Date: 10/22/18 12:50 pm From: Andrew Block <ablock22168...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] vireo and creeper
While working out in my yard today a very tame Brown Creeper landed in a tree only 3 feet from me seemingly without a care. Never seen one so close and so well with no binos. Also had a Blue-headed Vireo in another tree at the same time about 15 feet away. Very nice.
Andrew
Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist
20 Hancock Avenue, Apt. 3
Yonkers, Westchester Co., New York 10705-4629
www.flickr.com/photos/conuropsis/albums
--
Greetings: This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week on October 15, 2018
Highlights:
RED-NECKED GREBE
CACKLING GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
BLACK-BELLIED PLIVER
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
LITTLE GULL
PARASITIC JAEGER
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER
EVENING GROSBEAK
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC)
------------
Another good week for Shorebirds with 16 species spotted on the complex.
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
SPOTTED SANDPIPER
SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
KILLDEER
DUNLIN
AMERICAN WOODCOCK
SANDERLING
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
LEAST SANDPIPER
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
10/19: 7 Shorebird species including SANDERLING and WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER were seen at the Visitor’s Center.
10/20: A CACKLING GOOSE and 2 EURASIAN WIGEON were seen at the Visitor’s Center.
10/21: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER and AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER were seen from East Road. A SANDERLING was again seen at the Visitor’s Center. An EURASIAN WIGEON was seen on the Wildlife Drive.
1022: A HUDSONIAN GODWIT was seen at the Visitor’s Center.
Onondaga County
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10/19: 2 LINCOLN’S SPARROWS and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER were seen at 3 Rivers WMA north of Baldwinsville.
Oswego County
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10/16: A RED-NECKED GREBE was seen at Derby Hill.
10/17: 4 PARASITIC JAEGERS and a LITTlE GULL were seen at Derby Hill.
10/10/21: A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and 2 CACKLING GEESE were seen at Derby Hill. An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen on Lake Road in Lycoming.
Madison County
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10/16: A RED-NECKED GREBE and a GREAT EGRET were seen at Woodman Pond.
10/19: A CACKLING GOOSE was spotted at Woodman Pond.
10/20: An EVENING GROSBEAK was seen on Carpenter Road in Georgetown.
Oneida County
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10/17: A LINCOLN’S SPARROW was seen at Spring Farm Nature Sanctuary south of Clinton.
Herkimer County
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10/17: An EVENING GROSBEAK was seen at a feeder in Dolgeville.
10/20: BRANT were seen on Rt. 167 south of Dolgeville and on Brocket Road north of Dolgeville.
Date: 10/22/18 10:49 am From: Anne Swaim <anneswaim...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Croton Point Park Today: Sparrows and More
Sparrows galore on 4th Monday Saw Mill River Audubon bird walk at Croton Point today with 10 sparrow species seen on main walk: Chipping (2), Field (1), White crowned (5), White-throated (21), Vesper (6), Savannah (12), Song (92), Lincoln's (2 total, 1 on main walk and 1 by another observer), and Swamp (at least 11), as well as a few Dark-eyed Juncos now.
Separate observers reported a Clay-Colored Sparrow as well in grasslands between landfill and Croton Bay.
Two Eastern Meadowlarks seen twice flying together over landfill grasslands.
Small flock of Pipits (7), many Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers, a couple of American Kestrels and a Northern Harrier also on landfill grasslands.
At the end of our walk, we observed an interesting territorial-like display by pair of adult Bald Eagles vocalizing and flying together and interacting with a third adult, perhaps a passing migrant (?). A pair of adult Bald Eagles has been consistently seen around Croton Point this year through spring and summer. A fourth adult and a subadult Bald Eagle were also seen earlier in the walk.
Two Pectoral Sandpipers with one lingering Semipalmated Sandpiper continuing in the wetland area by ballfield. [High count of each observed of over past week has been 10 Pectoral Sandpipers and 3 Semipalms.] Greater Yellowlegs in puddle in fenced parking lot behind ballfield parking at end of the walk.
Date: 10/21/18 6:23 pm From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Sun., Oct. 21, 2018 - Eastern Bluebirds, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle
Central Park NYC Sunday, October 21, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, Deborah Allen, m.ob.
Highlights on a cold and breezy morning: Eastern Bluebirds, Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle, Accipiters & Turkey Vultures.
Canada Goose - 44 (2 Vs of 42 birds & a few locals) Mallard - 6 Turtle Pond Mourning Dove - 5 Chimney Swift - max of 3 seen together ring-billed Gull - flyovers Herring Gull - flyovers Double-crested Cormorant - Turtle Pond Turkey Vulture - 22 flyovers most over Maintenance Field (largest group 15) Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2 Cooper's Hawk 6 (5 migrants overhead) one low close flyby at Maintenance Field Bald Eagle - adult over Maintenance Field (Deb) Red-shouldered Hawk - adult over Sparrow Rock Red-bellied Woodpecker - 5 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 8-10 Northern Flicker - 18 (10 together on the ground below Sparrow Rock) American Kestrel - migrant over Maintenance Field Eastern Phoebe - 6 or 7 Blue Jay - flock of 25 heading south over Maint. Field & others American Crown - noisy flock of 25 over Tupelo Field Black-capped Chickadee - 3 in Eastern Hemlock in Shakespeare Garden Tufted Titmouse - 45 (counted with Karen Evans) Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3 Shakespeare Garden White-breasted Nuthatch - 4 Brown Creeper - Summer House Winter Wren - 5 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 7 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 10 Eastern Bluebird - 3-4 (1 or 2 Maint. Field (Annette Pasek), pair Sparrow Rock) Hermit Thrush - 14 American Robin - 50-75 (many in Amur Cork at Azalea Pond, & in Hawthorns) Gray Catbird - 2 or 3 Cedar Waxwing - 5 including flyover flock of 10 House Finch - 1 or 2 Great Lawn Purple Finch - 20 Pine Siskin - 4 Maintenance Field American Goldfinch - 3 or 4 Sparrow Rock Eastern Towhee - 6 Chipping Sparrow - 10-12 (Turtle Pond, Sparrow Rock, Bethesda Terrace (K. Evans) Field Sparrow - Sparrow Rock Song Sparrow - 40 Swamp Sparrow - 2 Sparrow Rock (Deb 7:15am) White-throated Sparrow - hundreds White-crowned Sparrow - 2 imm. (Bethesda Terr. (K. Evans), Sparrow Rock (Deb 7:15am) Dark-eyed Junco - 5 Brown-headed Cowbird - male Sparrow Rock with Eu. Starling flock Common Grackle Palm Warbler - Maintenance Field Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10-15 Northern Cardinal - 3 or 4
-- Peter Post Reported an Orange-crowned Warbler at Strawberry Fields and a late Broad-winged Hawk.
