From Staten Island (Richmond County) thru Rockland County, NY & in Manhattan, Monday-Friday, 20-24th February, 2017
yes, it is "spring-fever" ...as well as other fevers that are not mentioned herein... with temperatures in the 60's on multiple days in New York City & surrounding areas Starting with a bit of standard/expected migration today, Friday 24th: in Central Park, a few American Woodcock have been in the park, with a minimum of 3 individuals all flushed - "unintentionally" by off-leash dogs which are a standard feature of almost any birding in that park, at all hours & locations (yes there are regulations, no not every dog- owner there follows, knows, or in some instances cares about that, in that park) - the woodcocks seemed to re-settle again but are sure to be skittish in most areas other than the few where dogs & humans might not disturb them; my sightings were in the north woods, and there've been at least a couple of woodcocks in the Ramble areas the past 2 mornings, as well as around the entire region (many on territories, too); also moving through at Central Park have been increasing numbers of icterids, some of them Red-winged Blackbirds and a majority Common Grackles (besides the several hundred grackles that overwintered), with a few Rusty Blackbirds in select and typical areas, as well as some Brown-headed Cowbirds which had been there in winter in low numbers as well; a few Killdeer have come thru & one or more stopped in on the North Meadow ballfields, but may not have lingered - I've not refound them within 30 minutes or so after initial sightings, but they can show & hide even on a (large) sports field, & some can also be on the move diurnally. On the CP reservoir, one Red-necked Grebe remains - the bird that had been released there some weeks ago; it seems to be fine, had fed well and has been observed using wings a bit, so perhaps as spring - here now? - actually comes along, it will move on; I did not notice a loon of any kind this morning - but the common loon (or any loon) that was at the reservoir earlier in the week can easily be 'missed' at times, since they may dive frequently, and be sitting quite low in the water at times as well as moving about all portions of the reservoir. There are ongoing Double-crested Cormorants at the reservoir (& elsewhere in the park at times) and these must be watched so as not to get 'loony' over. Many of the duck species present in weeks past are around, & some shifting where they've been, or been more & less evident in the park. A duo of [American] Green-winged Teal were seen by many at the reservoir this Friday, & Wood Ducks continue in a few locations, as previously. Many many other species are about, not the least of these being the 1st-year Red-headed Woodpecker - which has gained much red about the head by now & is ongoing in the area of the park just west of East 68th Street. ---- On Thursday (2/23) in eastern Rockland County, NY, I hiked up to 8 miles of the blue-blazed Long Path (a path that connects the NJ side of the GW Bridge on the Hudson river in Bergen County, with New York's Catskill mountain range (& beyond, with extensions into the Adirondacks - I have in the past hiked on all of that path, in spring and other seasons, & it is a wonderful experience of part of NY state's wild, natural, as well as historic land & water -scapes) - my hike on Thursday was in the afternoon hours and began in Nyack going to near South Haverstraw (Congers) on the woods & river-cliff trails (there are various possible trail options) & during the hike there, I came across: 80+ Vultures, of which more than 15 Black, the remainder Turkey Vultures - and one adult Bald Eagle, 1 adult male Peregrine, 1 Cooper's Hawk, a few Red-tailed Hawks, as well as the 2 most-regular- resident owl species of the area, Eastern Screech, and Great Horned. Other birds seen were Pileated Woodpecker, a "forest" flock of over 100 American Robins (over an area of 3-4+ acres), Yellow-shafted Flicker (in Nyack late in the day), & various other more-expected species - nice to see a blackbird-grackle flock numbering in the many hundreds (perhaps 1,000+) at the Piermont marsh, a bit farther south on the Hudson, at near-sunset hour. -------------------- Going way back to Monday (2/20), in Staten Island (Richmond County), NYC, on a day that took in dozens of sites & most of the day into dusk hours, about 75 species were found, a few of them long-lingering at their respective areas - a Red Crossbill (female-plumaged) & a minimum of 3 Pine Warblers (2 of those quite-bright males) plus Red-breasted Nuthatch, with some juncos, & a few other birds in the pine trees at the south parts of Midland beach boardwalk (a bit northeast of Miller Field's east end); & the ever-present (or seems-so) Lesser Black- backed Gull farther down past Great Kills park (wherein I failed to find even the Horned Lark flock, much less a recently-documented Lapland Longspur (a once-very-reliable species in that park with horned larks); other-wheres on Staten Island were a very good variety of rather expected waterfowl (missing going up to see the Blue-winged Teal at Willowbrook, but not knowing of it anyhow 'til later - a "good bird" in winter hereabouts, but not altogether unprecedented by any means in winter seasons in southeast NY) and many more birds, ending the day out with some Monk Parakeets that I was clued into by Howie Fischer, these not too far from the ferry terminal in St George (at the NE end of the island). Thanks to many SI birders & others who've provided reports on many species of Staten Island, both recently & over the years! ---- "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." - Aldo Leopold (1887–1948), U.S. wildlife biologist, conservationist, professor, author, best known for his book "A Sand County Almanac" (1949), which has sold more than two million copies. good -and ethical- 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/ --
