Date: 9/20/26 10:20 am From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - Sat., 9/19 - great migration diversity
New York County -in N.Y. City- including Governors, Randalls, Roosevelt and Manhattan islands and the adjacent waters and sky -
Saturday, September 19 -
Nearly 120 species of birds showed at Central Park in Manhattan on Saturday, with numbers of new arrivals and reinforcements of some species which were already present there. However, the county overall featured a much broader variety of migrants and plenty to be seen on all 4 of the major islands of the county. There was a quite good morning-flight in all sectors of the county, and also a strong flight during the night from Friday into Saturday, with of course far more birds that carried on, moving farther south, and passing over the local area in the night.
An E. Whip-poor-will at Central Park was seen well by many - including by multiple observers walking independently, and with photos taken by some. In the category of caprimulgids, more Common Nighthawks were also seen, a few during full daylight.
Connecticut Warblers have been noted from multiple locations, with one on Governors Island well-photographed on Saturday. Various other sightings are so far this year not as well-documented, some even when noted by experienced observers.
Red-headed Woodpeckers were found in at least 2 locations on Saturday, both being adult birds, one at Randalls Island, and another at Central Park, the latter just-possibly a lingering bird, although the species has been moving in fair numbers around the wider region.
Dickcissel has been doing nicely in terms of appearances in this county - and around the wider region - recently, and another sighting of a vocal bird of this species came from Governors Island on Saturday, where many migrants were seen by large numbers of observers in yet another of the multiple not-for-profit guided bird walks occurring almost daily now in this county, with supporting institutions and organizations which lead on such areas as outreach in conservation and education, sound science, and strong support for natural diversity, and happily with more and more young people from many backgrounds coming to enjoy our birds and all of nature.
The Saturday Dickcissel at Central Park in Manhattan was seen and heard by fewer observers but also is fully confirmed and, it might still be lingering in that park, as with the other individual seen at Governors. Bobolinks have continued passing thru with some going thru Manhattan including Central Park, on Saturday and in many other county locations, in modest numbers.
A Rusty Blackbird in basic -ie winter- plumage was seen and well-photographed at Central Park on Saturday, the first of the season. A Pine Siskin is a confirmed sighting from Governors Island on Saturday, and a small flight of Purple Finch occurred thru at least far west Manhattan. Red-breasted Nuthatches were again detected from some locations, including in Central and many other parks in Manhattan. Some of the latter seemed to be new arrivals.
The movement of Scarlet Tanagers on Saturday morning was exceptional, and that movement was also noted from tens of miles out of Manhattan if not much farther, with more than 50 Scarlets in and over Central Park alone on Saturday, and vastly more - well into triple-digits for all of the county - on the day. It might be a good time to be checking for any potential vagrant Tanagers that could be around, beyond the uncommon Summer Tanagers of which we have had low multiples recently.
Vireos have continued to include all six of the annually occurring species with this seasons good showing by Philadelphia Vireo continuing with multiples of that species. All of the other five vireo species were still present at Central Park to Saturday. For flycatchers, a fairly good diversity was still being seen around the county, but some species are now showing diminished numbers, as more E. Phoebes come in.
We are in that phase of the year where there are still Great Crested Flycatchers pushing through but, any Myiarchus-genus flycatcher seen in coming weeks or months ought to be scrutinized and if possible, closely photographed or video-audio recorded so as to check details in the case of potential rarer vagrant species. This also would be best for sightings of Empidonax-genus flycatchers noted in the coming weeks or months, and even for any flycatcher that looks not-quite like an expected local, such as Eastern Phoebe of which we can sometimes see lingerers to early winter, or later in some years.
We also are in that time of year for paying some attention to Hummingbird details as the weather and season changes. For now, all sightings here have been of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and that species can be ongoing for some weeks or longer, but that species is less and likely as the year goes along. By November, a vagrant species of hummingbird, with some variety of species as possibilities, becomes as-likely, if any hummingbird is found in the northeast, and the vagrant rather than the Ruby-throated is actually the more-likely by the final six weeks of the year in late Nov. or December. Photos, videos, very close observations will all be very helpful.
Waterfowl and waterbirds turning up on Saturday also included some Common Loons, including a couple overflying Manhattan and Central and Riverside Parks, and a
also over Randalls Island on Saturday. A Ruddy Duck was a new arrival at Central Park, where American Wigeon also continued, and another Am. Wigeon was found at Randalls Island. The Yellow-crowned Night Heron still is best sought in this county at Randalls, and we shall see how late into this year that species persists.
A nice movement of N. Pintails was observed going past Central Park in morning flight, while Green-winged Teal were noted, and many N. Shovelers, as well as some Wood Ducks continuing at Central Park and elsewhere, along with all the usual summering-over-all waterfowl of the county. Laughing Gulls are still moderately common, as expected for now, and a rather few Common Terns were still around mainly from the N.Y. Harbor area or the south end of the Hudson river. Double-created Cormorants have been moving by the many-hundreds and some groups flying over were into the 80-plus range per group. Vast numbers of N. Flickers were moving thru, not especially unusual for this time of year, in any case numbers just for Manhattan only were likely up to quadruple digits in morning hours on Saturday. Within that cohort, other woodpecker species were likely to be much less obvious even if on the move such as the less widely understood and lesser movements in some seasons, of Red-bellied Woodpecker and other species of woodpecker.
Thanks to many hundreds of observers on Saturday from all around the county, for sightings, alerts, and reports, many with photos or video-audio included.
