The coming week might be interesting in terms of an approach by the tropical cyclone pushing into the Gulf coast named “Michael”, some part or remnant of which may come into waters off Long Island (NY) around the end of the week, although a cold front passing through the northeast may limit effects on us, and on birds locally. If nothing else, the cold front expected for the start of the coming weekend may bring a push of later-moving neotropical-wintering species as most clear out of the north country and also a possible arrival of some expected later-season migrants &/or winterering species.
In the flow of reports from Albany Co., NY of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher found by L. Alden, some other vagrants that’ve shown up in the northeast are also worth noting. From just off the coast of Maine on the island of Monhegan, on Oct. 4 comes the report of a GRAY Flycatcher (a western species of Empidonax, extremely rare in the east), found by Luke Seitz & seen by 2 additional observers and a fourth later; a 1st state record for Maine, if accepted. 2 checklists, from a total of 4 observers, are here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48966317 <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48966317> https://ebird.org/me/view/checklist/S49039697 <https://ebird.org/me/view/checklist/S49039697> Slightly closer to NY, but also extra-limital, a Bell’s Vireo, with excellent photos & notes, was found Oct. 8 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by Tim Spahr; checklist is here: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49040077 Bell’s can be a tricky vireo to get a definitive ID on; it is a species that is a posssibly-regular, if rare vagrant to the northeast. And on Oct. 8th, a N. Shrike was found in Onondaga Co. NY (at the Dewitt marsh & landfill); reported in eBird. - - - - - Manhattan, N.Y. City - 21 species of warblers were well-reported, including one Connecticut in Central Park 10/8, and, at Randall’s Island in NY County, a photographed Orange-crowned on 10/8; as well as a few somewhat late-running species; other highlights included both Cuckoo species, a lingering Dickcissel, & other birds. Of warblers, seemed to be a spate of Black-and-white Warblers in various parks on Tues., 10/9; although not extremely late, it struck me to see this number distributed in as many different small parks amidst the city-center, on one Oct. day: in 9 different sites, one of them being Central, and all the other much smaller parks or green-spaces. Sat., Oct. 6 - At Central Park, the vast majority of birds (species) were the same as found on the big arrival of Thursday night / Friday Oct. 5th. A Dickcissel, the one documented rarity, was again in virtually the same location as found on Fri. - and the same could be said of other uncommon species seen Sat. The dispersal of migrants also was a factor, so that many patches in all of the park had some migrants, in for example the Hallett Sanctuary at the extreme SE corner, & also at the NW corner of the park at the Great Hill, and in-between areas that are very under-birded, even at peak migration times, such as that area north of the reservoir, & from there to the North Meadow. These areas all had migrants, in some numbers, on Sat., the most obvious being White-throated Sparrow, & also to lesser extent, Palm Warbler, esp. in the more northerly sites. An ongoing big flight of Purple Finch, esp. noted on the north side of Long Island Sound’s (shoreline) recently, has not surprisingly brought some more of this “irruptive” into N.Y. City including Manhattan. At The Pond in Central Park, 4 drake Wood Ducks were found. Of the at least 18 warbler species on the day (just in Central) seen on Saturday, a Northern Waterthrush is one of the slightly-late ones (yet this species has been seen even to Dec. in NYC, & is not that unusual yet, in October) - today’s seen by multiple observers; the same of Yellow Warbler, although this species is typically quite uncommon in Manhattan by this month; Saturday’s also seen by (at least) several observers. (N.B., it is not surprising to have slightly more in warbler diversity found a day after a big arrival of migrants, as the 1st day is often filled with a wave of some of the most-common species for the time of year when seen, and some of the few less-common, or stragglers (for fall) still about, are noted in the day or so after such a wave passes thru. On Friday, those had been Yellow-rumped & Palm Warblers, as is expected. These did stay, but for numbers, a great reduction of Yellow-rumped in particular by Sat., one day later - which is very typical of such periods of that species’ movements thru Central, & is seen in many other locations also. At Washington Square Park: ongoing Worm-eating Warbler still present, seen at n. side next to “NW” playground at 8:30 a.m.; other warblers also in W.S. Park included Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Palm, Yellow-rumped, Common Yellowthroat (6 species of warblers), as well as Wood Thrush (same area & time as Worm-eating W.), Swainson’s Thrush, Y.