Date: 5/9/26 7:46 pm From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC - Sat., 5/9 - C. Nighthawk, 27+ warbler spp., etc.
Some nice sightings of course took place in Manhattan and elsewhere in New York County, on Saturday, May 9th, including at least seven species of shorebirds, none rare but much-welcomed on the calendar here, and first-of-year adult-plumaged Yellow-crowned Night-Heron where it is often reliable, on Randalls Island just east of Manhattan, that with multiple observers on the day. Cliff Swallow also was ongoing out there where it is hoped they will again nest, and have success this season. More on the variety of NY County bird sightings from many, many sightings-and-reports, after the weekend.
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Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City - Saturday, May 9th -
Preliminary sightings from over 400 total observers and photographers, excluding any for-profit walks in the park that day - and including many not-for-profit bird walks led by a number of guides and all affiliated with non-profit institutions and organizations, along with their hundreds of supporters in the field on the day, plus sightings and reports from vast numbers of independently-walking observers and photographers, with alerts and reports only in the Discord app, in eBird with the Macaulay Library for audio or visual media, plus many word-of-mouth reports while out on the 17 hours of bird-seeking in the varying weather, including under umbrella in the modest showers of mid-afternoon, when few such chance meetups took place…
The Common Nighthawk arrivals of spring - seen at Central and at least one more Manhattan park by Sat., May 9th - may presage some further migrations of the other later-arriving birds which are yet to move thru, including some which do their migrations out of South America or elsewhere by staying out of the mid-Gulf of Mexico nocturnal crossings, and instead stay close to or over the land while moving north over Mexico.
This also begins a period of May here when many species can be in a rush to reach breeding areas, however north of us they might be … yet, far more migrants of many species are still to come, even some of the species which can breed locally. Quiet, patient attention to actual birdsong now, in mid to late May and beyond, is among the great aspects of learning and understanding these migrant and breeding birds more throughly. And giving the migrants and breeding birds a bit of space when observing is an act of kindness and respect to their natures.
A minimum of twenty-seven species of warblers that winter in the Americas and Caribbean, also known as the Western Hemisphere, and are mainly passing thru lately as migrants moving north, were observed by a total of several-hundred observers and photographers in Central Park on May 9, Saturday. All of those warbler species were seen and many heard by multiple, usually by many observers, and many - most - were also photographed. A report of Cerulean Warbler, never common in this county as a migrant, was noted as well but for now is not added to the tally of 27 warbler species.
Pine Siskin was seen and heard by multiple experienced observers for Saturday, the earliest-in-day Siskin find on Saturday by an observer who has been noting one or two of the species on multiple recent days, often walking in Central with another experienced listener. This is an irruptive finch and it is not that late in the spring - yet - for a single, or a few, to be occurring here. It was by some observers a middling last winter for the species in this county, but for many, it may have remained elusive in the past season. These attractive little finches will associate with American Goldfinches, but are just as possible in their own separate flocks and as singles or duos.
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As part of a nearly-all-countywide day of movement and a few stand-still periods, the later short visit to Bryant Park in midtown provided no Kentucky, but did offer multiple male and female Common Yellowthroats, and a nice variety of native sparrows among which White-crowned, Lincolns, and many Swamp and still-more White-throated
Sparrows rounded up by Song, Chipping, and a modest surprise of Savannah Sparrow photographed, were fun to see in the wet. My experience there was not huge on warbler activity but the ground-lovers were not too tough to find. Ovenbird, etc. Altogether, nineteen miles of walks, plus a few short runs-for-boats, and lucky for express trains working nicely all made a long day in the field productive. Not quite the regular day… and the day of the 9th, or rather from pre-sunrise, began in Central and finished a bit west of there in another great wooded park in Manhattan. I regretted not making the train-trip across to Roosevelt Island, a slightly under-birded place as compared with a site such as Central Park, both in New York County. Other islands visited were productive, but other observers had far more in total sightings and discoveries from such locations on the day.
Happy Mothers Day on Sunday to all moms in all places present, past, future. And good birding as well,
