Out on Randalls Island just east of upper-mid Manhattan, a Nelsons Sparrow of the Atlantic form was found and photographed in the early morning, while one of this species was separately reported from the midsection of Central Park in Manhattan, both on October 9th. Each bird may have been reported thus far by sole, separate observers.
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Manhattan, N.Y. City - thru Thursday, October 9th -
A minimum of 17 warbler species were found in Central Park alone for Thursday, Oct. 9th, with far more than 100 total observers and photographers in the park from very early to late-day, and in all sectors of the park. There were again multiple guided bird walks led by and for not-for-profit organizations and institutions, those walks giving support to sound science, conservation, educational outreach, and all forms of diversity, and such not-for-profit walks are continuing on a near-daily basis in N.Y. City including in Central Park, in Manhattan. Many interesting migrants are showing in all sorts of locations in Manhattan including small parks, gardens, and other greenspaces including some churchyards - as per the next paragraph below.
A first-fall plumaged Connecticut Warbler was the top-highlight in Manhattan amongst the Parulidae, or migratory hemispheres of the Americas warblers, of the species found for Manhattan on Thursday alone with a huge nocturnal migration from Wednesday night into Thursday, representing over one-million birds passing just-locally and more than one-thousand times that number of passage migrants on the one night in the vastly larger continental states.
This is one of the larger migrations where an attempt to bring forth numbers indicated a near-record - however, these latest migrant-passage numbers would pale and pale dramatically if comparisons were drawn to numbers of migrant birds from -for example- one, two, three or ten centuries ago.
In a season thats been quite good here for Connecticut Warbler, this Thursday-in-Manhattan sighting came from the churchyard at lower Manhattans venerable Trinity Church - main entry on lower Broadway, generally open to the public, and long known as a potential site for a variety of migrants dropping in to the small, rather easily-birded patch of the yard. Close and patient watches here can reveal a surprise on days after migrations are strong and at times, certain migrants will linger a bit there.
At least ten species of native sparrow were noted for Central Park alone on Thursday, that number including the report of a Nelsons Sparrow within Central, this last being a different sighting from the bird on Randalls Island very early on Thursday. Other birds still being seen in Central Park into Thursday have included Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Baltimore Orioles, with very high numbers of some of the various neotropical-wintering migrant species showing in the massive migratory movement.
There has been a clear increase of some passerine species, one example being Golden-crowned Kinglets, for which many dozens came in to Central Park alone by Thursday. Great numbers of many many more migrant species have been arriving and-or passing including in and over Central Park.
Summer Tanager was found and photographed - W. Andermann at Inwood Hill Park, in n. Manhattan, on Monday. A Clay-colored Sparrow was at the same park by Tuesday, and that Inwood Clay-colored was still in place thru Wednesday.
Arrivals by Thursday included some newly passing and some-lingering waterfowl, including more Atlantic Brant, Red-breasted Mergansers, and other species in greater numbers for this location such as Ruddy Duck. There were up to double-digit numbers of Green-winged Teals in Central Park by Thursday however most, or even almost all of those ducks had been present already, mainly continuing at The Pool in the northwest sector of that park. N. Shoveler numbers have been rising but with no dramatic increases, so far. Pied-billed Grebe was ongoing, while modest numbers of Common Loons have been passing over on some days of this past week.
Thanks to great numbers of keen, quiet, patient observers and photographers out and about all around Manhattan, at all hours in the collective, for many alerts and reports all via non-x apps and, as always via eBird with the Macaulay Library for media archives.
Good birding,
Tom Fiore
manhattan
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