yep, it's your minute-by-minute play-by-play,
uninterrupted by the local home-openers! (&
thank goodness for that bronx win today...:-)
----------------
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City
Mon.-Sun.-Sat., April 7, 6, and 5, 2014
Monday, a modest movement, and some birds that almost certainly went
thru (onward). A check of the reservoir mid-day turned up the "new"
RED-NECKED GREBE that was initially found Sunday; this is not the same
bird as had been present for a bit more than 3 weeks thru last Wed.- a
close look at photos of this newer arrival & the one that had departed
reveals, as did views but confirmed in photo-views, that the other had
much more breeding color (advanced into near-breeding plumage) while
this new grebe has a lot less, &, unless a grebe expert is prepared to
inform that this species is capable of losing color (reversing its
molt cycle in 5 days to go back into near-basic plumage) at this time
of year, or at all, there have now been 3 of this species
consecutively (rather than concurrently, as has been so in Prospect
Park) on the CP reservoir, this year, to date. And I don't believe
that's been documented previously (in Central)? but I was a much
smaller person the last time these red-necked grebes were being seen
in Central, & some occurred well before I was here.
Also still lingering at the reservoir are a pair (female & male,
almost always in concert in recent weeks) of Red-breasted Mergansers,
an unusually long stay by that species, & into April, at Central.
(both appear healthy & certainly both are feeding frequently,
incidentally.) N. Shovelers in good numbers, & more modest no's. of
Buffleheads, some Gadwall, American Black Duck, Wood Duck, Ruddy Duck,
Hooded Merganser, and a few American Coot are also lingering at the
reservoir &/or elsewhere in Central. Some of the recent herons &
egrets may have moved on, but more will be in soon &/or some may come
& go from other areas in the city or nearby. There have been up to 30+
Double-crested Cormorants in the park, esp. at the reservoir but a few
in many other of the waters, & plenty more flying over.
A fairly extensive walk-thru of most of the park provided looks at a
lot of the more expected recent migrants and visitors as well (today)
with Am. Woodcock, Yellow-shafted Flicker (40+, some still moving on
through in mid-late a.m.), Eastern Phoebe (10+), Winter Wren (3),
Brown Creeper (6+), G.-cr. Kinglets (8+), Hermit Thrush (25+, in most
sections of the park but rather thin in any one smaller area), Pine
Warbler (1 or 2 that I came up with; perhaps most that had been in
have moved on, & of course more will be arriving any day), Palm
Warbler (1, "yellow" race, obv. more to come), Louisiana Waterthrush
(2, Ramble and Loch, as have been a few days now),
Sparrows: Field (2), Chipping (8+), Swamp (4+), Song (very numerous),
"red" Fox (fewer than a week ago, still 5+ present, a number of them
singing through the day), & White-throated (hundreds all around, as is
typical all winter long; the huge spring arrival-passage has yet to be
seen here); Rusty Blackbird (1, Loch, & 1, Ramble, each in near-full
breeding plumage, & calling &/or singing a bit), Slate-colored Junco
(200+, many flocks of 20+ in multiple areas & seemingly hanging around
a long time in some places where they'd not wintered); also present, &
had overwintered, 2 Baltimore Orioles continuing in the Ramble, and
what (I believe may be) seem to be overwintered E. Towhees (4, all I'd
recently noted basically within yards of where they seemed to have
wintered, i.e. not a big push of new spring arrivals?). and a few
Brown Thrashers, also overwintered, as well as at least 1 Gray
Catbird, similarly survived a long winter in C.P.
....
On Sunday, "new" (& fairly early) in Central this spring was: Chimney
Swift. And that "new" (different) Red-necked Grebe at the reservoir -
in any other year but this one, very remarkable to have had 3 in the
park so far. (Prospect Park lake in Brooklyn continued to host 3 of
them; and they've been seen in numbers nearly all around the east, and
beyond - big numbers, in some places that typically have few, or none...
....
On Saturday, a fair number of Turkey Vultures came over Manhattan &
the park, with at least 45 in total between about 11 a.m. & 4 p.m., &
especially before 2 p.m. Also seen were at least 12 Great, & 1 Snowy
Egret[s]. Thanks too to Tom Perlman who had noted a previous few
flyover egrets, these on the typical east-west flyway that sets up
across mainly the n. end of Central Park & vicinity and connects the
meadowlands areas in New Jersey with the w. portion of Long Island
Sound or beyond.
.........
Sadly, a common loon did not survive, that was released into 'The
("rowboat lake" - and btw the rowboating-rental season is now open, at
the) Lake' on 4/3 in Central (very BAD idea, in Central Park 'the
lake' is not the water-body to bring a loon into; the reservoir would
be the only 'tolerable' place in Central to 'bring' any loon, which
need a whole lot of room for a potential take-off, and ideally, far
less chance of stress from human, & domestic-animal = dog activities,
as found at all hours, "24/7", in most of Central) to move on & out
as would have been hoped: that released loon died. This release was
done by the same org. that released a Virginia Rail the same day in
the n. end of Central (that too was less-than-ideal, a better place
being at least in some other boro, and much more appropriate habitat,
& setting); hopefully the rail got out to live its life in normalcy.
(we don't know where the loon & rail had been found originally, or in
what conditions; and yes, I am well aware that the job of a wildlife
rehab. person is not always an easy one, in many respects. Still, if
in doubt of what's best for an individual or a species of bird, get
advice - our local and other Audubon chapters, and many many other
resources in that vein, are very available. [As for anyone who
knowingly-intentionally plays (and plays and plays) amplified
recordings stressing out a just-released, just-rehabilitated bird...
the law may have something to say on this, as birds do have some legal
protections... and then there are the most basic & ought-to-be-obvious
ethical prohibitions... just give birds a break, please - most have
plenty to deal with as it is, particularly those negotiating a life
and/or a migratory experience, through a large urban center - this is
just common-sense for anyone caring about wildlife they're observing
or studying.]
good responsible birding to all, and thanks to some park regulars
who've provided sightings and info. on recent sightings, including but
not limited to Karen Fung, Tom Perlman, Nadir Souirgi, & a few more of
you.
Tom Fiore
Manhattan
--
NYSbirds-L List Info:
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME
http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES
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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html
Please submit your observations to eBird:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/
--
