[nysbirds-l] Manhattan / N.Y. County, NYC 4/8-9-10-11
The RED-HEADED WOODPECKER which has been present for nearly 6 full months continues in Central Park, near the West Drive (park roadway) & between the North Meadow ballfields’ southwest sector, & the cindered bridle path immediately east of the park’s W. Drive - watching for this bird can be fruitful by staying on a path down next to the ballfields’ fence, looking west & scanning all around including very high in trees; the bird is rather active & in full / bright spring plumage, so if it flies or moves, the sighting is fairly likely with a bit of patience. The nearest park entry to this area is at W. 97th Street, off Central Park West - the bird may be a bit n. of that ‘latitude’ by up to 100 yards at times, but usually by less. One further note - this area has a lot of room for spatial-distancing, the more so if one steps off of various paths in the area. New arrivals included CHIMNEY SWIFT, SNOWY EGRET, BROAD-WINGED HAWK, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, PURPLE MARTIN, NORTHERN PARULA. Blue-headed Vireo (first on 4/8 at Central Park; heard singing from high up 6:45 a.m., later seen & confirmed, & thanks to M.B. Kooper), Purple Martin & Broad-winged Hawks (on Friday, 4/10). Northern Parula first noted by “north ender” & bird photographer Ron Lugo, at the Central Park Meer, this is fairly early but not wholly unprecedented (&, N.B., a great many N.Y. City & Manhattan records are not in eBird.) This is now at least the 7th warbler species of spring to have arrived on Manhattan. Another arrival 1st-noted on Sat. 4/11 were several (at least 3 but possibly more) Chimney Swifts, moving past the North Woods, as seen from the Meer in the mid-morning - also a bit early (& which goes with sightings of the latter in at least 5 N.Y.S. counties by now, as well as some areas in New England). There coud well have been some other new arrivals, as the pattern has seemed to be of very modest no’s. of a fair variety of neotropical-wintering species coming in (as 1st, or initial arrivals only! - this is NOT the same as peak-time of occurrence for ANY species - some of which may arrive en-masse in as much two or three weeks time! Probably the least-understood of factors on migration is the difference of 1 week, & vastly more-so of 2 or 3 weeks. It’s why a casually-reported “Veery” in March or the start of Aprll is rightly subject to scrutiny… & same of scores & scores of other migrant species - Veery is merely an example, & a fairly good one, as non-vocal Catharus genus thrushes are MUCH more complex in subtle plumage variation, & much-mistaken by even some birders with experience. It’s also not so simple to denote a Catharus thrush solely on call-note, if one is not very familiar with all of the species that pass through, & their varied calls & songs. The same can be said for many, many other songbirds, & for ‘calls’ only, for many other non-passerine species.) Wed., 4/8 - A purposed sky-watch over the Hudson river from a viewpoint in Riverbank State Park (west of W. 145 St., Manhattan) from 9:15 thru 11:15 am came up with 8 migrating Ospreys, 1 Turkey Vulture, 6 Great Blue Herons, 2 Great Egrets, 1 Common Loon (at high altitude), and some other smaller migrants, including 1 Tree Swallow, 7 Yellow-shafted Flickers (all separately moving north) & a smattering of American Robins, Common Grackles, & 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds. There were also multiple Double-crested Cormorants but they all seemed to be headed every-which-way, & some were landing on the nearby river. Rain & then increasing cool winds kept migration a bit low for Thursday, 4/9 - I was slightly surprised to see a single Sharp-shinned Hawk being blown near sideways (to the NE) as it attempted to work towards the northwest, over Central Park in-betwen rains on Thursday; it may have not made a lot of progress. Many migrants had been able to depart Manhattan over Wed. night, leaving a lot of greenspaces quieter than in prior days. There were at least a few Ospreys & Turkey Vultures on the move on Thursday. Some of the species of recent prior days were sticking around, this included at least 4 warblers spp. (Louisiana Waterthrush, Pine, Palm, & Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers), as well as Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers & others in much-lowered numbers. The diminution in White-throated Sparrow & Song Sparrow numbers was particularly notable, over these 2 days - more of them will be passing through, particularly the former species, which has not peaked on passage thru NYC yet. Good Friday, 4/10 - A brief snow-shower (but maybe not much more than a few flurries moving through Manhattan) was interesting for the date. Also interesting was the perhaps first-of-year Purple Martin moving through at about 7:30 a.m. over the Central Park reservoir - unfortunately this one did not seem to linger (as they rarely do in that park, thus sightings are quite rare there) but the species should be watched for, and had
