Manhattan, N.Y. City Friday-Wednesday, 14-19 Sept., 2018 Friday, 9/14 featured migrant-turnover, with some birds having moved on, and fresh batches of some migrants. Palm Warblers started appearing in the multiple, but scattered & mostly as singletons or two at a time, per each observation.
Sat. 9/15, a Yellow-breasted Chat was enjoyed by a number of birders at the Loch, in Central Park’s n. end. Some high numbers for Red-breasted Nuthatches with at least 20 for all of the park; less noticed & also in more modest numbers were Purple Finches. The day was a good one for Ospreys, particularly along the Hudson, as seen from Riverside Park with up to a dozen in just 90 minutes of watching Sun. 9/16 - despite seeming less-than-ideal wind flow & direction, at least 161 BW Hawks were counted moving over northernmost Manhattan in the 12:30 - 2:30 pm hours. Also moving in some numbers were Ospreys, Sharp-shinned Hawks & American Kestrels. That evening, at least one dozen Common Nighthawks were seen, from several locations and a couple also were found roosting in Central Park, where the most in the eve. were noted, others being seen (in flight, after 6 p.m.) from along Riverside Drive, north of 125 St. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was found on the Inwood Hill Park bio-blitz. Mon. 9/17 - a day to seek out migrants in some smaller parks. At least modest variety was found in some, including parks in lower and downtown Manhattan. At Central Park, the only birds in some numbers seemed to be Yellow-shafted Flickers & (overhead) Chimney Swifts, although with a bit of effort, various other species were also around, but in very modest diversity & number. A Worm-eating Warbler continued in Washington Square Park, seen for several days & still present; first found by S. Gee; Blackburnian Warbler at Union Square Park, with another seen in the Ramble of Central Park. Various more common migrants in many other smaller greenspaces in lower Manhattan. Tues. 9/18 - in spite of some drizzles & showers, I made a looping visit to many lower & mid - Manhattan parks & greenspaces; many were relatively quiet for migrants, and some of the species noted above were not found again by me; one small highlight at Chelsea Piers area, on the Hudson just n. of W. 23rd St. was a 1st-fall Mourning Warbler, not far north of a ‘Fresh & Co.’ cafe in dense shrub & flower plantings. (also in that park were at least 4 Common Yellowthroats, none of them adult males); a bit farther south on the Hudson river greenway, there was a Northern Waterthrush, & at least a few more C. Yellowthroats in greeneries all the way south into Battery Park, as well as a single Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I tried also checking some areas of the rivers (lower Hudson & E. Rivers, both also properly called estuaries here) for any unusual species, but found none. As I came north again, thru various lower-east parks & patches, the rain - this time announced with much thunder & some crackling lightning - came & put an end to the fun by 1 pm or so. Later, I had a much briefer look again at a few areas in Central Park, partly watching for any possible-puddly surprise drop-ins. None of same were noted. A park I made no stop in this day was Bryant; a deluge of rain put the end to that. Late in the day an attempt at nighthawks, but no luck - with the weather having just cleared out. Wed. 9/19 - A fresh arrival, after the rains in NYC of Tues. rather quickly moved up into & offshore of New England the night before; a tremendous overnight migration took place all through the northeast, the Great Lakes region, midwest, mid-Atlantic, and into the south, straight onto & beyond the shores of the U.S. Gulf coast & east Texas-Mexico border… & in little old Central Park, from first-light thru 9 a.m. at least 275 Yellow-shafted Flickers (counted by fives) were on the move - a vast majority seen going north thru & just over treetops, this observable from many points in the park along the western side & in some areas, with modest numbers at one moment. (It is fairly common to see a modest to occasionally-strong north-bound movement in fall migration on mornings when a migration has been quite strong, at least of some species, flickers being amongst those at the expected range of dates, from at least Central Park, if observing the treetops & sky closely, & keeping some notes.) Also in Central Park, Yellow-breasted Chat was found by T. Perlman near the Blockhouse (woods west of) in the morning, & a nice selection of warblers, some vireos, thrushes, still more of Red-breasted Nuthatches & other newly-arrived birds (in various sections of the park thru the a.m.) With additional cloud-cover developing, a chance of a good raptor & falcon flight as the day was ongoing - more reports at some point & as warranted. 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/ --