A Nelson's Sparrow (rare for Central Park) was found at Spector Playground (near & west of Pinetum) by Elizabeth Paredes & seen & photographed by many this afternoon. See @BirdCentralPark for info.
-- Deb Allen Follow us on twitter @BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Date: 10/21/18 11:35 am From: Jose Ramirez-Garofalo <jose.ramirez.garofalo...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Staten Island Vesper Sparrows - Miller Field + Oakwood Beach Area
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Jose Ramirez-Garofalo <jose.ramirez.garofalo...> Date: Sun, Oct 21, 2018 at 13:16 Subject: Vesper Sparrows - Miller Field + Oakwood Beach Area To: <sinaturalist...> <sinaturalist...>
4 Vesper Sparrows at Miller Field next to bocci court (near puddle), 1 in abandoned lot on Tarlton St (40.5528560, -74.1159340)
Date: 10/21/18 10:23 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] migrants in Manhattan, NYC (& extralimitally)
Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018 -
GOLDEN Eagle is a rarity for Manhattan, & one has been sighted moving south-west from the n. end of the island; this day could bring more, with strong winds from the northwest all day.
Much migration ongoing thru mid-day in Manhattan, being seen from all points of the island as well as the 'outer isles’ and skies above (New York County, that is), with, among others, BOTH species of Vulture being reported migrating, & various raptors including multiple Bald Eagles, and such typical mid-late fall migrants as E. BLUEBIRD (more than 30 have moved thru Central Park alone, & some may be sticking a while; this after Sat’s. single vanguard was reported at Fort Tryon Park in n. Manhattan), many more in the sparrow tribe (at least 10 species plus E. Towhee & Dark-eyed Junco already being reported for N.Y. County this day), and also icterids including a couple of orioles (all apparent Baltimore), & a nice finch flight with some Pine Siskins, & many more Purple Finches, also American Goldfinches, & a wide variety of other species; plenty more sightings/reports at a later time / date. There’s been a strong movement of Blue Jays, American Robins, and among the mentioned icteridae, Red-winged Blackbirds & Common Grackles, as well as other diurnal migrants.
Lots more to see…
- -
On the shore of Connecticut’s Long Island Sound have been reported sightings of CAVE Swallows - & that species could be watched for anywhere now. There is also a discussion online of a “Solitary” type vireo seen in Connecticut on Friday 10/19, which has given rise to a chance it was a Cassin’s Vireo; look for more on that from that state’s list-serve & other media. The sightings of Cave Swallow were at least initially at Lighthouse Point S.P., at New Haven, & there were several being seen on 10/21.
A second -hand report from Mike Higgiston, is that the flycatcher is currently being seen in the same area as reported yesterday. It is flying between the fences, but mostly along the wire fence, in the field south side of Montauk Hwy, at The Ranch. Other observers are on site as well.
Eileen Schwinn
for Mike Higgiston
Date: 10/21/18 6:42 am From: Rob Bate <robsbate...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Gallinule and bittern
The Purple Gallinule has been refound behind the war memorial in Prospect Park. As an added bonus there is an American Bittern sunning itself on the north side of Music Island nearby.
Date: 10/21/18 5:58 am From: Long Island Birding <michaelzito...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] White-Crowned Sparrows - Norman J. Levy Park
If anyone is looking for White-Crowned Sparrows there are at least 8 mixed in flocks in the parking lot of Norman J. Levy Park. Two nice adults by the green energy vehicles.
Date: 10/21/18 5:51 am From: Ken Feustel <feustel...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher continues at Deep Hollow Ranch (South) (Suffolk Co.)
Currently viewing Flycatcher on middle fence at Deep Hollow Ranch south of Montauk Highway.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher remained in the fields south of Montauk Highway for several hours, where it was admired by several shifts of birders. It was generally quite cooperative, feeding actively and perching on the fencelines, but occasionally it would retreat into the trees along the east side of the hollow for five or ten minutes, where it was generally not possible to see (eagle-eyed Pat was able to discern it in this context a couple of times, on different perches). It was still behaving this way when Pat and I returned from the point at 3:30. About fifteen minutes later, however, it moved north to the trees at the northeast corner of the field, paused briefly, then flew high and north across the road. Those of us who were present were able to re-find it across the road, perching on a snag in the south pasture of the Dude Ranch, but it remained there only briefly. Before 4:00, it flew high and out of sight over the hill to the north, perhaps landing in one of the more northerly pastures of the Dude Ranch. We scanned what we could see from the County Park overlooking Deep Hollow, but the northern portion of that property is being used for pasturing horses, so we couldn't walk north far enough to look into the more remote pastures.
There was a lot of bird activity in Montauk, from passerine migrants to seabirds. Several hundred Cory's Shearwaters were feeding off the point and in the Sound north and west to at least the Lake Montauk Inlet, and we saw four Parasitic Jaegers.
Shai Mitra
Bay Shore
________________________________________
From: <bounce-123017248-3714944...> [<bounce-123017248-3714944...>] on behalf of Patricia Lindsay [<pjlindsay...>]
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2018 12:46 PM
To: <nysbirds-l...>
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Montauk, Suffolk Co.
Showing well in previously described location. A scope is recommended for optimal views.
