Date: 11/6/25 12:24 pm From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - thru 11/6 - W. Kingbird, H. Grebe, other arrivals, plus late-lingering birds
New York County, N.Y. City -thru Thursday, Nov. 6th-
A Western Kingbird has appeared on Randalls Island Thursday around mid-day, Nov. 6th, just-shy of the eastern part of an N.Y.F.D. -not open to public- area in the central-northeast portion of the island, and was seen -also photographed- thanks-firstly to R. Zucker for the find, then with others, also regulars at Randalls and keen observers, on-scene, before this -first-for-Randalls- bird may have left the area. It may or may not still be present in that area, updates would be excellent, if this is re-found at all. A few other nice sightings for the same island this day included E. Bluebirds in numbers, and Vesper Sparrow which perhaps is still-lingering for some days, plus a variety of other seasonal species. Some birders may still be checking some parts of Randalls and sites adjacent to the area the Kingbird was seen, which could however by now possibly include n.-w. Queens County in N.Y. City, or even Manhattans far-east edges in Harlem and vicinity, or certainly some farther-flown site. Not on-site myself I believe the Kingbird had been somewhat near to Field 27 of the island, and then flew across the cyclone fence into the restricted areas of the N.Y.F.D. Fire Academy, and their grounds.
. . .
A Horned Grebe on the Hudson River, scoped from northern Manhattan on Nov. 4th, with thanks to N. Souirgi for the find, was seen by several other observers as well, a rather uncommonly noticed species for that area and a rather uncommonly-found species for all of New York county despite being very regular in the local region at some times of year.Numbers of waterfowl have risen somewhat, with at least 12 Hooded Mergansers and up to 20-plus, at times, of Buffleheads in Central Park alone at times in the past week, and somewhat higher numbers of Ruddy Ducks. Wood Ducks continued in double-digits for Manhattan. Brant of the Atlantic-form are becoming more evident although as is typical, far higher numbers may be seen out of Manhattan itself in this county, on or in adjacent-waters of the 3 other large islands of the county. More intensive searching of the county-waters may begin to reveal some other recent waterfowl arrivals. Some Red-breasted Mergansers have shown at times off Manhattan, but numbers have been minimal. Black Scoter was noted at a Hudson River site, and not just in the river-migration watch areas most typically covered on some autumn days, this past week.
Lingering-late birds at Bryant Park in mid-Manhattan included Wood Thrush and American Redstart, thru at least Nov. 5th. A Scarlet Tanager was noted at a university location on Manhattans far-east side on Nov. 3rd, a rather late date. A Blue-headed Vireo on Nov. 5th at Central Park was just slightly-late for the species.
Multiple Orange-crowned Warblers have continued to show in Manhattan, including at least 3 in Central Park in different areas there, as well as at the south end of Manhattan, and there are some other likely sightings, some of these into Nov. 6th. Cape May Warblers were ongoing at Central Park, with at least 2 lingering in one location for many days of Nov., thus far, and moving particularly within a grove of elm trees. N. Waterthrush had at least 1 ongoing representative at The Pool in Central Parks n-w quadrant, a very long-lingering bird there.
Other warbler species that were lingering into this first week of November included Nashville, Palm, Pine, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Myrtle-form Yellow-rumped, N. Parula, Ovenbird and Common Yellowthroat, and there may be some additional lingering warblers. Many of these species have diminished greatly in numbers, but besides the multi-Orange-crowneds, there are multiples of at least 6 of these species, and some may persist even into winter such as Ovenbird and Common Yellowthroat, each sometimes staying in even the smallest or least-expected small patches of habitat in Manhattan in some past winters.
Purple Finches continued to show in various locations, including at Central Park. Also showing in many areas, and on the move in good to very-good numbers on some days have been Cedar Waxwings, as well as the expected strong numbers of American Robins as well as Common Grackles, the latter along with some additional blackbird-species -the grackles especially into the multi-thousands in some morning-flights- on the wing. Although many species have diminished in their higher numbers seen in October, at least 10 native sparrow species have been found in Manhattan into November, with Lincolns and White-crowned among those, as well as Red Fox Sparrow and Savannah Sparrow. Vesper Sparrow was continuing in at least some areas of New York County. Rusty Blackbirds were still around this week in a few locations including at Central Park.
Some frosty nights ahead, particularly to the north, may both chase-out some lingering birds and likewise possibly bring in some new arrivals, and more passage of seasonal species. We have had a fairly good arrival of some species that are -sensitive in densely-human-populated places- and will be noted far later in the coming weeks or months, even when some have been very-publicly reported. In a number of instances as is not-unusual, American Crows and some other non-raptors have mobbed or made noise and thus attract curious passersby, which in some locations is likely to include at least some birders.
Good birding - and thanks to all reporting any finds, alerting for some species on the non-x alert systems and to all for many reports and also photos in eBird with the Macaulay Library for media archives.
Tom Fiore
manhattan
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