-s. Flicker, Y.-b. Sapsucker (2), E. Phoebe, White-throated Sparrow (6+), Dark-eyed Junco (1), Gray Catbird (4 seen simultaneously), American Robin (several). Other smaller parks in lower Manhattan also had reports that included migrants, including at least some warblers, as well as sapsuckers, kinglets, thrushes, native sparrows, & other birds. Sun., Oct. 7 - After a foggy start, a warmer day with a SW wind developing. Central Park sightings included one Common Nighthawk, over the Ramble’s e. edge in early eve., seen by J. Wooten. At least 14 warbler spp. were found & reported on the day; also a larger number (but still not many) of Hermit Thrushes, as well as a few Swainson’s & Gray-cheeked types plus Wood Thrush. A White-eyed Vireo was seen in the Ramble, the ID made by K. Quinones. Mon., Oct. 8 - fog, a bit of drizzle & light SE breezes, & not an obvious amount of fresh arrival in Manhattan. However, newly found birds continued to be reported, including a Connecticut Warbler near the “Sparrow Rock” area, which is west of the Great Lawn & just west of the old bridle path; eBirded by P. Dandridge. Yet another (photographed) Worm-eating Warbler sighting in nearly the same neighborhood as another long-staying one, this found by A. Tey at Union Square Park (not far north, slightly east, from Washington Square Park) in lower downtown. Also reported but with just a few notes at Union Square Park was a Canada Warbler which would be especially late for the latter; Worm-eating is quite late now also. Laughing Gull, one on C.P. reservoir. At least modest evident of some further movement (both arrivals & departures), although again, no day since Fri./5th had as large & diverse an arrival of migrants. Also again, with somewhat fewer individual birds to sort thru, observers found a bit more of what diverse species actually are present (on very large pushes of migrants, there can inevitably be a few species that ‘get away’.) Cape May Warblers were seen in nice numbers, up to 10 in Central Park alone (through all of the park). A ‘probable’ Red-headed Woodpecker was seen as a fly-over in the fog at the n. end of Central Park. Yellow-billed Cuckoos continue to be seen in at least several Manhattan parks and Black-billed Cuckoo again was reported in Central Park. Virginia Rails continue to be found in, unfortunately, urban streets, where some have been in poor shape, thus needing care & rehabilitation. Tuesday, Oct. 9 - Milder with some fog; light SSW winds, and a chance for some modest migration, mostly departures, from the NYC area the night before. It was interesting to spend over half the day looking in small parks in lower & mid-Manhattan, with a variety of lingering migrants present. That variety was still greater, as expected, in the larger parks; I had a short time in early a.m., & more in p.m. looking in Central Park. Overall, numbers of migrants were lowered from prior days. Sightings & some reports from Sat.-Tues., Oct. 6-9th, 2018: Double-crested Cormorant (modest flight, Sat. 10/6) Great Blue Heron (few sightings in various locations) Black-crowned Night-Heron (much scarcer this week) Turkey Vulture (few fly-overs noted for the weekend) Canada Goose (modest numbers) Brant (a very few arriving migrants; fly-overs) Wood Duck (2 drakes, 10/9, The Pond, s.e. part of Central Park) Gadwall (continuing small no’s., & reduced now) American Black Duck (few, E. & Hudson rivers) Mallard (regular residents) Northern Shoveler (minimum of 12 in Central Park 10/9 (7 on Meer; 5 on Turtle Pond; not noted by me at CP reservoir) Ruddy Duck (just 1 seen at Central Park into weekend) Osprey (few, fly-overs, mainly last weekend) Bald Eagle (several reports from the past weekend) Northern Harrier (few; fly-overs, mostly last weekend) Sharp-shinned Hawk (few noted, mainly as fly-overs) Cooper's Hawk (few, mainly as fly-overs) Red-tailed Hawk (residents in many Manhattan areas) Virginia Rail (several found in street situations, also as brought to rehab. facilities, Sun.