[nysbirds-l] NYC: Swindler Cove Park, Fri. 17-Aug incl. 4 shorebird spp.
Date: Friday, 17 August 2012 (2:05p-5:25p) Location: Manhattan - Swindler Cove Park & Sherman Creek Reported by: Ben Cacace This upper Manhattan park is situated along the Harlem River at the end of Dyckman St. & 10th Avenue across the island from Fort Tryon Park. When I arrived nearly 2 dozen shorebirds were feeding at the west end of Sherman Creek. These included 2 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 16 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS & 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. The shorebirds continued feeding at the west edge of the creek until I left the site. The shorebird numbers increased to over 150 by 5pm. Three KILLDEER were seen at the east edge of Compost Alley on the mudflats. Watching the peeps in flight easily ruled out any White-rumped Sandpipers in the flock. A new bird for the park, according to the submissions to eBird.org, was an adult GREEN HERON feeding on the mudflats at the west end of the creek. A few weeks ago I watched 2 flocks of shorebirds head north over the University Heights Bridge so I decided to see where these birds might've gone to roost. So, before going to the park today I headed north on 9th Ave. to a spot that should prove to be a decent mudflat at low tide. The yellow icon north of the bridge shows the location and clicking the icon shows a photo of the area < http://goo.gl/maps/L0hrh >. It wasn't low tide yet when the photo was taken. ** Total species - 32 ** Weather for 17-Aug for New York, NY (1:51p-5:51p) < http://bit.ly/Rqf3l6 >: - Conditions: Partly Cloudy to Mostly Cloudy - Temperature: 88.4 to 90.7 to 88.8 F - Wind direction: WSW - S - SSE - Wind speed: 9 - 17 mph (gusts to 24 mph) Abundance categories from 'The New York City Audubon Society Guide to Finding Birds in the Metropolitan Area' published 2001. Abundance season is 'early Fall', mid July - mid September, and applies to all of New York City. Taxonomic order follows abundance categories. 'Rare' seen a few times each season [1 spp]: - Louisiana Waterthrush - 1; Along the waterfall. Clear chin. 'Uncommon' seen in small numbers; 1-3 per day in habitat [2 spp]: - Green Heron - 1; Adult feeding on the mudflats at W end of creek. - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1; Female. 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [9 spp]: - Great Egret - 1 - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 6; 2 juv. plus 4 adults. - Red-tailed Hawk - 1; Distant E of park & later seen on Bronx antenna building S of domed hall. - Killdeer - 3; Together & seen at end of Compost Alley. - Downy Woodpecker - 2 - Northern Flicker - 1; Heard in the park & seen later on at the creek. - Cedar Waxwing - 1; Heard at the creek. - Northern Cardinal - 1 - American Goldfinch - 6 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [20 spp]: - Canada Goose - 15 - Mallard - 6 - Double-crested Cormorant - 1; Adult. - Semipalmated Plover - 5; 2 groups, 1st 2 together then 3 joined later on. - Semipalmated Sandpiper - 150; More flew in @ 4:13p after an initial 18 peeps when I arrived. At 4:55p many more joined the group feeding mainly at the W edge of the creek. - Least Sandpiper - 2; These were seen with the initial 18 peeps. No additional individuals were noted. - Ring-billed Gull - 33 - Herring Gull - 2 - Great Black-backed Gull - 2; Adults. - Rock Pigeon - 20 - Mourning Dove - 4 - Eastern Kingbird - 2 - Blue Jay - 1 - Barn Swallow - 1 - American Robin - 6 - Gray Catbird - 2 - European Starling - 36 - Common Grackle - 1 - House Finch - 2 - House Sparrow - 12 TAXONOMIC ORDER: - Canada Goose - 15 - Mallard - 6 - Double-crested Cormorant - 1; Adult. - Great Egret - 1 - Green Heron - 1; Adult feeding on the mudflats at W end of creek. - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 6; 2 juv. plus 4 adults. - Red-tailed Hawk - 1; Distant E of park & later seen on Bronx antenna building S of domed hall. - Semipalmated Plover - 5; 2 groups, 1st 2 together then 3 joined later on. - Killdeer - 3; Together & seen at end of Compost Alley. - Semipalmated Sandpiper - 150; More flew in @ 4:13p after an initial 18 peeps when I arrived. At 4:55p many more joined the group feeding mainly at the W edge of the creek. - Least Sandpiper - 2; These were seen with the initial 18 peeps. No additional individuals were noted. - Ring-billed Gull - 33 - Herring Gull - 2 - Great Black-backed Gull - 2; Adults. - Rock Pigeon - 20 - Mourning Dove - 4 - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1; Female. - Downy Woodpecker - 2 - Northern Flicker - 1; Heard in the park & seen later on at the creek. - Eastern Kingbird - 2 - Blue Jay - 1 - Barn Swallow - 1 - American Robin - 6 - Gray Catbird - 2 - European Starling - 36 - Cedar Waxwing - 1; Heard at the creek. - Louisiana Waterthrush - 1; Along the waterfall. Clear chin. - Northern Cardinal - 1 - Common Grackle - 1 - House Finch - 2 - American Goldfinch - 6 - House Sparrow - 12 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1)
[nysbirds-l] NYC: Swindler Cove Park, Fri. 17-Aug incl. 4 shorebird spp.