Sent from my iPhone
________________________________________
From: <bounce-123017076-3714944...> [<bounce-123017076-3714944...>] on behalf of Patricia Lindsay [<pjlindsay...>]
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2018 10:59 AM
To: <nysbirds-l...>
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Montauk, Suffolk Co.
Joe Giunta reports the bird is at Deep Hollow on the south side of Montauk Highway.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher remained in the fields south of Montauk Highway for several hours, where it was admired by several shifts of birders. It was generally quite cooperative, feeding actively and perching on the fencelines, but occasionally it would retreat into the trees along the east side of the hollow for five or ten minutes, where it was generally not possible to see (eagle-eyed Pat was able to discern it in this context a couple of times, on different perches). It was still behaving this way when Pat and I returned from the point at 3:30. About fifteen minutes later, however, it moved north to the trees at the northeast corner of the field, paused briefly, then flew high and north across the road. Those of us who were present were able to re-find it across the road, perching on a snag in the south pasture of the Dude Ranch, but it remained there only briefly. Before 4:00, it flew high and out of sight over the hill to the north, perhaps landing in one of the more northerly pastures of the Dude Ranch. We scanned what we could see from the County Park overlooking Deep Hollow, but the northern portion of that property is being used for pasturing horses, so we couldn't walk north far enough to look into the more remote pastures.
There was a lot of bird activity in Montauk, from passerine migrants to seabirds. Several hundred Cory's Shearwaters were feeding off the point and in the Sound north and west to at least the Lake Montauk Inlet, and we saw four Parasitic Jaegers.
Shai Mitra Bay Shore ________________________________________ From: <bounce-123017248-3714944...> [<bounce-123017248-3714944...>] on behalf of Patricia Lindsay [<pjlindsay...>] Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2018 12:46 PM To: <nysbirds-l...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Montauk, Suffolk Co.
Showing well in previously described location. A scope is recommended for optimal views.
Sent from my iPhone
________________________________________ From: <bounce-123017076-3714944...> [<bounce-123017076-3714944...>] on behalf of Patricia Lindsay [<pjlindsay...>] Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2018 10:59 AM To: <nysbirds-l...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Montauk, Suffolk Co.
Joe Giunta reports the bird is at Deep Hollow on the south side of Montauk Highway.
Date: 10/20/18 1:02 pm From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Sat., Oct. 20, 2018 - Baltimore Oriole & 7 Species of Wood Warblers
Central Park NYC Saturday October 20, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, m.ob.
Highlights: Baltimore Oriole & 7 Species of Wood Warblers including Ovenbird & Black-and-white Warbler.
Wood Duck - 2 south side Turtle Pond (thanks to Wolfgang Demisch) Northern Shoveler - 5 Turtle Pond Mallard - 15 Turtle Pond Mourning Dove - 8 in Ramble Chimney Swift - 5 singles Ring-billed Gull - around 5 flyovers Herring Gull - around 5 flyovers Double-crested Cormorant - Turtle Pond (Cole) Cooper's Hawk - 3 flyovers Red-tailed Hawk - flyover Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - around 10 Downy Woodpecker - Ramble Northern Flicker - 8 Blue-headed Vireo - 5 Blue Jay - 20 with a noisy group at Turtle Pond American Crow - 5 Black-capped Chickadee - 6 Tufted Titmouse - 25 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 5 White-breasted Nuthatch - 5 Winter Wren - 3 in Ramble Golden-crowned Kinglet - 8 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 10 Swainson's Thrush - 2 (Bow Bridge & Ramble) Hermit Thrush - 10 American Robin - 15 Gray Catbird - 7 Brown Thrasher - 2 or 3 Castle Walk (e. of Castle) Cedar Waxwing - flock of 11 Sparrow Rock Purple Finch - 5 between Pinetum & Sparrow Rock American Goldfinch - 7 Maintenance Field (7:10am) Eastern Towhee - 7 Chipping Sparrow - 12 (10 Sparrow Rock, 2 in the Ramble (early)) Field Sparrow - north of Sparrow Rock Song Sparrow - 10 White-throated Sparrow - hundreds White-crowned Sparrow - hatch-year north of Sparrow Rock Dark-eyed Junco - 5 Sparrow Rock Baltimore Oriole - Pinetum in Siberian Elm with sapsuckers Common Grackle - 75 north-bound flyovers Ovenbird - path up from the Boathouse Black-and-white Warbler - Boathouse Cape May Warbler - Pinetum in Siberian Elm Magnolia Warbler - near the top of the Oven (Chez Armando) Blackpoll Warbler - Ramble Palm Warbler - 3 (2 Great Lawn, 1 north of sparrow Rock) Yellow-rumped Warbler - around 10 Pinetum Northern Cardinal - 4 or 5
-- Deb Allen Follow us on twitter @BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Date: 10/20/18 11:50 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 10/20 - E. Meadowlark
Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 -
An Eastern Meadowlark is among many migrants found in Central Park (Manhattan, N.Y. City), that in the central part of Central’s Great Lawn.
Thanks & tip of hat to J. Suzuki. Many other birds seen to be reported at a later time/date. Among those, 10 sparrow species - Vesper among them (at the s. side of Meer), plus E. Towhee & Slate-colored Junco, for high diversity in that group.
Date: 10/20/18 9:13 am From: Sean Sime <sean...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Tundra Swan correction
Close up images of the reported Tundra Swan were posted yesterday afternoon and the bird was a young Mute Swan. Just wanted to get the word out in case birders were planning a rarity circuit of Kings County today.
Date: 10/20/18 8:17 am From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Fri. Oct. 19, 2018 - Merlin, Cape May, Black-throated Blue & 6 other Wood Warbler Species
Central Park NYC Friday October 19, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, Deborah Allen, m.ob.
Highlights: Merlin, American Kestrel, Eight Species of Wood Warblers.
