As a ‘late’ update, on early Friday a.m. (May 8th - 5-6:30 a.m.), there were also Bobolink & Greater Yellowlegs passing thru / over the n.w. sector of Central Park (in Manhattan, N.Y. City & County) - and the long-long-staying RED-HEADED Woodpecker was in it’s oft-usual tree, w. of the N. Meadow ballfields & east of the park’s West Drive, near about W. 98th Street. MANY freshly arrived birds, & almost certainly a few new species will be seen. A BLUE GROSBEAK (sub-breeding male) was at the extreme outer part of the n.e. ‘corner’ of Maintenance Field, which is east of most of the Ramble of Central Park, a bit before visible sunrise there (perhaps not a newly-arrived individual, with all of that species that have been noted in Manhattan in the past week+). Far more of many common migrants came in to Central Park, & will be likely all thru local greenspaces, such as Gray Catbird, & yet more White-throated Sparrows, to name just two very common migrants (and gray catbird a regular city-nester). While awaiting the Red-headed Woodpecker at its location (as above) I noted 16 warbler species, all expected, in the oaks immediately nearby & above. More spp. of songbirds were of course in both the Ramble area, the north woods, & some in street trees in a few places, early Fri. a.m. = a strong migration.
Further reports in due course. --- Manhattan & N.Y. County Arrivals included: EASTERN WHIP-POOR-WILL (actual dates precede this report period), and -for this period- BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO, EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE, GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, & CANADA WARBLER; with BOBOLINK (for May 8th). One of the several (if not more) Whip-poor-wills (almost certainly, all being of -the expected- Eastern species!) that passed through Manhattan recently included at least one that wandered into a post-office here & was then rescued and brought up to the ‘WBF', for rehab. & recovery. It would be nice, if possible, if this bird, assuming a release can be done at some point, is released into an area north of the G.W. bridge, at a minimum, such as Inwood Hill Park, or even farther, out of the mid-Manhattan zone of higher risk (to migrant birds on passage). This is not a federally endangered species, but there has been a serious decline (coinciding with other declines) amongst other factors in preferred food items for this & some of the related ‘nightjars' of the Americas, and for that matter, of many throughout the world where their widespread and large full family occur. This species has nested within N.Y. City at least in the historical & recent past. A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was continuing in Central Park through at least May 7th (Thursday) - on which date, I observed the Red-headed at 7:30 a.m. in a ‘typical’ tree for it, which is roughly near W. 98th Street & east of the park’s West Drive (roadway); I might also note it took 1/2-an-hour watch to actually have had the observation; the bird was fairly high & not especially active for the 5 minutes I then watched it. In the meanwhile, in some of the surrounding oaks, 12 species of warblers were seen nicely which included Bay-breasted, Blackburnian, and multiple Magnolia, all of those bright males. This bird is coming thru now 28+ weeks of its stay in this one location - referring of course to the Red-headed. -- Tuesday, May 5 - A [Red] Fox Sparrow was in Central Park on 5/5; a rather late date for this species at that location; ideally any May sightings at least in N.Y. City of these might be photo’d or video’d, in addition to notes made on any sightings, as has been done for the occurence noted here. (Also, the possibilty of other types of Fox Sparrow [non-“Red”] also should not be dismissed, & indeed there is a documented Sooty Fox Sparrow for Central Park in modern times, which was found well into later-spring.) A singing male Cerulean Warbler was at Inwood Hill Park - 5/5, found by N.Souirgi & w/N.O’Reilly, ID'd by its song. A Summer Tanager was again found in Central Park, likely to have been same as one seen before there, although the Tues. sighting from very slightly west of prior sightings of a similarly-plumaged individual. Another (of at least several this month) ‘Brewster’s'-type hybrid Warbler, in Central Park at Strawberry Fields (S.Chang), an indicator that these are going to be more & more likely sightings, for this region. --- Wed., May 6 - Weather pattern slowly shifting to a northerly and then easterly wind flow, but from Tues. night, a rather calm overnight allowed many more migrants to move through much of the region, with some showers possibly ‘putting down’ some of those migrants in particular areas. Increases were noted for a modest number of migrants, examples including such warbler species as N. Parula, American Redstart, and Ovenbird (the first & last of which had already been fairly widespread in prior days). Also some increase of Nashville & Chestnut-sided Warblers, although the latter in particular will be seen in greater no’s. as May goes along. Still moving well were Black-and-white Warblers, and there was again some early a.m. flight by Yellow-rumped Warblers. A male Golden-winged Warbler showed nicely at Riverside Park, in the vicinity of W. 91-92nd St., just beyond the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in a grove of flowering crabapple trees at least later on. Thanks, Alan Drogin, for promptly reporting this to this list-serve, and later to eBird as well and to your wife for being another observer of birds, in a park not named “central”. This bird had multiple observers & photographers into a rainy afternoon. This was, to my knowledge, the 32nd species of American warbler found in New York County so far this year. (Incidentally. this individual was non-banded.) And, I’d say, the most-photographed songbird in Riverside since the wintry days of Evening Grosbeak fame. A Yellow-throated Warbler was in Central Park, seen around