Date: Friday, 17 August 2012 (2:05p-5:25p) Location: Manhattan - Swindler Cove Park Sherman Creek Reported by: Ben Cacace This upper Manhattan park is situated along the Harlem River at the end of Dyckman St. 10th Avenue across the island from Fort Tryon Park. When I arrived nearly 2 dozen shorebirds were feeding at the west end of Sherman Creek. These included 2 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 16 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS 2 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS. The shorebirds continued feeding at the west edge of the creek until I left the site. The shorebird numbers increased to over 150 by 5pm. Three KILLDEER were seen at the east edge of Compost Alley on the mudflats. Watching the peeps in flight easily ruled out any White-rumped Sandpipers in the flock. A new bird for the park, according to the submissions to eBird.org, was an adult GREEN HERON feeding on the mudflats at the west end of the creek. A few weeks ago I watched 2 flocks of shorebirds head north over the University Heights Bridge so I decided to see where these birds might've gone to roost. So, before going to the park today I headed north on 9th Ave. to a spot that should prove to be a decent mudflat at low tide. The yellow icon north of the bridge shows the location and clicking the icon shows a photo of the area http://goo.gl/maps/L0hrh . It wasn't low tide yet when the photo was taken. ** Total species - 32 ** Weather for 17-Aug for New York, NY (1:51p-5:51p) http://bit.ly/Rqf3l6 : - Conditions: Partly Cloudy to Mostly Cloudy - Temperature: 88.4 to 90.7 to 88.8 F - Wind direction: WSW - S - SSE - Wind speed: 9 - 17 mph (gusts to 24 mph) Abundance categories from 'The New York City Audubon Society Guide to Finding Birds in the Metropolitan Area' published 2001. Abundance season is 'early Fall', mid July - mid September, and applies to all of New York City. Taxonomic order follows abundance categories. 'Rare' seen a few times each season [1 spp]: - Louisiana Waterthrush - 1; Along the waterfall. Clear chin. 'Uncommon' seen in small numbers; 1-3 per day in habitat [2 spp]: - Green Heron - 1; Adult feeding on the mudflats at W end of creek. - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1; Female. 'Fairly Common' usually seen; 3-12 per day in habitat [9 spp]: - Great Egret - 1 - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 6; 2 juv. plus 4 adults. - Red-tailed Hawk - 1; Distant E of park later seen on Bronx antenna building S of domed hall. - Killdeer - 3; Together seen at end of Compost Alley. - Downy Woodpecker - 2 - Northern Flicker - 1; Heard in the park seen later on at the creek. - Cedar Waxwing - 1; Heard at the creek. - Northern Cardinal - 1 - American Goldfinch - 6 'Common' seen easily; more than 12 per day in habitat [20 spp]: - Canada Goose - 15 - Mallard - 6 - Double-crested Cormorant - 1; Adult. - Semipalmated Plover - 5; 2 groups, 1st 2 together then 3 joined later on. - Semipalmated Sandpiper - 150; More flew in @ 4:13p after an initial 18 peeps when I arrived. At 4:55p many more joined the group feeding mainly at the W edge of the creek. - Least Sandpiper - 2; These were seen with the initial 18 peeps. No additional individuals were noted. - Ring-billed Gull - 33 - Herring Gull - 2 - Great Black-backed Gull - 2; Adults. - Rock Pigeon - 20 - Mourning Dove - 4 - Eastern Kingbird - 2 - Blue Jay - 1 - Barn Swallow - 1 - American Robin - 6 - Gray Catbird - 2 - European Starling - 36 - Common Grackle - 1 - House Finch - 2 - House Sparrow - 12 TAXONOMIC ORDER: - Canada Goose - 15 - Mallard - 6 - Double-crested Cormorant - 1; Adult. - Great Egret - 1 - Green Heron - 1; Adult feeding on the mudflats at W end of creek. - Black-crowned Night-Heron - 6; 2 juv. plus 4 adults. - Red-tailed Hawk - 1; Distant E of park later seen on Bronx antenna building S of domed hall. - Semipalmated Plover - 5; 2 groups, 1st 2 together then 3 joined later on. - Killdeer - 3; Together seen at end of Compost Alley. - Semipalmated Sandpiper - 150; More flew in @ 4:13p after an initial 18 peeps when I arrived. At 4:55p many more joined the group feeding mainly at the W edge of the creek. - Least Sandpiper - 2; These were seen with the initial 18 peeps. No additional individuals were noted. - Ring-billed Gull - 33 - Herring Gull - 2 - Great Black-backed Gull - 2; Adults. - Rock Pigeon - 20 - Mourning Dove - 4 - Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1; Female. - Downy Woodpecker - 2 - Northern Flicker - 1; Heard in the park seen later on at the creek. - Eastern Kingbird - 2 - Blue Jay - 1 - Barn Swallow - 1 - American Robin - 6 - Gray Catbird - 2 - European Starling - 36 - Cedar Waxwing - 1; Heard at the creek. - Louisiana Waterthrush - 1; Along the waterfall. Clear chin. - Northern Cardinal - 1 - Common Grackle - 1 - House Finch - 2 - American Goldfinch - 6 - House Sparrow - 12 -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1)