Canada Goose - 12 Harlem Meer Wood Duck - male SE corner of Meer (Elizabeth Millard-Whitman) Northern Shoveler - 13 Meer Gadwall - 2 males Reservoir Mallard - 15 Meer, others on Reservoir Bufflehead - pair SE Reservoir Hooded Merganser - 3 males SE Reservoir Ruddy Duck - 3 Meer, also on Reservoir Mourning Dove - 6 (5 at the Green Bench) Chimney Swift - 35-40 (a few over north end, flocks over the Dene heading south) Ring-billed Gull - flyovers & at Reservoir Herring Gull - flyovers & at Reservoir Great Black-backed Gull - low numbers at Reservoir Double-crested Cormorant - 2 Reservoir Red-tailed Hawk - flyovers Conservatory Garden, Green Bench & the Dene Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3 migrants overhead & local birds Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 25 North End, a few others at the Dene Downy Woodpecker - 2 males (Lily Ponds & the Dene) Northern Flicker - 3 plus 7 flyovers before 8am American Kestrel - North Meadow ball fields (early) Merlin - male on migration flying east over North Meadow ball fields 7:08am Eastern Phoebe - 8-10 Blue-headed Vireo - 9 Blue Jay - a few southbound birds overhead Black-capped Chickadee - 6-8 Tufted Titmouse - 25-30 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4 or 5 White-breasted Nuthatch - 5-7 Brown Creeper - 4 House Wren - west end of Loch Winter Wren - 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 12-15 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 40-50 Hermit Thrush - a dozen American Robin - 30 Gray Catbird - several Northern Mockingbird - Meer & the Dene Cedar Waxwing - 4 hatch-year birds Fort Clinton Purple Finch - 7 Green Bench House Finch - 2 males at the Dene American Goldfinch - 8 Grassy Knoll (early), others at the Dene Eastern Towhee - 6 (males & females) Chipping Sparrow - 15 (Green Bench & Crab Apple Knoll at Great Hill) Field Sparrow - the Dene Song Sparrow - 20 Swamp sparrow - 3 (2 Wildflower Meadow, 1 the Dene) White-throated Sparrow - many White-crowned Sparrow - 2 hatch-year birds (Meer & the Dene) Red-winged Blackbird - 5 Harlem Meer including one singing male Common Grackle - flyovers Black-and-white Warbler - Conservatory Garden Cape May Warbler - 2 Siberian Elms NW Great HIll Northern Parula - Conservatory Garden Blackpoll Warbler - 2 (Wildflower Meadow & the Dene (thanks Pat Dubren)) Black-throated Blue Warbler - 4 (2 male, 2 female) Palm Warbler - 4 (3 North Meadow ball fields, 1 Compost Area) Pine Warbler - Green Bench Yellow-rumped Warbler - 15 Northern Cardinal - 5
Deb Allen Follow us on twitter @BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Date: 10/20/18 7:53 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, N.Y. City 10/16-17-18 (Blue Grosbeak, O.-c. Warbler & many other migrants)
Manhattan, N.Y. City - (many sightings from Central Park)
Tues., Oct. 16 - A lot of fresh migration had taken place, with a cold front & gusty NW winds arriving Mon. night. A Blue Grosbeak was seen by many observers at Strawberry Fields, in Central Park. Many [Atlantic] Brant were seen in migration, moving south on, particularly, the w. wide / Hudson river-side of Manhattan, with counts going into triple-digits. (Many also were seen migrating from locations elsewhere, including just north of N.Y. City.) Various raptors including Bald Eagle were noted on the move, as were Turkey Vulture in good numbers. A fly-by Sandhill Crane was reported from Inwood Hill Park (A few have been on the move, in the tri-state region).
The BLUE Grosbeak was seen by many observers, including by the bird-walk groups of several non-profit org’s. including the AMNH group (American Museum of Natural History), & the Linnaean NY group (Linnaean Society of New York), this sighting in Strawberry Fields section of Central Park. This bird was photo-documented by B. Raik, on the AMNH Tues. group bird-walk. Also seen and well-described were 2 Wood Thrush (getting late), at the same location, along with a lot of other migrants.
- - -
Wed., Oct. 17 - An Orange-crowned Warbler was found at the eastern side of the Great Hill, & was later seen by me, 4 p.m. at the widest path that leads to the high point of the West Drive, & in an all-too-regular Central Park experience, as I was about to get a quick grab-photo, an off-leash dog came (a little Chihuahua of all the…) and flushed off the warbler, after which I spent an hour not seeing it there again; it appeared to have simply jumped up, low in a nearby tree - but that was that; I stayed on the Great Hill a good while longer anyhow, with other migrants that were willing to be photo’d (& despite the usual afternoon human activities). Many migrants were found in the n. end also by the group bird-walk with NYC Audubon: Bay-breasted Warbler and Cape May Warbler were amongst these. The Orange-crowned was well photo’d by others.
In the Ramble region, a rather late Prairie Warbler was seen by the AMNH Wed. group bird walk leader and observers. (A few others of that species have been seen in multiple NY counties in this past week.) Through all of the park, at least 14 warbler species were noted, and some species were seen in the multiple including Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, Cape May, Palm, & Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers. Species such as Scarlet Tanager, Swainson’s Thrush, & Lincoln’s & White-crowned Sparrows were still to be found.
I had visited a few lower & mid Manhattan parks on Wed. morning; although some parks in lower Manhattan seemed to have fewer migrants than on the weekend, there was still some variety; at Union Square Park, I found 7 species of warblers, all in elms on the west side & including one fairly bright female Cape May, plus 3 Black-and-white Warblers all seen at one time much lower, even on the closed-off lawn, plus Blackpoll, N. Parula, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthoat, & Yellow-rumped (Myrtle), as well as both Nuthatch species, both Kinglets, Hermit Thrush, Y.-B. Sapsucker, & numerous White-throated Sparrows; a longer stay might have even produced more species there! Other parks I’d visited in lower & mid Manhattan were slightly less productive.
Thursday, Oct. 18 - This day featured a very strong morning flight as well as diurnal flight, one that appeared to be persistent thru the entire day to some extent. At times, "ribbons in the sky" of migrants could be seen, both relatively low & also extremely high and from multiple vantage points thru mid & upper Manhattan thru the morning, and again late in the day at least on the west edge of Manhattan. And, pretty clearly there was a decent overnight flight, with some new arrivals in passerines & other small songbirds, and some departures as well.
