Date: 10/31/25 12:22 am From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park & Manhattan overall, NYC - to 10/30 - modest waterfowl arrivals, etc.
Central Park, with other Manhattan locations, all of which within N.Y. City -
thru Thursday, October 30th -
Firstly, the hybrid-northeaster type rain system that passed into NYC and vicinity with varying dousing of rain and occasional bursts of moderate-force winds at Manhattan had essentially nothing to do with major and dangerous hurricane Melissa - that named storm has been far far south and not at all close to any part of NY state or to the northeastern parts of North America.
There was some overnight migration with many expected seasonal species moving from Wed. night into Thursday morning over and thru Manhattan - species such as Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, American Robin, Dark-eyed Junco and other such typical species were among the common and expected species on the move for the night that began on 10-29. Of the observers out and about in Manhattan, plus at least a few searching sites just out of Manhattan but in the same county, few to nearly no storm-waifs or unusual birds were found by us who were looking, and all sightings for Thursday could well have been essentially-standard for about any day around this date and with no storm at all nearby. There were some breaks in the wet and windy weather in some hours and Thursday finished out with peeks of sun as well as excellent rainbows for some in Manhattan by the late-day.
Some further waterfowl arrivals, although many of these were likely to have come in during earlier, recent days, and along with associated water birds have been showing as this week carried along. The arrivals have included multiple but modest numbers of Hooded Mergansers, multiple but minimal so far Red-breasted Mergansers, very few so far Buffleheads, and loons of both species we typically find in the colder months, Common and Red-throated Loons. A few American Coots and Pied-billed Grebe for
Central Park were already present and not newly arrived. Double-crested Cormorants are also continuing in plenty of the waters of Manhattan. The same of the up to one dozen Green-winged Teals which are mostly being seen regularly for many weeks at The Pool in Central Park. Some N. Shovelers are turning up in a few places next to Manhattan aside from the usual locations for that species as ongoing for months, in Central Park, with just modest recent increases. Brant all presumed of the
Atlantic form have been numerous in Manhattan waters and-or around N.Y. County.
Up to fourteen Wood Ducks were in Central Park for Thursday with a minimum of eight at once on the reservoir during the rains, and others around various other waterbodies of Central. Gulls of the still-potentially 4 species which have been common or regular and expected still featured plenty of Laughing Gulls, some in Central Park at intervals, and the bulk of gulls all around being Ring-billed, American Herring, and Great Black-backed Gulls. There have been some sightings of possible Lesser Black-backed Gull in a few locations this week, including on the other islands of New York County just outside of Manhattan. A few other gull species have been suspected but with no firm textual descriptions by watchers or any publicly available photos so far. It is certainly a period for potentially uncommon or rarer gulls to make appearances. Even a phone-photo may help in determining ID of some of the birds showing up out there.
Birds still continuing at Central Park at least thru Wednesday and some also seen on Thursday included Rusty Blackbirds, and at least one-dozen warbler species which include lingering American Yellow Warbler, and Magnolia Warbler, as well as long-lingering Northern Waterthrushes, plus the remainder of warbler species still hanging in. The only fairly numerous warblers stil being found around Manhattan by now are Palm Warbler and the Myrtle form of Yellow-rumped Warbler, but some species continue in the multiple such as Ovenbirds, Common Yellowthroats, Black-throated Blue Warblers, N. Parulas, Nashville, and at least a few other warbler species. The Orange-crowned Warbler migrations ought to be ongoing, or some still lingering, and at least two of those were ongoing at Central Park thru Thursday, at near-opposite ends of the park.
Many species of migrants or longer-staying birds are being found all around Manhattan, including in the smaller parks as well as the larger, and in greenspaces of all kinds including gardens, plazas, church yards, and so on. In many past years some of the rarer birds of the county - or occasionally for all of NY state - were found in smaller greenspaces of Manhattan, in addition to the more-birded locations that receive many observers and photographers.
Good birding,
Tom Fiore
manhattan
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