings going up and fewer vacant lots with wild vegetation - but now with a surreal absence of people. What I hadn’t expected is that unlike last summer, I would find lush and fecund gardens, bisected by hidden woodchip pathways, and shaded by leafy orotund trees. No office workers, shoppers, or tourists around, but the same number of uniformed greeters, ground crews, and a pair of friendly gardeners watering the plants in the white noon heat. And then the surprise: a juvenile calico American Robin flying from tree to tree, following me. I was always disappointed that I’d encounter only the occasional Robin passing through, my last seen in October. Nary a sign of nesting last summer. Perhaps the micro-gardens were too young and artificial or the Robins couldn’t compete with all those other marauding scavengers of human lunches? But then, I could swear there were fewer House Sparrows, European Starlings, and Rock Doves around. Then it landed on the black earth behind the subway entrance to join a sibling and two parents and do what all Robins naturally do for sustenance – worming. Reminded me that even those followers of grain byproducts, the House Sparrows, will spend much of the summer feeding their fledgelings grubs. “Nothing but the best for my children…” Stay Safe Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards Birds
A couple of weeks ago I returned to birding the Hudson Yards, a whole five months after the quarantine banned visits to the office, and a time of year notorious for low expectations. I did expect there would be more buildings going up and fewer vacant lots with wild vegetation - but now with a surreal absence of people. What I hadn’t expected is that unlike last summer, I would find lush and fecund gardens, bisected by hidden woodchip pathways, and shaded by leafy orotund trees. No office workers, shoppers, or tourists around, but the same number of uniformed greeters, ground crews, and a pair of friendly gardeners watering the plants in the white noon heat. And then the surprise: a juvenile calico American Robin flying from tree to tree, following me. I was always disappointed that I’d encounter only the occasional Robin passing through, my last seen in October. Nary a sign of nesting last summer. Perhaps the micro-gardens were too young and artificial or the Robins couldn’t compete with all those other marauding scavengers of human lunches? But then, I could swear there were fewer House Sparrows, European Starlings, and Rock Doves around. Then it landed on the black earth behind the subway entrance to join a sibling and two parents and do what all Robins naturally do for sustenance – worming. Reminded me that even those followers of grain byproducts, the House Sparrows, will spend much of the summer feeding their fledgelings grubs. “Nothing but the best for my children…” Stay Safe Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards Winter
As Awkwafina announced on the 7 line PA for one week in January, “Hudson Yards, last stop, hope you like weird architecture,” indeed. Although milder than usual - the winter wind barreling down from The Vessel across the concrete concourse surrounded by on-going construction makes for an exciting commute to and from work. After a drop in temperature in early November, we had a Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Dark-eyed Junco, Fox Sparrow, and Carolina Wren pass through. By mid-November, an Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and American Woodcock. A Wood Thrush also appeared - first hiding in the turning leaves of a tree by the playground. By early December, with the leaves gone, it had acclimated to the commuters and was hopping on the ground near the 34th Street subway with the sparrows. A pair of Ovenbirds did the same - first weaving among the hedges of the lawn behind the subway canopy, eventually chicken-walking the occupied benches along the pathways like the wintering Yellowthroat at Bryant Park. Unfortunately, none made it to the Christmas Bird Count. However, the Grey Catbirds stayed - up to 5 at a time. I had to continually override eBird’s insistence that more than one was rare. Perhaps it had to do with the isolated islands of over-landscaped gardens between the streets allowing them to stake out territory - although they were always visiting each other as if coming over to sup on runaway human lunches. At Bryant Park, when the concession stands folded and a major winter storm blew through, the winter hearties would usually all depart - but this winter has been mild and they’re sticking around. At least two Grey Catbirds, one or two Swamp Sparrows near the public restrooms, and one of three Easter Towhees - a female, a male, and a dark chocolate variant I believe is also a male - make my weekly bird count. I sense they recognize me as much as I recognize them. Also every week, above it all, around the Bolt Bus depot, a female American Kestrel watches over this sorry winter crew, scaring the living daylights out of the ubiquitous pigeons and starlings. We both wait for spring arrivals. Happy Winter Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards Winter
As Awkwafina announced on the 7 line PA for one week in January, “Hudson Yards, last stop, hope you like weird architecture,” indeed. Although milder than usual - the winter wind barreling down from The Vessel across the concrete concourse surrounded by on-going construction makes for an exciting commute to and from work. After a drop in temperature in early November, we had a Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Dark-eyed Junco, Fox Sparrow, and Carolina Wren pass through. By mid-November, an Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and American Woodcock. A Wood Thrush also appeared - first hiding in the turning leaves of a tree by the playground. By early December, with the leaves gone, it had acclimated to the commuters and was hopping on the ground near the 34th Street subway with the sparrows. A pair of Ovenbirds did the same - first weaving among the hedges of the lawn behind the subway canopy, eventually chicken-walking the occupied benches along the pathways like the wintering Yellowthroat at Bryant Park. Unfortunately, none made