Turtle Pond & just east, & also photographed there; the earliest observer on the day was R.Zucker, with multiple others able to see this bird later on. This individual of the ‘dominica’ form as found in more ID guides, rather than albillora form (i.e. this one with yellow in lores rather than continous-white of the other form found in the northeast of N. America.) Marsh Wrens were again passing thru the area, with at least one at Inwood Hill Park, another in Central Park, & 2 at Randall’s Island all on the day. A Grasshopper Sparrow was photographed in the rain of mid-afternoon at Battery Park, south end of Manhattan, by L.Beausoleil - the 2nd of the season well-documented for N.Y. County. And in Central Park’s Ramble, E.Goodman photographed a late-lingering [Red] Fox Sparrow, an individual that has been hanging in in the area where seen on Wed., 5/6. These records are each found in eBird. Black-billed Cuckoo 1st-arrival, while Yellow-billed are still not very common yet; a Black-billed first-noted from the northern end of Riverside Park’s ‘sanctuary’ near about W. 122nd St. inside the park, where the slope becomes exceedingly steep (where the goat-experiment had been tried, which in this observers opinion failed - since the area has returned to having all of the same invasive plants it had in the years pre-goatdom). Canada Warbler was another new arrival, albeit in the typically-small no’s. that they are often seen in, until the big push arrives with the further arrival of many other later-moving species such as more of the Empidonax [genus], and others. At least (no pun intended) a few E. Wood-Pewees came in, not unexpectedly, & fairly quietly so far with one in the n. end of Central Park on 5/6 remaining rather silent as the cool morning started. It can be worthwhile seeking flycatchers, of any species, in the warmer hours of a day, a time when some other birds may be less-active. Common & Red-throated Loons had a very good flight, with more than 40 of the former & at least a dozen of the latter seen as fly-overs for the day, from around N.Y. County. Also seen moving in very good numbes as fly-thru’s were Barn Swallow, into triple-digit no’s., & still moving north all afternoon. Part of that flight of loons was seen from a very open viewing area north of Grant’s Tomb, near Riverside Drive in Manhattan, which has more than 180-degrees views of horizon, such as can be had in Manhattan. The flight was strongest or seemed so before 10 a.m. but a few were also moving much later as well. Most if not all appeared to cross over Manhattan moving to the west or NW, & many were not exceedingly high in the first 3 hours of daylight. --- Thursday, May 7 - Some overnight passing showers - a regular theme this mid-spring! And a bit of a milder trend for the day, with light W. & then NW winds. Birds were able to move over Wed. night into Thursday, but clearly some also stayed where they had been. The Riverside Park male Golden-winged Warbler continued, as reported to this list-serve first both on 5/6 & on 5/7, down a steep slope from Riverside Drive around a grove of crabapple trees & the immediate vicinity, near about W. 91 Street & a bit south & north of that. A large gathering, perhaps the largest no. of birders in Riverside Park (& in one place there) in some years, as of Thursday to see this sadly-declining species (in our region in migration). Just a few of the large crowd also went far beyond to explore more of that long-linear park, with its varied patches of habitat for migrants & resident birds. One who did & regularly has, T.Perlman, found a 1st-spring Blue Grosbeak up in the northern sector of the sanctuary of Riverside, n. of W. 120 St. (in that area where a herd of goats had been set loose, last year - intentionally!) The Common Raven that A.Drogin had mentioned in his note to this list mostly on his find of a Golden-winged Warbler was also still around, & that’s an interesting species to keep eyes out for, & to see what those ravens in Manhattan may be up to. By around 5 pm, & later in the day Thurs. (5/7) there were 25++ observers of the above warbler, which had moved up to nearer to (latitude of) W. 93rd St. & along a narrower pathway of Riverside Park, west of most of the crabapple grove… I was on the Drive, watching some of the watchers from 50 yards distance; early in the day, there were far fewer watching that bird. A very good mix of migrant species, esp. of warblers, continued in the various parks, albeit most not in any very great numbers, just a nice diversity. This included such species as Hooded, Cape May, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and Wilson’s along with ongoing Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Nashville, Magnolia, & the 2 regular “Black-throated” species, plus others, also continuing. Additional Solitary & Spotted Sandpipers showed, with a few of at least the former sp. in some puddles at some locations, quite early and likely flushed away later by the usual humans, dogs, & general activity of a much-busier-than-previously NYC set of parks… Some species that are often gone by now were still being seen in N.Y. County to this date: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (small no’s. but possibly still in double-digits for the county, mostly seen on Manhattan & in many locations, some being small greenspaces), E. Phoebe, Winter Wren (v. few), Pine Warbler, & still at least 1 or 2 [Red] Fox Sparrows, multiple obs. & some photos. As well as scant lingering duckage such as Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, & (not that unusual yet, if at all) Wood Duck. As mentioned at top, a long-lingering Red-headed Woodpecker was still in Central Park on Thursday, 5/7. Be safe and sensible, keep some distance and follow advice of health & safety experts as we continue to look at birds, especially for those of us in big and busy urban areas or popular parks. Good -and healthy- birding to all, 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/ --