Among larger birds, among those seen in the diurnal flight were -
Loon species (high; unidentified to sp., but probably Common - 1)
Double-crested Cormorant (many hundreds, including late in day)
Great Blue Heron (4 before 9 a.m., two, & then 2 more singly)
Turkey Vulture (at least several dozen, early & also late in day)
Vulture species (some at great distance, but prob. also as above)
Canada Goose (many hundreds on the move, including at dusk)
[Atlantic] Brant (some flocks of up to 40-50, esp. in late morning)
Wood Duck (4, seen headed south at 7:30 a.m. from Central Pk.)
American Black Duck (flock of 22, southbound, early a.m.)l
Northern Shoveler (150+ in several flocks, 7-8 a.m.. southbound)
Bufflehead (several small flocks, 7:30 - 9 a.m., southeast direction of flight)
Duck species (small-ish flocks in flight, high, many appearing to be Scaup, or at least, Aythya sp.)
Osprey (several, including one very low, a.m.)
Bald Eagle (several, including adults & under-5-yr.-old, & thru the day)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (multiple, esp. early & also late in day)
Cooper's Hawk (at least 6 in flight, also seen hunting in both Central & Riverside Parks)
Red-shouldered Hawk (at least several, including some reported later in day in Central)
Red-tailed Hawk (multiple, & likely at least some migrating in addition to the very many city residents)
Shorebird species (very high, & smallish, but unid. to species; 1 flock of ~ 30 moving SSE, ~ 8:45 a.m.)
Chimney Swift (totals of 60+, with a few flocks of 15+, & also a few seen late in day, from Central Park & late morning, n. Manhattan)
Hummingbird species (2 zoomed by in diurnal flight, early a.m. - presumed Ruby-throated, which had been continuing in a few parks this week)
Merlin (2, migrating, late in day)
Red-headed Woodpecker (adult, moving just above some tree tops from Sheep Meadow, headed SW, ~ 8:15 a.m., poss. moving out of Central)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (6+ in flight all moving in general southerly direction, 7:20 through 9:15 a.m. & seemed to be on the move, not merely “local” movement)
Yellow-shafted Flicker (34 in first 1/2 hour of daylight, all moving in southerly direction, from Central Park)
Blue Jay (many hundreds, thru the day & as seen by many observers; my own counts add up to 600+++)
American Crow (45+, including some flocks of 20+ on the move, including a few late in day)
Common Raven (2 seen moving from n. Manhattan - out near or over the Hudson & possibly not just local to gen. area)
Black-capped Chickadee (6-7 moving at first-light, n. end of Central; though perhaps just recent arrivals moving about locally there)
Tufted Titmouse (90+++, thru many areas in Central & also in some street trees, small greenspaces, several parks; not easily apparent for diurnally-moving, but possible)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (8+ including at least 2 in tiny greenspaces in n. Manhattan; others seen moving thru trees in Central Park in first 3 hrs. of day there)
White-breasted Nuthatch (26++, some in clear movement, even 1 on a street in n. Manhattan in late a.m.- in addition to many reports of this sp. in various parks)
American Robin (1,200+ in first 150 minutes of the day: I stopped counting after 8:30 but more still on the move later, & small numbers also even late in the day)
American Pipit (at least 2 flying over Sheep Meadow, ~ 9:20 a.m., calling & at above-tree level, but apparently not landing on the field; rel. scace as a landed bird in Central or other Manhattan parks, & not v. frequently detected as a migrant in Manhattan; possibly mostly on the smaller islands of New York County)
Cedar Waxwing (130+ in small flocks of less than ten, up to one of 22+, including one small flock later in day)
Chipping Sparrow (some in flight, in addition to the birds landed or coming in to land; first 3 hrs. of day)
Dark-eyed Junco (at least a few ID’d in flight; possibly more in much higher flights, first 3 hrs. of day)
Sparrow species (some 150+++ birds on the move in high flight that seemed likely to be sparrow-tribe species, possibly Chipping Sparrow, first hour+ of day)
Red-winged Blackbird (75++ in flight, first 90 minutes of day)
Eastern Meadowlark (2, clearly meadowlarks in flight, poss. landing but more likely not; not searched-for though, ~ 7:45 a.m., North Meadow)
Rusty Blackbird (3 in flight, early a.m., & giving calls - not searched for later, as potentially landing in Central)
Common Grackle (800+ in flight, first 3 hrs. of day, but rapidly dwindled after about 8 a.m.; also few in flight later, & some also near dusk)
Blackbird species (some in extremely high flight, probably all C. Grackle, but too high to be sure of species)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (200++ in flight, giving calls & some moving at tree-top height, others higher, in first 3 hours of day but seeming to drop off after 90 minutes)
Palm Warbler (modest numbers seen in flight, less than 40 in total, tree-top heights, first 90 minutes of day)
Warbler species (many in flight, too high to be ID’d, and perhaps mostly Yellow-rumped just based on likely-for-date)
Purple Finch (100++++, with flight from below-treetop levels, to well-above, & in various directions including SE, S, SW, & more or less W; thru first 5 hours of day)
House Finch (possibly some moving; at least a few apparently so - & potentially, more than a few on the move)
Pine Siskin (10++, likely more based on calls, & mixing with other finches in flights, but all ID’d siskins in flight were in first hour of daylight)
American Goldfinch (220+++, some still moving at last hour of day; many low but also some fairly high, lots of calls)
[small] Finch species (several hundred, possibly more, at higher elevations; in flocks of up to 60+, and too high for definite ID’s, but likely many were Purple Finch)
Again the above list in birds solely in FLIGHT, moving thru and as seen from mostly 3 points, in Central Park’s n. & then s. sectors, and later, a site in northern Manhattan, near the Hudson river; the numbers are not indicative of some of these species seen on the ground, no’s. of which may have been lower.
