[nysbirds-l] New York County, N.Y.C. 11/17 thru 11/22 (11/19 Eve. Grosbeak; comments on 6 spp. of owls, etc.)
There has been the occasional discussion on this list of late (&/or vagrant) Myiarchus flycatchers in the state; while rather rare to be found this far into November, there are examples of Great Crested Flycatcher well into the month, & one such is in the checklist (w/ good photos) from Oswego Co., NY on 11/18/‘18 - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50023787 (notes on owls esp. from Thanksgiving Day, 11/22. No specific locations noted excepting a Short-eared Owl which has been posted about to this list as well as to eBird, by the finder & other observers. The latter species is an obvious highlight of N.Y. County birding, & an Eve. Grosbeak sighting that was photo’d. on 11/19 at Central Park is also an obvious highlight of the season.) - - - - - Manhattan (& N.Y. County), N.Y. City - Sat., Nov. 17th - an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was photographed at Randall’s Island on the n. side by the smaller saltmarsh area mudflats. A Black-throated Blue Warbler was reported at the south end of Central Park, & a Palm Warbler again seen at the west side of the CP reservoir. A few Yellow-rumped Warblers also continued in that park, while an Orange-crowned Warbler was seen at Randall’s Island - a part of New York County. - - - Sun., Nov. 18th - remarkably late Chimney Swifts (multiple - with reports of up to 4 individuals, over Central Park) with at least several observers. A very strong flight of Cedar Waxwings occurred, with at least 600 thru northern Manhattan before noon, & at least one very large flock seen perching, containing 200+ waxwings. That large flock & to a lesser extent the flyovers were scanned-thru on the (perhaps remote) chance of a different waxwing species, but only Cedars were seen. That large flock was perched atop bare trees on Dyckman Street, at the s. edge of Inwood Hill Park, in late morning, but was mostly gone when I checked there again an hour or so later. A few much smaller crabapple trees were being stripped of fruits at the time I came on this flock, but there were Am. Robins, & also some starlings helping themselves to the fruits, & the waxwings were seen in greatest numbers in higher bare treetops above the small NYC Parks building. The flyovers were in flocks of 40 - 120+, & kept coming, all moving south or south-by-southwest, just over the west edge of Manhattan from these n. Manhattan vantage points: I also found more modest flocks of C. Waxwings in the interior of Inwood Hill, & over at Highbridge Park (also in n. Manhattan) & along the bike-ped. paths there, as well as in some of the less-birded parks of central & south Harlem (Manhattan), & also some 100+ Cedars (in a lot of areas, combined) within Central & Riverside Parks, later still. My estimate of 600 is however based solely on more than 600+ seen in southbound flight, after which I found the perched flock of over 200 at Dyckman St. in northern Manhattan, & I did not add in any more of the waxwings to that tally after being at Dyckman St. - there easily might have been far more than my conservative estimate, only covering hours from about 8-noon. (Of course, as wanderers in search of food, waxwings might have moved & spread in any directions later on, but I think it likely that many of those in flight may have continued on, perhaps towards either N.J. or possibly making a stop in Richmond County/Staten Island, NYC, depending their flight heading as they came farther south.) There was also a good flight, but not as notable for the species, of American Robin, with 850+ thru the morning, many appearing to continue SSW, although seen in more modest numbers (feeding) in most areas, as well. Numbers of Am. Goldfinch also, but that species is fully expected in numbers by mid-late Nov. in most years in this region. Also notable were the icterid flocks, many of those higher, & some much higher, above ground than most of the waxwing flight; Red-winged Blackbirds & Common Grackles, & what appeared to be some Brown-headed Cowbirds (or more simply, cowbird sp.) with a very few Rusty Blackbirds, in a few lower flocks; the totals of these were in the low 2,000’s - I estimated 2,200 which is rather conservative, again in the a.m. hours, & with some birds high enough as to nearly be in the (low) cloud layers at times. I did not notice any further flight into the afternoon hours, but also was not checking much by then. In addition, there were a few areas with modest flocks of Purple Finch - of course, the latter species has been in good numbers in the area for weeks & weeks already, & these flocks may or may not have been of new arrivals - one flock of 12+, mostly not of bright males, was feeding quietly in a ‘berried’ area on the path along the Hudson south of Dyckman St., & a few much smaller groups were in several locations, including Fort Tryon Park, Inwood Hill Park, Swindler Cove/Sherman Creek park, & later, both Riverside & Central Parks. Most of these
[nysbirds-l] New York County, N.Y.C. 11/17 thru 11/22 (11/19 Eve. Grosbeak; comments on 6 spp. of owls, etc.)
