[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 6/16-21 (ongoing Mourning Warbler into summer, & 7 other warbler spp., etc.)
Manhattan, N.Y. City - Sunday to Friday, 16 thru 21 June, 2019 The least-expected creature I saw at Bryant Park Thursday, around mid-day, with some breaks of sun & the sight of a patch of blue sky, was (an adult male) BAR-WINGED SKIMMER - no, that’s not some exotic 'long-winged Larid' from another land, it’s a fairly large odonate -a dragonfly in the genus Libellula- the species name is L. axilena, & it is a mostly-southern & mid-Atlantic lower-elevations bug, which however has made some appearances into the northern parts of its known range this spring, & possibly beyond to points farther north. It certainly is my first-record of the species for Bryant Park or in mid-town Manhattan. We do have records of Bar-winged Skimmer for Manhattan from Central Park, that thanks to Nicholas Wagerik’s fine efforts some years ago there as well as from other observers. The species is also being found in places scattered in the (mainly but not exclusively coastal plains) north & east of N.Y. City, once spring finally was sprung. An update to add that the female Mourning Warbler at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan will now officially be a summer occurence, as it’s remained there to Friday, 21 June. It is also joined by the species noted below for Thursday, 6/20. This is an unusual lingerer for this county and I’m not sure if there are any precedents here for that species at the start of summer. I did not spend extensive time in the park for Friday early a.m. It is best to get a close look at the warblers on the ground here if wanting to view the drab-ish female Mourning, so as not to mistake one of the 2 Common Yellowthroats there for it. At Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan (located between Fifth Ave. & Sixth Ave., & 42nd to 40th Streets), a female Mourning Warbler has lingered thru the very last full day of spring. There are also at least 2 female Common Yellowthroats lingering in this park, and at times, either of these may be confused for the shyer female Mourning. Also still in Bryant Park (thru Thursday 6/20) were Gray Catbirds, E. Towhee, Song & Swamp Sparrow, & White-throated Sparrows (at least 5 in all of the park, including the Fifth Ave. library-side). I’ll add that at least 2 hours were spent in the park, finding the preceding species, & as for all, but esp. the female Mourning, one may seek it esp. at the far n.-w. corner (42nd St. side, off Sixth) or in the southwest quadrant, where it can often be rather hidden at times, including under various dense flower & shrub plantings. In Central Park on Sunday (6/16), 7 warbler species were still present - Blackpoll (at least 2 females), N. Parula (at least 2 males), Black-and-white (female), Ovenbird, American Redstart (at least 3 females), Yellow Warbler (male), & Common Yellowthroat (at least 3 males, & 1 apparent female). Some of these warblers, including Blackpoll and Black-and-white, were in the north end of that park. (As a side-note on late-running or lingering warblers, there’ve been a number of species detected in N.Y. City that were a lot ‘later’ than expected; one example might be a male Black-throated Blue found by A. & K. Mirth at the ecology-village section of Floyd Bennett Field in Kings County (Brooklyn, N.Y. City) on 6/15. In contrast, & also in coastal N.Y. City, the American Redstart[s] seen (now annual) at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, in the woodland areas, may well be breeding birds, as the latter species is very likely breeding in most -if not all- of the 5 counties of N.Y. City; at the least, it is regular in multiple locations in early summer in that city. It also is of course among the species which may begin to return south by early mid-summer. A Marsh Wren has been seen singing (at least to Wed. 6/19) in northern Manhattan’s Inwood Hill Park area; there is a slight possibility of breeding (although this could be just a single bird for the area). Perhaps a bit less likely as a breeder for Manhattan, there also had been Scarlet Tanager (male) in the old-growth woods at Inwood Hill Park, and this species ought be watched for signs of possible breeding in N.Y. City. It is a regular & has been for years in the west Bronx (county) location of Van Cortlandt Park, in extensive old-growth woods there, in summer months: this refers mostly to singing males observed, however a few of us have seen females as well as, in the past decade, young birds in mid-summer. This also applies to Rose-breasted Grosbeak, which may be more likely as a potential Manhattan nesting species, if a very scarce one - the species nests annually in the west-Bronx woods, N.Y. City, just a few miles away from Manhattan. As noted multiple times to this list, White-throated Sparrow (a common wintering & migrant species in Manhattan), is also an uncommon summering species there, & has been seen thru June in multiple locations this year, including in the southern end & also northern end of Manhattan and
[nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 6/16-21 (ongoing Mourning Warbler into summer, & 7 other warbler spp., etc.)