A few assorted sightings in Central Park, for Thursday, 10/18:
Ring-necked Duck (7 came in on C.P. Reservoir; many observers on Thurs. 10/18, not noted on Friday, though); Ruddy Duck (Reservoir & Meer; at least 45 in total, N.B. the Ruddys at CP res. are already in separated groups), & many more migrants. There were reports of late Broad-winged Hawk, over Central Park, & of slightly early [Red] Fox Sparrow also in Central Park.
A (presumed) Ruby-throated Hummingbird was still around, at Fort Tryon Park in n. Manhattan, where a very strong diurnal southbound movement of land-birds was also observed, including Blue Jays and American Robins by the hundreds, as well as finch species, blackbird species, and assorted other birds. On Randall’s Island (N.Y. County), a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was lingering, as well as a slightly late Spotted Sandpiper. A Pine Siskin was also photo’d there, while it was feeding.
- - - -
Friday, Oct. 19 - E. Meadowlark, reported at Inwood Hill Park (early a.m. sighting by N. O’Reilly)
A few ‘new’ seasonal arrivals, with Hooded Mergansers (5 at sunrise on C.P reservoir, later just 3 drakes there; perhaps 2 more in other water-bodies), and a pair of Buffleheads also at the reservoir, a couple of N. Shovelers, Gadwall, 3 typical gull spp., etc.). 2 Wood Ducks continued at The Pond, in Central.
I took in many areas of Central Park, checking a lot of the larger and some smaller lawns, in particular, & found very good no’s. of some species, such as White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, & to lesser extent, both Kinglet spp., Palm Warbler, along with much less-numerous other migrants feeding in the grasses - this was especially noted from parts of the South Meadow (which is located n. of the reservoir), various edges of the N. Meadow, the n. field just n. of the Great Lawn & also Pinetum lawn areas, & along parts of Sheep Meadow’s edges, as well as east of The Mall, & in lesser lawn spaces park-wide. I was also checking various sites where in the past, Red-headed WP has taken up for a wintering site, or, at least part of a late autumn’s stay in the park, but came up empty today; later in the season is often an even-better time for finding a lingering Red-headed Woodpecker in a city park - which does not always mean that the bird[s] found were not present in mid-fall; they might well be, & are only discovered later, once leaves have thinned or dropped, & fewer birds overall provide ‘distractions’ to such finds… The overall feel of Friday was of the season we are actually in, rather than quite so many of ‘late’ neotropical migrants.
Still, ongoing on Friday in Central were such species as: Black-and-white, Blackpoll, Nashville, Cape May, Wilson’s, Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers, & American Redstart, Ovenbird, N. Parula, Common Yellowthroat, & perhaps other warbler spp.; Indigo Bunting, and aerially, a modest no. of Chimney Swifts, all these being primarily neotropical winterers. The migrants however were by Friday dominated by such species as (in addition to those noted in the prev. paragraph), E. Phoebe, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, E. Towhee, & some other later-season migrants & potential lingering &/or wintering species. There was however, a Wood Thrush still being seen in Strawberry Fields, where the species was seen earlier in the week by many, & while late, again this species has had at least a few documented winter records in N.Y., one of them in precisely the above location, & in mid-February.
[Red] Fox Sparrow was seen by a group at Strawberry Fields (first reported elsewhere in Central on Thursday). Cedar Waxwings were also in some areas, smallish feeding flocks where various fruits were still available for the pickings. There had been a modest early daytime flight of at least American Robins and mixed blackbirds (most apparently C. Grackles) as well as smaller passerines, with at least some of those including Purple Finch, American Goldfinch, and Pine Siskin, as well as warbler movement that seemed to be at a ratio of 98% or more of Yellow-rumped Warblers, which would be about right for the type of overall patterns of this week.
From the Hudson River greenway north of 145 St. (western edge of Manhattan) a good movement of Turkey Vulture was apparent, with well over 100 passing just in the 1-2 p.m. hour; also seen were Bald Eagle, and a few Red-tailed Hawks plus Peregrine Falcon, although the latter 2 spp. could well have been nearby residents.
A late Yellow-billed Cuckoo was reported from Governors Island (N.Y. County) & also a late Tennessee Warbler there, both seen Friday. (N.B., a few other Y.-b. Cuckoos were found in other counties in NY state the same day, including in N.Y. City, with at least 2 separate ones in 2 Kings County, a.ka. Brooklyn parks.) Great numbers of both Kinglet spp. but especially Golden-crowned were widely reported again, with a large count, perhaps some lingering for the week out on Governors Island.
All this week, reports from northern Manhattan have indicated good variety & numbers of many migrants, & to some extent, but especially earlier in the week, a lot of migrant variety in smaller parks, including a number in mid & lower Manhattan.
A note re: Barred Owl, in C.P. on Thursday - the Ramble area had active tree-pruning work, with some areas roped-off at times Fri. a.m., work being done with ‘cherry-picker’ equipment, power-saws, & so forth, any of which could have additionally pushed this owl away; on the other hand, IF this were the same individual seen quite some while ago in the park’s n. end, it would have been a long time in a park that can have a lot of potential disturbances, for a shy woodland owl, or really for any day-roosting creature. (N.B. this owl was at least eBirded: publicly-known, not kept ‘secret’ as some owls may be when at a roost. Also report is now 24+ hrs. old.)
—
& extra-limitally -
A Gray Kingbird was found in Ohio on Wed., 10/17 (& thru 10-19); seen by many many observers; the finder has a few photos in his checklist https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49251383 <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49251383> (this will be a first state record for Ohio if confirmed/accepted; a Gray Kingbird was also found earlier this month in New Brunswick, maritime Canada, for a 1st provincial record there; the species is on the NY state checklist.) And yet another sighting from New Jersey of a Black-throated GRAY Warbler, this latest new (3rd in N.J. this month) bird Fri., 10/19 at the Rutgers college Livingston campus, which is in Piscataway, Middlesex County in that state. This latter bird was not found again later the same day.
- - - -
"Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good?” - Rachel Carson (1907-1964; marine biologist, conservationist, author whose books include ‘Silent Spring’. Sir David Attenborough has remarked that that book may have had an effect on science second only to Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”.)