-Mon. 10/7-8) Laughing Gull (cont. visitor to C.P. reservoir at least to Mon., 10/8) Ring-billed Gull (regular in modest numbers) [American] Herring Gull (common) Great Black-backed Gull (easily seen at C.P. reservoir most days, also on Hudson river) ['feral'] Rock Pigeon (ubiquitous) Mourning Dove (very common and widespread recently) American Kestrel (residents & a few poss. migrants also) Merlin (few weekend migrants noted) Peregrine Falcon (residents in multiple Manhattan locations) Black-billed Cuckoo (through at least Mon. 10/8 at Central Park) Yellow-billed Cuckoo (to Tues. in several locations; multiple parks thru Mon., 10/8) Common Nighthawk (one well-reported from Central Park, early evening on 10/7.) Chimney Swift (numbers dropping off through this period; fewer by Tues., 10/9) Ruby-throated Hummingbird (few, with poss. no reports from after Sun., 10/7 for Manhattan) [N.B. - any hummingbird noted after passage of the next cold front should be identified with an eye for poss. vagrant species] Belted Kingfisher (to at least 10/8) Red-headed Woodpecker (reported as ‘probable’ - 1 adult - & in the a.m. fog on 10/8, from Central Park’s north end.) Red-bellied Woodpecker (residents & also a few poss. migrants on some days) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (more common, some in various smaller parks, as well as larger) Downy Woodpecker (residents) Hairy Woodpecker (scant, but some may also be moving this fall) Yellow-shafted Flicker (fewer than before last weekend, but still regular & some moving in early mornings; on 10/9 at Battery, City Hall, Tompkins Square, Union Square & Madison Square Parks, and in the multiple at Central Park, as well as on prior days) Eastern Phoebe (10/9, my obs. only from Central Park, and far more in north end of park, with up to 12 there, a few in the rest of the park; also seen on prior days there & elsewhere) Eastern Wood-Pewee (to at least 10/8, but by now scarcer) Least Flycatcher (reported to 10/8, all Empidonax seen from now on in fall should be closely scrutinized for poss. vagrant species: of non-eastern-breeding kinds) White-eyed Vireo (to at least Sun., 10/7 in Central Park; N.B., this vireo species has - rarely - overwintered in NYC in the modern era) Blue-headed Vireo (some continuing thru 10/9 in multiple locations) Red-eyed Vireo (scant now, but a few thru 10/9, various locations) Blue Jay (large numbers continue to pass thru, diurnal movements seen each day of this period; with still up to 100’s per day/location) American Crow (regular; resident) Tree Swallow (few fly-overs thru at least the long weekend) Black-capped Chickadee (scant; a brief movement of these seems to have dried up, for now) Tufted Titmouse (modest numbers, incl. some additional small movements) Red-breasted Nuthatch (10/9, one at Battery Park, one at City Hall Park, one at Tompkins Square Park, one at Madison Square Park, one at Chelsea greenspace, & in at least several locations in Central Park; also on prior days in Central) White-breasted Nuthatch (one at City Hall Park, one at Chelsea greenspace, & also multiple at Central Park & in prior days there) Brown Creeper (one, Battery Park, one, Madison Square Park, multiple in Central Park & on prior days there) Carolina Wren (several in Riverside & Central Parks, also in prior days in both) House Wren (scarce now, 2 locations on 10/9 in Central Park) Winter Wren (uncommon; no large no’s. in this report period) Golden-crowned Kinglet (ongoing w/ no large no’s. in this period) Ruby-crowned Kinglet (ongoing w/ no large no’s. in this period) Gray-cheeked Thrush (few reports w/ details; ongoing thru 10/8) Swainson's Thrush (scant now, but ongoing in various locations thru 10/9) Hermit Thrush (10/9, one at Washington Square Park one at Chelsea green-space W. 27-28th, 8th & 9th Ave’s., & at least several in Central Park as well as on prior days) Wood Thrush (very scarce now, several sightings on long weekend in a few locations) American Robin (common, many small parks, greenspaces, as well as all larger parks; also at least some in scattered movements) Gray Catbird (uncommon now, & some seen in almost all smaller parks & greenspaces, as well as in the larger parks) Northern Mockingbird (regular) Brown Thrasher (fewer in this reporting period; a few in odd locations & also relatively few now in some larger parks) European Starling (common & ubiuitous resident) Cedar Waxwing (uncommon in this report period; ongoing small numbers moving thru) - Orange-crowned Warbler (one photographed by J. Keane, 10/8, not on Manhattan island but Randall’s Island is politically part of New York County, as is Manhattan; this sighting came on same day as another photo’d in Queens Co. NYC; there were a few photo’d reports from this region on 9/30 this year.) Tennessee Warbler (very few remained after long weekend, one at Central Park to 10/9) Nashville Warbler (10/9, several in Central Park, also on prior days there) Northern Parula (10/9, still in multiple areas, one at the Battery, one at Tompkins Square, one at Madsion Square; at least several in Central Park, & on prior days) Yellow Warbler (to at least Mon., 10/8 at Central Park) Magnolia Warbler (at least one, 10/9, Central Park; has been scarce since prior to report period) Cape May Warbler (10/9, minimum of 8 in Central Park, including 5 at Pinetum elms; similar numbers in Central on prior days also) Black-throated Blue Warbler (10/9, one at