There has been the occasional discussion on this list of late (&/or vagrant) Myiarchus flycatchers in the state; while rather rare to be found this far into November, there are examples of Great Crested Flycatcher well into the month, & one such is in the checklist (w/ good photos) from Oswego Co., NY on 11/18/‘18 - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S50023787 (notes on owls esp. from Thanksgiving Day, 11/22. No specific locations noted excepting a Short-eared Owl which has been posted about to this list as well as to eBird, by the finder & other observers. The latter species is an obvious highlight of N.Y. County birding, & an Eve. Grosbeak sighting that was photo’d. on 11/19 at Central Park is also an obvious highlight of the season.) - - - - - Manhattan (& N.Y. County), N.Y. City - Sat., Nov. 17th - an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was photographed at Randall’s Island on the n. side by the smaller saltmarsh area mudflats. A Black-throated Blue Warbler was reported at the south end of Central Park, & a Palm Warbler again seen at the west side of the CP reservoir. A few Yellow-rumped Warblers also continued in that park, while an Orange-crowned Warbler was seen at Randall’s Island - a part of New York County. - - - Sun., Nov. 18th - remarkably late Chimney Swifts (multiple - with reports of up to 4 individuals, over Central Park) with at least several observers. A very strong flight of Cedar Waxwings occurred, with at least 600 thru northern Manhattan before noon, & at least one very large flock seen perching, containing 200+ waxwings. That large flock & to a lesser extent the flyovers were scanned-thru on the (perhaps remote) chance of a different waxwing species, but only Cedars were seen. That large flock was perched atop bare trees on Dyckman Street, at the s. edge of Inwood Hill Park, in late morning, but was mostly gone when I checked there again an hour or so later. A few much smaller crabapple trees were being stripped of fruits at the time I came on this flock, but there were Am. Robins, & also some starlings helping themselves to the fruits, & the waxwings were seen in greatest numbers in higher bare treetops above the small NYC Parks building. The flyovers were in flocks of 40 - 120+, & kept coming, all moving south or south-by-southwest, just over the west edge of Manhattan from these n. Manhattan vantage points: I also found more modest flocks of C. Waxwings in the interior of Inwood Hill, & over at Highbridge Park (also in n. Manhattan) & along the bike-ped. paths there, as well as in some of the less-birded parks of central & south Harlem (Manhattan), & also some 100+ Cedars (in a lot of areas, combined) within Central & Riverside Parks, later still. My estimate of 600 is however based solely on more than 600+ seen in southbound flight, after which I found the perched flock of over 200 at Dyckman St. in northern Manhattan, & I did not add in any more of the waxwings to that tally after being at Dyckman St. - there easily might have been far more than my conservative estimate, only covering hours from about 8-noon. (Of course, as wanderers in search of food, waxwings might have moved & spread in any directions later on, but I think it likely that many of those in flight may have continued on, perhaps towards either N.J. or possibly making a stop in Richmond County/Staten Island, NYC, depending their flight heading as they came farther south.) There was also a good flight, but not as notable for the species, of American Robin, with 850+ thru the morning, many appearing to continue SSW, although seen in more modest numbers (feeding) in most areas, as well. Numbers of Am. Goldfinch also, but that species is fully expected in numbers by mid-late Nov. in most years in this region. Also notable were the icterid flocks, many of those higher, & some much higher, above ground than most of the waxwing flight; Red-winged Blackbirds & Common Grackles, & what appeared to be some Brown-headed Cowbirds (or more simply, cowbird sp.) with a very few Rusty Blackbirds, in a few lower flocks; the totals of these were in the low 2,000’s - I estimated 2,200 which is rather conservative, again in the a.m. hours, & with some birds high enough as to nearly be in the (low) cloud layers at times. I did not notice any further flight into the afternoon hours, but also was not checking much by then. In addition, there were a few areas with modest flocks of Purple Finch - of course, the latter species has been in good numbers in the area for weeks & weeks already, & these flocks may or may not have been of new arrivals - one flock of 12+, mostly not of bright males, was feeding quietly in a ‘berried’ area on the path along the Hudson south of Dyckman St., & a few much smaller groups were in several locations, including Fort Tryon Park, Inwood Hill Park, Swindler Cove/Sherman Creek park, & later, both Riverside & Central Parks. Most of these