Date: 10/20/18 7:12 am From: Rob Bate <robsbate...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] PUGA Prospect Park
Juvenile Purple Gallinule continues behind the war memorial next to the skating rinks. Now is deep in pickerel weeds at shoreline. Look for the birders. Q train is down for the weekend shuttle running to Prospect Park stop.
Date: 10/20/18 4:22 am From: Michael Yuan <mjyuan...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Brooklyn Prospect Park Purple Gallinule continues
But not at the Rustic Shelter on the Peninsula. Unfortunately it flushed across the water to Duck Island. Hopefully it’s around the edges. Trying from the 420 gazebo on the south shore of the lake might be worthwhile.
You can also send reports and digital image files via email to nysarc44 (at)nybirds{dot}org.
If electronic submission is not possible, hardcopy reports and photos or sketches are welcome. Hardcopy documentation should be mailed to:
Gary Chapin - Secretary NYS Avian Records Committee (NYSARC) 125 Pine Springs Drive Ticonderoga, NY 12883
Hotline: New York City Area Rare Bird Alert Number: (212) 979-3070
Compilers: Tom Burke and Tony Lauro Coverage: New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
Transcriber: Ben Cacace
BEGIN TAPE
Greetings. This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, October 19th 2018 at 11pm. The highlights of today's tape are PURPLE GALLINULE, SANDHILL CRANE, MARBLED GODWIT, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, TUNDRA SWAN, EURASIAN WIGEON, HARLEQUIN DUCK, GOLDEN EAGLE, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, LARK SPARROW, DICKCISSEL, SUMMER TANAGER and more.
Late this afternoon an immature PURPLE GALLINULE was spotted along the edge of the peninsula on Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn. Hopefully it will remain for the weekend.
A SANDHILL CRANE was reported flying over Inwood Hill Park in northern Manhattan Tuesday heading southwest just before noon. Occurring more regularly in our area now another two SANDHILLS were seen heading into Westchester County as they passed over the Greenwich Audubon Hawkwatch in northwestern Greenwich Thursday morning.
Just as shorebird and warbler seasons give way to the incoming waterfowl most interesting among the arriving species, all spotted today, were a TUNDRA SWAN at Coney Island Creek in Brooklyn, a drake EURASIAN WIGEON at the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center and the drake HARLEQUIN DUCK at Orient Point.
Among the later shorebirds a group of MARBLED GODWITS, with usually 4 to 6 individuals noted, continues at Jones Beach West End the birds usually seen with a large American Oystercatcher flock around the island off the Coast Guard Station near high tide. Two HUDSONIAN GODWITS were seen at Miller Field on Staten Island today with STILT SANDPIPER also reported there and small groups of PECTORAL SANDPIPERS included 17 at Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn yesterday.
Interesting was a flock of 9 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES spotted among numerous other gulls and terns off Fort Tilden last Saturday. That melee also producing a PARASITIC JAEGER Saturday with 3 off Breezy Point Monday. Two CASPIAN and 18 ROYAL TERNS were at the now open Mecox Inlet today and 5 more ROYALS were at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn yesterday.
The hawk season is currently going strong with the first of the GOLDEN EAGLES appearing over Hook Mountain in Rockland County and at the Greenwich Audubon watch on Thursday.
An adult RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was spotted in Central Park Thursday following an immature at Shore Road Park off the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn from Monday.
Unusual among this week's passerines were single BLUE GROSBEAKS at Floyd Bennett Field Sunday and at Central Park Tuesday while DICKCISSELS were found in Brooklyn's Green-wood Cemetery and at Sunken Meadow State Park Sunday and at Calvert Vaux Park Tuesday. A LARK SPARROW found at Jones Beach West End last Saturday was still around the hedgerow by the Coast Guard Station Thursday and a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW also there Saturday was not relocated. Other CLAY-COLOREDS featured 2 at Robert Moses State Park and one at Floyd Bennett Field Saturday and on Sunday singles at Bush Terminal Piers Park and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. VESPER SPARROWS were spotted at Green-wood Cemetery Sunday, Calvert Vaux Park Wednesday and at the Salt Marsh Nature Center today while other sparrows include some coastal NELSON'S and a FOX arriving in Central Park Thursday.
A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT visited Gilgo from Saturday to Tuesday and various species of warblers continue to visit local parks including scattered ORANGE-CROWNEDS and such quickly diminishing species as CAPE MAY, BAY-BREASTED, PRAIRIE and WILSON'S.
A late OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was at Salt Marsh Nature Center Sunday and interesting was a report of a SUMMER TANAGER at Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island today.
Decent flights last weekend and on Thursday have brought promising numbers of PINE SISKINS and PURPLE FINCHES to our area with other winter finches hopefully to follow.
To phone in reports on Long Island, call Tony Lauro at (631) 734-4126 or call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922.
This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.
Date: 10/19/18 10:08 pm From: Richard Guthrie <richardpguthrie...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. NO
Several people searched for the flycatcher on Friday with no sightings despite many hours checking known locations of previous sightings and driving the road in search of possible new locations. It may still be around but uncharacteristicly elusive; or gone.
Date: 10/19/18 4:05 pm From: Sean Sime <sean...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Kings County Purple Gallinule
Tripper Paul, Josh Malbin and I were all independently scouring the lake edge in Prospect Park following up on an eBird report of a juvenile Sora with limited details. At roughly 5:40pm in fading light a juvenile Purple Gallinule appeared at the end of the peninsula near the rustic shelter there. It was busy working the shoreline in some thick vegetation eating small snails, much like the last PUGA that showed up in Prospect in October of 2004. I could only stay with it for minutes. Hopefully other birders who arrived were able to get images. I have some poor quality video showing clean white undertail coverts and brownish bird with purple sheen I will try to put into the checklist.
Word of caution to those considering driving to Brooklyn tomorrow. There is a half marathon happening in Brooklyn so there will be many road closures around the park and transportation may be difficult.
Hi all,
My wife and I are considering trying for this bird tomorrow, and were wondering if anyone went today and could provide a report. Positive or negative would be helpful.