Tompkin’s Square Park, at least 3 in Central Park; few also seen in Central on prior days) Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (seen in every smaller park & green-space visited, ten locations in all, on 10/9 - with up to 3 even in small Trinity church-yard near Wall St.) Black-throated Green Warbler (several to 10/9, far fewer since the long weekend) Pine Warbler (10/9, several in Pinetum area in Central Park - east & west portions; also present in a few other areas in Central, & on prior days) Palm Warbler (10/9, present in at least 4 smaller parks or greenspaces - Battery, Tompkin’s Sqaure, Madison Square, & Chelsea location; also multiple in Central Park & on prior days) Bay-breasted Warbler (a few reports lacking in detailed notes; at least a few were also being reported recently to the north of NYC) Blackpoll Warbler (few remaining; on 10/9 I found 2 in Central Park & not in the smaller parks visited) Black-and-white Warbler (on Tues., 10/9, seen in 8 out of ten smaller parks & green-spaces in mid & lower Manhattan; these included: Battery Park, Trinity Church-yard (B’way near Wall St.), City Hall Park, Liz Christy Bowery & Houston community garden, Tompkins Square Park, Union Square Park, Madison Square Park, & Chelsea greenspace W. 27-28th, 8th & 9th Ave’s.; also reported from other parks, seen in Central Park later as well, & on prior days there.) American Redstart (to 10/9, in Central Park; scant now since at least the past week) Worm-eating Warbler (photograped at Union Square Park on 10/8; just possibly the same individual that was lingering at nearby Washington Square until 10/7) Ovenbird (10/9, a few in multiple locations including City Hall Park, Union Square, Madsion Square, & at least several in Central Park, & reported from Bryant Park; also prior days) Northern Waterthrush (1 at The Pond’s s. shore; s.e. part of Central Park, 1 at Tanner’s Spring, C.P. both 10/9; a few additional others seen elsewhere on prior days in Central Park) Connecticut Warbler (1 report with detailed notes, 10/8 in Central Park, at “sparrow rock” area west of the Great Lawn and bridle path area.) Common Yellowthroat (fewer, but some lingering in small parks & green-spaces, which is typical in fall in Manhattan; also few lingering in Central Park) Wilson's Warbler (few, to the long weekend, none noted since) Canada Warbler (one report but lacking in full details, on 10/8, a rather late date for the species in NY) - Scarlet Tanager (few now, still found on 10/9) Eastern Towhee (fewer than prior period of reports; ongoing in several locations thru 10/9) Chipping Sparrow (modest no’s. in various locations over the weekend, not largest arrival yet this fall) Field Sparrow (few, scattered in Central & a couple of other parks in this report period) Savannah Sparrow (few, scattered; but more seen on the other islands of N.Y. County) Song Sparrow (fairly common now in many locations) Lincoln's Sparrow (few, scattered sightings, various locations in Central & other parks) Swamp Sparrow (10/9, one at Battery Park, one at Union Square Park, one at Chelsea green-space W. 27-28th Sts., 8th & 9th Ave’s.; few in other larger parks including Central) White-throated Sparrow (few to moderate no’s. in all green-spaces visited on Tues., 10/9; fairly widespread now in wooded areas in at least most larger parks in Manhattan) White-crowned Sparrow (thru 10/9, Central Park; at least several there on prior days) Slate-colored Junco (10/9, one at Battery Park, one at Chelsea green-space W. 27-28th Sts., 8th & 9th Ave’s.; very modest no’s. in Central Park & elsewhere mostly on days prior) Northern Cardinal (residents) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (scarce now, very few still in Central Park to 10/9) Indigo Bunting (continuing in Central Park thru Tues., 10/9; and from a few locations in Manhattan on prior days) Red-winged Blackbird (few) Rusty Blackbird (no reports or sightings since Sat., 10/7 in Central Park) Common Grackle (scattered flocks & fly-over groups in modest numbers) Brown-headed Cowbird (few) Purple Finch (contiuning in small no’s. in Central Park thru 10/9) House Finch (common, & some possible movement as well as residents) American Goldfinch (ongoing & some found in smaller greenspaces, as well as larger Manhattan parks) House Sparrow (ubiquitous & overly/hugely numerous) _ _ _ _ "We look at science as something very elite, which only a few people can learn. That's just not true. You just have to start early and give kids a foundation. Kids live up, or down, to expectations.” - Dr. Mae Jemison (first African-American woman into space; NASA mission of Sept. 12, 1992) good birding, Tom Fiore manhattan -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm 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://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
