Date: 1/29/26 10:52 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - thru 1/28 - waterbird movements, etc.
New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Randalls, Roosevelt, and Governors Islands and the adjacent waters and skies above -
thru Wednesday, Jan. 28th -
Small updates for Thursday, Jan. 29 include a couple of American Wigeons showing around Randalls Island, and at least one Lesser Scaup at Stuvesasant Cove off E. 23rd Street one the East River, continuing there again Thursday.
The 3 Cackling Geese with very large numbers of Canada Geese -well over 1,200 for the entire park- had been ongoing at Central Park, following a pattern just thru Saturday, ahead of the snowstorm, of going from overnighting on the Central Park reservoir with many of their Canada cousins, then moving to the nearby Great Lawn to feed during most of each recent day. Since that storm, it seemed the Cacklers were not seen, although with rougher conditions excepting for a slight warmup on Monday, recent days were not as conducive to great numbers of observers out and about, by comparison to milder periods of a good bit of the winter here thus far.
By Monday, in any event, a rather large movement of geese and perhaps other waterfowl was happening, in particular with geese moving south down along or near the Hudson River, multi-thousands in total for that one day, starting as early as daybreak and ongoing. A smaller number appeared to be visible moving south from parts of the county other than by the Hudson, but perhaps to lesser degree. And, some -smaller- geese, more than just 3 individuals, could be seen moving along in some of those southbound flocks. With a lot of those geese at varying altitudes, it was presumed some flocks were moving well-out of the county, perhaps out of NY state. By Monday, at Central Park the goose numbers seemed to be roughly halved from two days prior and of those looking, we were not seeing any Cacklers… however, that species may certainly show again in the county as the winter goes along.
Out on Randalls Island, some of us made forays on Saturday, and a good mix of water birds and varied others was seen by the collective observers, including those hardy enough to be out in single-digit to below-zero wind-chill periods of the morning. A Lesser Black-backed Gull was one of the less-common species for this county, found at Randalls, and a nice variety of waterfowl for one site in the county was also tallied in the collective. At least one Orange-crowned Warbler was hanging in thru Saturday, and further, at Randall’s Island, while it may be that still-more were surviving at least thru that day. One Orange-crowned Warbler was present again on Randalls in the area of the saltmarsh at Little Hell Gate, into Wed. and at least a couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers were surviving as well, the latter around feeders where suet was still available, including at Carl Schurz Park, by Gracie mansion on Manhattans upper east side, with another at a little-watched feeder in a central-Harlem location.
The rather heavy snow, and much more-so, additional lengthy bouts of continually sub-freezing temperatures present a challenge to many birds in this more than week-long period. The icy and frigid conditions for some locations obviously keep a lot of birders less-likely to roam in some of those ice-covered areas. It is the first winter in a number of years with ice covering a vast majority of the Hudson River and the other waters of the county, with floes out into N.Y. Harbor as well. This looks to be ongoing, and also increasing, for a time into next month, and while the Hudson and nearby estuaries are highly-tidal here, that alone will not be eliminating all the ice very rapidly, only some prolonged thaws will get that process going.
For Common Goldeneyes, a pair of that species was seen and photographed just off Muscota Marsh next to the NE corner of Inwood Hill Park on Tues., and the pair were certainly some of closer-in of the species to show for N.Y. County birders, and also within county waters. The Hudson can be good for that species off Manhattan, although often requiring a scope or keen scanning with smaller optics. Other species of diving ducks, and of course other waterbirds are always a possibility in winter season and those ice floes may not be enough to prevent such waterbirds being present. At least 4 Common Mergansers were also seen off Muscota Marsh area on Tuesday. A Rusty Blackbird was ongoing at Fort Tryon Park, present there all of this month. Along the Hudson in particular, ice floes showed off multiple Bald Eagles, occasionally even to double-digits in view, at times. Bald Eagles were also showing over or in multiple areas of the county, as still more seem to be arriving. Other raptors also were continuing, some active after-dark. At least several American Woodcock were trying to make it in the snow and ice-wracked conditions, in some locations on Manhattan island. There are multiple sites in this county where the possibility exists for birds locating mini-habitat with what could be seen as milder microclimates, in part where heated buildings or vent-pipes both prevent sub-sub-freezing temperature, or may even allow some minuscule insect and arthropod activity besides or in addition to that which is typically possible in winter season.
Some of the birds still being seen in and after the big snow - Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Wood Duck, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, American Black Duck, Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Greater Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Wild Turkey - one at its regular location at The Battery -, feral Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, American Coot still on the C.P. Reservoir into Monday, Killdeer, American Woodcock, Ring-billed Gull, American Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Great Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Coopers Hawk, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Owls, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern -Yellow-shafted- Flicker, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Monk Parakeet, Blue Jay, American Crow, Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Carolina Wren, European Starling, Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Northern Mockingbird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, House Sparrow, House Finch, Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow - off Riverside Drive near W. 150 St. -, Field Sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Red Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed -Slate-colored- Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Northern Cardinal, and perhaps some of the hardiest or luckiest survivors among warblers, such as Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped, as well as other -possible- birds still around or even lately-arriving from still-colder realms.
Some of the species noted were in small plazas, gardens, and varied locations on Manhattan, while a number of waterfowl were off the shores around Manhattan or to the east, or south, near the three other sizable islands of the county. While many birds also have flocked to feeding areas prepared by humans, there are still many birds, such as native sparrows and finches and Mourning Doves and such, along with the ever-present House Sparrow in large numbers, which are foraging by and under natural sources of food, in many locations, on top of snow or by digging in where it was possible to, as well as coming to places where seed and other food is being thrown or otherwise offered or left to the snowy ground.
Many many locations all around the county had snow-covered scenes with various hardier birds more out in the open, that is, feeding in any way that they could and in many parks or smaller greenspaces, gardens, plazas, and churchyards, as well as many building courtyards or smaller plantings and up on terrace or roof gardens, much more obviously-so if any feeding of birds were taking place, a fair variety of species, county-wide, could be found, particularly on Manhattan island in the snow. Birds which seemed a bit harder to find in any numbers included fruit-eating species such as waxwings or even American Robins, the latter rather numerous into early January but dwindling in relative numbers as the month had moved along, and even where such winter-fruits as certain crabapples were still abundant in a few locations, the birds were not yet finding all the available fruit, or were simply less-interested. Modest movements were noted of American Robins mainly moving south or southwest in recent days.
Good winter birding, stay safe in the extreme cold,