Manhattan, N.Y. City - Sunday to Friday, 16 thru 21 June, 2019 The least-expected creature I saw at Bryant Park Thursday, around mid-day, with some breaks of sun & the sight of a patch of blue sky, was (an adult male) BAR-WINGED SKIMMER - no, that’s not some exotic 'long-winged Larid' from another land, it’s a fairly large odonate -a dragonfly in the genus Libellula- the species name is L. axilena, & it is a mostly-southern & mid-Atlantic lower-elevations bug, which however has made some appearances into the northern parts of its known range this spring, & possibly beyond to points farther north. It certainly is my first-record of the species for Bryant Park or in mid-town Manhattan. We do have records of Bar-winged Skimmer for Manhattan from Central Park, that thanks to Nicholas Wagerik’s fine efforts some years ago there as well as from other observers. The species is also being found in places scattered in the (mainly but not exclusively coastal plains) north & east of N.Y. City, once spring finally was sprung. An update to add that the female Mourning Warbler at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan will now officially be a summer occurence, as it’s remained there to Friday, 21 June. It is also joined by the species noted below for Thursday, 6/20. This is an unusual lingerer for this county and I’m not sure if there are any precedents here for that species at the start of summer. I did not spend extensive time in the park for Friday early a.m. It is best to get a close look at the warblers on the ground here if wanting to view the drab-ish female Mourning, so as not to mistake one of the 2 Common Yellowthroats there for it. At Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan (located between Fifth Ave. & Sixth Ave., & 42nd to 40th Streets), a female Mourning Warbler has lingered thru the very last full day of spring. There are also at least 2 female Common Yellowthroats lingering in this park, and at times, either of these may be confused for the shyer female Mourning. Also still in Bryant Park (thru Thursday 6/20) were Gray Catbirds, E. Towhee, Song & Swamp Sparrow, & White-throated Sparrows (at least 5 in all of the park, including the Fifth Ave. library-side). I’ll add that at least 2 hours were spent in the park, finding the preceding species, & as for all, but esp. the female Mourning, one may seek it esp. at the far n.-w. corner (42nd St. side, off Sixth) or in the southwest quadrant, where it can often be rather hidden at times, including under various dense flower & shrub plantings. In Central Park on Sunday (6/16), 7 warbler species were still present - Blackpoll (at least 2 females), N. Parula (at least 2 males), Black-and-white (female), Ovenbird, American Redstart (at least 3 females), Yellow Warbler (male), & Common Yellowthroat (at least 3 males, & 1 apparent female). Some of these warblers, including Blackpoll and Black-and-white, were in the north end of that park. (As a side-note on late-running or lingering warblers, there’ve been a number of species detected in N.Y. City that were a lot ‘later’ than expected; one example might be a male Black-throated Blue found by A. & K. Mirth at the ecology-village section of Floyd Bennett Field in Kings County (Brooklyn, N.Y. City) on 6/15. In contrast, & also in coastal N.Y. City, the American Redstart[s] seen (now annual) at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, in the woodland areas, may well be breeding birds, as the latter species is very likely breeding in most -if not all- of the 5 counties of N.Y. City; at the least, it is regular in multiple locations in early summer in that city. It also is of course among the species which may begin to return south by early mid-summer. A Marsh Wren has been seen singing (at least to Wed. 6/19) in northern Manhattan’s Inwood Hill Park area; there is a slight possibility of breeding (although this could be just a single bird for the area). Perhaps a bit less likely as a breeder for Manhattan, there also had been Scarlet Tanager (male) in the old-growth woods at Inwood Hill Park, and this species ought be watched for signs of possible breeding in N.Y. City. It is a regular & has been for years in the west Bronx (county) location of Van Cortlandt Park, in extensive old-growth woods there, in summer months: this refers mostly to singing males observed, however a few of us have seen females as well as, in the past decade, young birds in mid-summer. This also applies to Rose-breasted Grosbeak, which may be more likely as a potential Manhattan nesting species, if a very scarce one - the species nests annually in the west-Bronx woods, N.Y. City, just a few miles away from Manhattan. As noted multiple times to this list, White-throated Sparrow (a common wintering & migrant species in Manhattan), is also an uncommon summering species there, & has been seen thru June in multiple locations this year, including in the southern end & also northern end of Manhattan and
