[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 3/19-21 (grounded Snow Goose, E. Meadowlark, Pine Warbler, & etc.)
Manhattan, N.Y. City - Tues.-Thursday, 19-21 March, 2019 A slightly slower week for migration, but in the rain Thursday a few uncommon sightings as well as more-expected species trying to push thru. A solitary SNOW Goose turned up at Central Park’s North Meadow on Thursday, not unexpected in-flight each year, but almost only as flyovers past Manhattan, & very unusual on the ground, for Central Park in particular. Earlier in the day Thursday, an Eastern MEADOWLARK also graced the same meadow, that along with a very loose foraging group of several hundred icterids, mainly Common Grackles, with also a modest number of Red-winged Blackbirds, & a notable number of Euro. Starlings as well. The meadowlark, which gave just 2 brief calls (not songs!) that alerted me to its presence on the eastern part of the closed ballfields, was not re-found after all of the large, loose flock took wing & went to trees, from some unseen ‘threat’, perhaps a red-tailed hawk or a falcon in the vicinity, on a rather damp morning. Relatively few raptors were seen, but some Red-tailed Hawks & the 2 regular manhattan-breeding falcon species were (Am. Kestrel, & Peregrine). Birding in the (light) rain can be interesting - and sometimes, productive. More rain overnight might bring some additional sightings of interest... There were additional blackbird flocks on the Great Lawn & at Sheep Meadow in Central Park on Thursday, as well as in a few other spots; in a 7+ hour walk thru every section of Central, I tallied about 750 Common Grackles, & up to 80 Red-winged B-b’s all of the latter being males. American Robin numbers were also up a bit on Thursday, with easily over 500 in that park on the day. For other migrants, numbers were minimal - E. Phoebes were seen in the single-digits, and I encountered a single & solitary PINE Warbler just south of the Gill in the Ramble area, later in the day. Many birds had also moved on, northbound, from what was a mini-wave of early birds in days preceding this report’s period: Song & [Red] Fox Sparrows, & Slate-colored Juncos were among these. And likely along with those more-common species, a scant mix of other early-birds that had swelled only slightly in numbers - some of them perhaps having wintered rather locally in the area or region, such as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren amongst these. In a 30-minute watch (3/21) at the Ramble’s bird-feeder array, I noted Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthtach, 3 PURPLE Finch, & assorted other species that had been occasional or more regular all thru this past winter. A lot of birds, in general & all over, have been singing at various times, whether in colder or milder temperatures… the longer daylight now makes the difference (as well as other factors…) Elsewhere in Manhattan, my own looks at Riverside Park’s sanctuary area had NOT revealed an Evening Grosbeak again since a sighting on Monday - however, it is just possible that single male bird is still in that area. I was around there including the woods north of the sanctuary proper for a while on Tues. & also Thursday; some of the overwintered species that continued there included Gray Catbird, and E. Towhee. A Swamp Sparrow was also seen & the latter species has been turning up in a few, if still scant, locations. On Randall’s Island on Wed., 3/20 there were at least a few spring species seen, including Osprey, Laughing Gull, Wilson’s Snipe, and Killdeer, as well as some species not seen that recently. Various sightings of the past 6 days in Manhattan & N.Y. County have included: Red-throated Loon (rivers / estuaries, NY harbor) Common Loon (rivers / estuaries, harbor) Pied-billed Grebe (Central Park reservoir) Great Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron (small no.) Black-crowned Night-Heron (Randall’s Island area) Turkey Vulture (very modest no’s. this week) Snow Goose (on meadow in Central Park, 3/21) Canada Goose Atlantic Brant Mute Swan Wood Duck (several in Central Park, & 2 with their also-wintering congener, the escaped or released or becoming ‘feral' Mandarin duck at the Pond) Gadwall American Wigeon (scant, off-Manhattan, but NY County islands) American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail (Randall’s Island area, 3/20) Greater Scaup (lower E. River estuary) Bufflehead Common Goldeneye (Randall’s Island area) Hooded Merganser (Central Park reservoir) Red-breasted Merganser (rivers / estuaries) Ruddy Duck Osprey (Randall’s Island area) Bald Eagle (esp., flying along Hudson river) Sharp-shinned Hawk (scant, but some migrants in flight) Cooper's Hawk (less common this week, & some probably migrating thru) Red-tailed Hawk American Coot (4 or 5, Central Park waters) Killdeer (only off-Manhattan island sightings) Wilson's Snipe (Randall’s Island, in freshwater marsh area) American Woodcock (in multiple locations all thru the week) Laughing Gull (Randall’s Island area,
[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 3/19-21 (grounded Snow Goose, E. Meadowlark, Pine Warbler, & etc.)