it to the Christmas Bird Count. However, the Grey Catbirds stayed - up to 5 at a time. I had to continually override eBird’s insistence that more than one was rare. Perhaps it had to do with the isolated islands of over-landscaped gardens between the streets allowing them to stake out territory - although they were always visiting each other as if coming over to sup on runaway human lunches. At Bryant Park, when the concession stands folded and a major winter storm blew through, the winter hearties would usually all depart - but this winter has been mild and they’re sticking around. At least two Grey Catbirds, one or two Swamp Sparrows near the public restrooms, and one of three Easter Towhees - a female, a male, and a dark chocolate variant I believe is also a male - make my weekly bird count. I sense they recognize me as much as I recognize them. Also every week, above it all, around the Bolt Bus depot, a female American Kestrel watches over this sorry winter crew, scaring the living daylights out of the ubiquitous pigeons and starlings. We both wait for spring arrivals. Happy Winter Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards Habitat Loss
I discovered this week that my favorite birding spot in Hudson Yards, just north of 36th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, was bulldozed. I guess it was inevitable that to most people this steep slope of overgrown weeds and trees between railroad tracks and an abandoned auto shop would be considered an eyesore, but it was favored by birds over the manicured high-tech “green spaces” of Bella Abzug Park and the Vessel Plaza. It’s that the swiftness of its demise is just a shock. A bulldozer sits in the vacant lot behind the chain-link fence festooned with new “active driveway” signs. The beautiful fan of ivy that covered the auto shop was cut at the roots and turning brown. All I could see was a pair of Gray Catbirds chasing each other through one of the last remaining trees, filled with its final season's bounty of black berries. On a better note - I spotted the first returning warbler, a Common Yellowthroat across the tracks in the bushes. On the south side of the street, in an abandoned parking lot where the grasses have been slowly taking over around a couple of stagnant pools, my first Northern Mockingbird for the area, a juvenile, doing its robotic shoulder shrug - bringing the count to 31 species. Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards Habitat Loss
I discovered this week that my favorite birding spot in Hudson Yards, just north of 36th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, was bulldozed. I guess it was inevitable that to most people this steep slope of overgrown weeds and trees between railroad tracks and an abandoned auto shop would be considered an eyesore, but it was favored by birds over the manicured high-tech “green spaces” of Bella Abzug Park and the Vessel Plaza. It’s that the swiftness of its demise is just a shock. A bulldozer sits in the vacant lot behind the chain-link fence festooned with new “active driveway” signs. The beautiful fan of ivy that covered the auto shop was cut at the roots and turning brown. All I could see was a pair of Gray Catbirds chasing each other through one of the last remaining trees, filled with its final season's bounty of black berries. On a better note - I spotted the first returning warbler, a Common Yellowthroat across the tracks in the bushes. On the south side of the street, in an abandoned parking lot where the grasses have been slowly taking over around a couple of stagnant pools, my first Northern Mockingbird for the area, a juvenile, doing its robotic shoulder shrug - bringing the count to 31 species. Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards
Not a court, school, stock, grave, or back, but a rail yard – 30 train tracks wrapped by the High Line “Spur” and flanked truck lots - six ground-level blocks abutting a heliport and the Hudson River.The city covered the ground-level access tunnels with streets propped two stories high, and the developers built a vertical empire on top of that to keep everyone looking up and away from its namesake. In early Spring, I was one of the first wave of employees to occupy its flagship skyscraper #30. One stairway, three escalators, and two elevator banks - a two-way vertigo-inducing commute from super-subterranean subway to birds-eye view down at the “vessel” and “Yard”. So how was Spring birding at the Yards? Well, the human garbage scavenging immigrant House Sparrow and European Starling, joined by the Feral Pigeon and occasional Grey Catbird occupy the wafer-thin, jet-engine cooled, “smart” islands of highly manicured flora scattered among a sea of pedestrian pavement. From my cubicle aerie, I always see a couple of hundred Ring-billed and Herring Gulls hang out on the two high-tech green rooftops of Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and the lesser-known US Parcel Post Building. A flock of Barn Swallows briefly joined the gulls a few evenings in early May to dive-bomb Eleventh Avenue. But with few exceptions, the rest of the migrating fauna mostly seek out the abandoned garbage-strewn tangles of below-street-level weeds around the train yard access tracks which run diagonally northward and are exposed intermittently until finally disappearing under the Midtown Tunnel ramp. The first exposure is an inaccessible plot of grass at the northeast corner of 35th Street and Eleventh Avenue – unfortunately the largest grass plot outside of the green roofs - and home to a pair of American Robins and my only sighting of a Song Sparrow in April. The next exposure emerges north of the Bella Abzug Park. Protected by a chain link fence is a luscious bank of wild trees and weeds steeply sloping up from the tracks to a broken concrete lot belonging to a vine covered shuttered auto body shop. Looking in at this wild inaccessible mess through the chain fence underneath a sidewalk shade tree containing an abandoned bird feeder, this simple acre, of all places, is now my favorite birding spot. I have even seen a skunk twice, and a raccoon scramble under the broken concrete slabs at dusk. So far – 29 bird species (6 warblers). Happy City Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards
Not a court, school, stock, grave, or back, but a rail yard – 30 train tracks wrapped by the High Line “Spur” and flanked truck lots - six ground-level blocks abutting a heliport and the Hudson River.The city covered the ground-level access tunnels with streets propped two stories high, and the developers built a vertical empire on top of that to keep everyone looking up and away from its namesake. In early Spring, I was one of the first wave of employees to occupy its flagship skyscraper #30. One stairway, three escalators, and two elevator banks - a two-way vertigo-inducing commute from super-subterranean subway to birds-eye view down at the “vessel” and “Yard”. So how was Spring birding at the Yards? Well, the human garbage scavenging immigrant House Sparrow and European Starling, joined by the Feral Pigeon and occasional Grey Catbird occupy the wafer-thin, jet-engine cooled, “smart” islands of highly manicured flora scattered among a sea of pedestrian pavement. From my cubicle aerie, I always see a couple of hundred Ring-billed and Herring Gulls hang out on the two high-tech green rooftops of Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and the lesser-known US Parcel Post Building. A flock of Barn Swallows briefly joined the gulls a few evenings in early May to dive-bomb Eleventh Avenue. But with few exceptions, the rest of the migrating fauna mostly seek out the abandoned garbage-strewn tangles of below-street-level weeds around the train yard access tracks which run diagonally northward and are exposed intermittently until finally disappearing under the Midtown Tunnel ramp. The first exposure is an inaccessible plot of grass at the northeast corner of 35th Street and Eleventh Avenue – unfortunately the largest grass plot outside of the green roofs - and home to a pair of American Robins and my only sighting of a Song Sparrow in April. The next exposure emerges north of the Bella Abzug Park. Protected by a chain link fence is a luscious bank of wild trees and weeds steeply sloping up from the tracks to a broken concrete lot belonging to a vine covered shuttered auto body shop. Looking in at this wild inaccessible mess through the chain fence underneath a sidewalk shade tree containing an abandoned bird feeder, this simple acre, of all places, is now my favorite birding spot. I have even seen a skunk twice, and a raccoon scramble under the broken concrete slabs at dusk. So far – 29 bird species (6 warblers). Happy City Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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/ --
Fwd: [nysbirds-l] Hudson Yards Mourning Warbler
-- Forwarded message - From: Ben Cacace Date: Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 7:12 AM Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Hudson Yards Mourning Warbler To: NYSBIRDS-L , eBirds NYC < ebirds...@yahoogroups.com> Concerning the eBird shared locations in the area there is one that was created after Alan moved there called '*Hudson Yards (30th-41st St.; 8th-11th Ave.)* <https://ebird.org/hotspot/L9019612>'. Another was *just created* for 'Bella Abzug Park' which will be available in 12 hours or less. On Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 11:49 PM Alan Drogin wrote: > I’ve been birding my new office location since April 10th and finally > found something worth reporting. My sixth warbler for Hudson Yards - > Mourning Warbler sighted in grassy patch at corner of 36th and Hudson > Blvd. Came out of the tall grass while pishing an hour before sunset - > nice male, gave a few chips, flew to the top of the fence and then flew > across the street to Bella Abzug park. > > Happy City Birding, > Alan Drogin > -- > > 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/ > > -- > > -- Ben Cacace Manhattan, NYC -- 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/ --
Fwd: [nysbirds-l] Hudson Yards Mourning Warbler
-- Forwarded message - From: Ben Cacace Date: Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 7:12 AM Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Hudson Yards Mourning Warbler To: NYSBIRDS-L , eBirds NYC < ebirds...@yahoogroups.com> Concerning the eBird shared locations in the area there is one that was created after Alan moved there called '*Hudson Yards (30th-41st St.; 8th-11th Ave.)* <https://ebird.org/hotspot/L9019612>'. Another was *just created* for 'Bella Abzug Park' which will be available in 12 hours or less. On Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 11:49 PM Alan Drogin wrote: > I’ve been birding my new office location since April 10th and finally > found something worth reporting. My sixth warbler for Hudson Yards - > Mourning Warbler sighted in grassy patch at corner of 36th and Hudson > Blvd. Came out of the tall grass while pishing an hour before sunset - > nice male, gave a few chips, flew to the top of the fence and then flew > across the street to Bella Abzug park. > > Happy City Birding, > Alan Drogin > -- > > 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/ > > -- > > -- Ben Cacace Manhattan, NYC -- 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] Hudson Yards Mourning Warbler
I’ve been birding my new office location since April 10th and finally found something worth reporting. My sixth warbler for Hudson Yards - Mourning Warbler sighted in grassy patch at corner of 36th and Hudson Blvd. Came out of the tall grass while pishing an hour before sunset - nice male, gave a few chips, flew to the top of the fence and then flew across the street to Bella Abzug park. Happy City Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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] Hudson Yards Mourning Warbler
I’ve been birding my new office location since April 10th and finally found something worth reporting. My sixth warbler for Hudson Yards - Mourning Warbler sighted in grassy patch at corner of 36th and Hudson Blvd. Came out of the tall grass while pishing an hour before sunset - nice male, gave a few chips, flew to the top of the fence and then flew across the street to Bella Abzug park. Happy City Birding, Alan Drogin -- 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/ --