[nysbirds-l] Manhattan / N.Y. County, NYC 4/8-9-10-11
The RED-HEADED WOODPECKER which has been present for nearly 6 full months continues in Central Park, near the West Drive (park roadway) & between the North Meadow ballfields’ southwest sector, & the cindered bridle path immediately east of the park’s W. Drive - watching for this bird can be fruitful by staying on a path down next to the ballfields’ fence, looking west & scanning all around including very high in trees; the bird is rather active & in full / bright spring plumage, so if it flies or moves, the sighting is fairly likely with a bit of patience. The nearest park entry to this area is at W. 97th Street, off Central Park West - the bird may be a bit n. of that ‘latitude’ by up to 100 yards at times, but usually by less. One further note - this area has a lot of room for spatial-distancing, the more so if one steps off of various paths in the area. New arrivals included CHIMNEY SWIFT, SNOWY EGRET, BROAD-WINGED HAWK, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, PURPLE MARTIN, NORTHERN PARULA. Blue-headed Vireo (first on 4/8 at Central Park; heard singing from high up 6:45 a.m., later seen & confirmed, & thanks to M.B. Kooper), Purple Martin & Broad-winged Hawks (on Friday, 4/10). Northern Parula first noted by “north ender” & bird photographer Ron Lugo, at the Central Park Meer, this is fairly early but not wholly unprecedented (&, N.B., a great many N.Y. City & Manhattan records are not in eBird.) This is now at least the 7th warbler species of spring to have arrived on Manhattan. Another arrival 1st-noted on Sat. 4/11 were several (at least 3 but possibly more) Chimney Swifts, moving past the North Woods, as seen from the Meer in the mid-morning - also a bit early (& which goes with sightings of the latter in at least 5 N.Y.S. counties by now, as well as some areas in New England). There coud well have been some other new arrivals, as the pattern has seemed to be of very modest no’s. of a fair variety of neotropical-wintering species coming in (as 1st, or initial arrivals only! - this is NOT the same as peak-time of occurrence for ANY species - some of which may arrive en-masse in as much two or three weeks time! Probably the least-understood of factors on migration is the difference of 1 week, & vastly more-so of 2 or 3 weeks. It’s why a casually-reported “Veery” in March or the start of Aprll is rightly subject to scrutiny… & same of scores & scores of other migrant species - Veery is merely an example, & a fairly good one, as non-vocal Catharus genus thrushes are MUCH more complex in subtle plumage variation, & much-mistaken by even some birders with experience. It’s also not so simple to denote a Catharus thrush solely on call-note, if one is not very familiar with all of the species that pass through, & their varied calls & songs. The same can be said for many, many other songbirds, & for ‘calls’ only, for many other non-passerine species.) Wed., 4/8 - A purposed sky-watch over the Hudson river from a viewpoint in Riverbank State Park (west of W. 145 St., Manhattan) from 9:15 thru 11:15 am came up with 8 migrating Ospreys, 1 Turkey Vulture, 6 Great Blue Herons, 2 Great Egrets, 1 Common Loon (at high altitude), and some other smaller migrants, including 1 Tree Swallow, 7 Yellow-shafted Flickers (all separately moving north) & a smattering of American Robins, Common Grackles, & 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds. There were also multiple Double-crested Cormorants but they all seemed to be headed every-which-way, & some were landing on the nearby river. Rain & then increasing cool winds kept migration a bit low for Thursday, 4/9 - I was slightly surprised to see a single Sharp-shinned Hawk being blown near sideways (to the NE) as it attempted to work towards the northwest, over Central Park in-betwen rains on Thursday; it may have not made a lot of progress. Many migrants had been able to depart Manhattan over Wed. night, leaving a lot of greenspaces quieter than in prior days. There were at least a few Ospreys & Turkey Vultures on the move on Thursday. Some of the species of recent prior days were sticking around, this included at least 4 warblers spp. (Louisiana Waterthrush, Pine, Palm, & Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers), as well as Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers & others in much-lowered numbers. The diminution in White-throated Sparrow & Song Sparrow numbers was particularly notable, over these 2 days - more of them will be passing through, particularly the former species, which has not peaked on passage thru NYC yet. Good Friday, 4/10 - A brief snow-shower (but maybe not much more than a few flurries moving through Manhattan) was interesting for the date. Also interesting was the perhaps first-of-year Purple Martin moving through at about 7:30 a.m. over the Central Park reservoir - unfortunately this one did not seem to linger (as they rarely do in that park, thus sightings are quite rare there) but the species should be watched for, and had