Manhattan, N.Y. City - Tues.-Thursday, 19-21 March, 2019 A slightly slower week for migration, but in the rain Thursday a few uncommon sightings as well as more-expected species trying to push thru. A solitary SNOW Goose turned up at Central Park’s North Meadow on Thursday, not unexpected in-flight each year, but almost only as flyovers past Manhattan, & very unusual on the ground, for Central Park in particular. Earlier in the day Thursday, an Eastern MEADOWLARK also graced the same meadow, that along with a very loose foraging group of several hundred icterids, mainly Common Grackles, with also a modest number of Red-winged Blackbirds, & a notable number of Euro. Starlings as well. The meadowlark, which gave just 2 brief calls (not songs!) that alerted me to its presence on the eastern part of the closed ballfields, was not re-found after all of the large, loose flock took wing & went to trees, from some unseen ‘threat’, perhaps a red-tailed hawk or a falcon in the vicinity, on a rather damp morning. Relatively few raptors were seen, but some Red-tailed Hawks & the 2 regular manhattan-breeding falcon species were (Am. Kestrel, & Peregrine). Birding in the (light) rain can be interesting - and sometimes, productive. More rain overnight might bring some additional sightings of interest... There were additional blackbird flocks on the Great Lawn & at Sheep Meadow in Central Park on Thursday, as well as in a few other spots; in a 7+ hour walk thru every section of Central, I tallied about 750 Common Grackles, & up to 80 Red-winged B-b’s all of the latter being males. American Robin numbers were also up a bit on Thursday, with easily over 500 in that park on the day. For other migrants, numbers were minimal - E. Phoebes were seen in the single-digits, and I encountered a single & solitary PINE Warbler just south of the Gill in the Ramble area, later in the day. Many birds had also moved on, northbound, from what was a mini-wave of early birds in days preceding this report’s period: Song & [Red] Fox Sparrows, & Slate-colored Juncos were among these. And likely along with those more-common species, a scant mix of other early-birds that had swelled only slightly in numbers - some of them perhaps having wintered rather locally in the area or region, such as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren amongst these. In a 30-minute watch (3/21) at the Ramble’s bird-feeder array, I noted Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthtach, 3 PURPLE Finch, & assorted other species that had been occasional or more regular all thru this past winter. A lot of birds, in general & all over, have been singing at various times, whether in colder or milder temperatures… the longer daylight now makes the difference (as well as other factors…) Elsewhere in Manhattan, my own looks at Riverside Park’s sanctuary area had NOT revealed an Evening Grosbeak again since a sighting on Monday - however, it is just possible that single male bird is still in that area. I was around there including the woods north of the sanctuary proper for a while on Tues. & also Thursday; some of the overwintered species that continued there included Gray Catbird, and E. Towhee. A Swamp Sparrow was also seen & the latter species has been turning up in a few, if still scant, locations. On Randall’s Island on Wed., 3/20 there were at least a few spring species seen, including Osprey, Laughing Gull, Wilson’s Snipe, and Killdeer, as well as some species not seen that recently. Various sightings of the past 6 days in Manhattan & N.Y. County have included: Red-throated Loon (rivers / estuaries, NY harbor) Common Loon (rivers / estuaries, harbor) Pied-billed Grebe (Central Park reservoir) Great Cormorant Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron (small no.) Black-crowned Night-Heron (Randall’s Island area) Turkey Vulture (very modest no’s. this week) Snow Goose (on meadow in Central Park, 3/21) Canada Goose Atlantic Brant Mute Swan Wood Duck (several in Central Park, & 2 with their also-wintering congener, the escaped or released or becoming ‘feral' Mandarin duck at the Pond) Gadwall American Wigeon (scant, off-Manhattan, but NY County islands) American Black Duck Mallard Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail (Randall’s Island area, 3/20) Greater Scaup (lower E. River estuary) Bufflehead Common Goldeneye (Randall’s Island area) Hooded Merganser (Central Park reservoir) Red-breasted Merganser (rivers / estuaries) Ruddy Duck Osprey (Randall’s Island area) Bald Eagle (esp., flying along Hudson river) Sharp-shinned Hawk (scant, but some migrants in flight) Cooper's Hawk (less common this week, & some probably migrating thru) Red-tailed Hawk American Coot (4 or 5, Central Park waters) Killdeer (only off-Manhattan island sightings) Wilson's Snipe (Randall’s Island, in freshwater marsh area) American Woodcock (in multiple locations all thru the week) Laughing Gull (Randall’s Island area,