Thank you very much,
Tripper
--
Date: 10/19/18 11:38 am From: Sy Schiff <icterus...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Jones beach West End
Joe Giunta and I(Sy Schiff) found Ken Feusel at the east end of the Coast Guard hedgerow photographing an empidonax flycatcher. A very interesting bird with white throat and semi-tear drop eye ring. ID will be a challenge.
Focus was on the flycatcher, but we managed to see PALM, PINE, MAGNOLIA , CHESTNUT-SIDED AND YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS Plus COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. There were a lot of birds in the air moving through, but no blackbirds. Some 5-600 TREE SWALLOWS were milling about over the median with a steady stream moving through along with a number of NORTHERN FLICKERS.
We walked down to the inlet and checked the bar across the inlet. We managed to make out oystercatchers, 145 FORSTER’S TERNS and seven (7) MARBLED GODWITS. This apparently where the latter feed when they’re not on the bar by the marina.
At the turnaround, it was mostly quiet but we managed some PURPLE FINCHES. There was a scattering of hawks moving through all morning.
Sy
Date: 10/19/18 10:21 am From: Sean Sime <sean...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Kings County Tundra Swan
Passing on a notable NYC sighting of an adult Tundra Swan in Coney Island Creek reported this morning by Paige Brams. Initially found by Gus Keri.
Not sure if the bird is still being seen, but Coney Island Creek Park and Drier Offerman would be good places to check as well as Gravesend Bay.
Date: 10/19/18 8:26 am From: Shane Blodgett <shaneblodgett...> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Fort Tilden Hawk and Shorebird Movements
Just to add to Steve's great report I was on the hawkwatch platform atop Battery Harris West with Don Davis et. al. Although we did not have quite as high of count of raptors as Steve (a lot of birds slip by low when you are up there) I didkeep a pretty accurate count of migrating Purple Finches and my count of 1147 was a high count according to eBird for that location by a factor of 2.
Shane BlodgettBrooklyn NY
From: Steve Walter <swalter15...>
To: NYSBIRDS <NYSBIRDS-L...>
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2018 7:58 PM
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Fort Tilden Hawk and Shorebird Movements
<!--#yiv8065108869 _filtered #yiv8065108869 {font-family:"Cambria Math";panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;} _filtered #yiv8065108869 {font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}#yiv8065108869 #yiv8065108869 p.yiv8065108869MsoNormal, #yiv8065108869 li.yiv8065108869MsoNormal, #yiv8065108869 div.yiv8065108869MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri", sans-serif;}#yiv8065108869 a:link, #yiv8065108869 span.yiv8065108869MsoHyperlink {color:#0563C1;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv8065108869 a:visited, #yiv8065108869 span.yiv8065108869MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:#954F72;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv8065108869 span.yiv8065108869EmailStyle17 {font-family:"Calibri", sans-serif;color:windowtext;}#yiv8065108869 .yiv8065108869MsoChpDefault {font-family:"Calibri", sans-serif;} _filtered #yiv8065108869 {margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}#yiv8065108869 div.yiv8065108869WordSection1 {}-->With the strong NW wind today, I had to of course go hawk watching. With the unseasonal cold that came with it, I chose Fort Tilden (Queens). Either from the fisherman’s parking lot or from 193rd Street, you can see them all coming from the comfort of a car. While the count of 413 was only about half of last Friday’s flight, it came with better variety. Twelve species is, as far as I can remember, the best I’ve done on the Long Island shore. Those that spend time here know that Buteos are scarce. It seemed like quite a feat to see Red-shouldered, Broad-winged and Red-tailed Hawk (and Bald Eagle) all in the space of about 15 minutes. Also surprising was that the Red-shouldered and one of the day’s 5 Broad-wings were adults. It’s usually immatures that end up out of place here. There’s this myth that that’s the deal with coastal migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks. But at Fort Tilden, the flight becomes dominated by adults as you get deeper into October. Many of today’s 161 Sharpies were colorful adults. And it was another day with Turkey Vultures, another soaring bird that has been historically scarce along the beach. The numbers have been low – 2 or 3 day – but they’ve appeared here on all four days that I’ve been here this season – something that was unheard of when a full time watch was conducted here in the 1990’s. One other raptor seen was an owl. I arrived early to beat the traffic build up. At 6:40, it flew from the field to the west of 193rd Street past my car and into the park. It landed in a bare tree, where it was almost immediately buzzed by a Merlin. It was still rather dark at this time, so it was just a silhouette. My thinking is that it was a Great Horned. I’ve hawk watched here many times, so there’s not much I’m going to see that I haven’t seen before. However, I can’t remember an occasion when so many flocks of shorebirds were flying by over land. And I mean going east to west like other migrants. There must have been 20 or so flocks of different species, over the course of the day. Now they move fast, and having said that I was in my car a lot of the time, many of the flocks were past me by the time I got out. So many went unidentified. One large one moving alone was a Willet, almost certainly a Western at this point. On one occasion, I was outside the car and well positioned to identify about 15 Lesser Yellowlegs directly overhead. I suspected a few others not seen as well were Lesserlegs. Dunlin were certainly part of the flight. American Oystercatchers were one easily identified species, with up to 15 in one flock, but these were moving between the ocean and bay sides of the peninsula. Another water bird making itself conspicuous was Wood Duck. This is pretty regularly seen moving past hawk watches, but a count of about 40 (in several groups) was more than normal. Passerine, woodpecker (Red-bellied, but mostly Flicker), and Chimney Swift movements were lively and varied, although not spectacular yet. Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds have begun to move, and about 10 days from now could be described with a superlative. Purple Finches keep coming – and unlike what I’m accustomed to with finches – throughout the day. Finally, a Lincoln’s Sparrow landed about 20 feet from me on 193rd Street. Steve WalterBayside, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics Rules and Information Subscribe, Configuration and Leave Archives: The Mail Archive Surfbirds ABA Please submit your observations to eBird! --
Date: 10/19/18 2:16 am From: Mickey Scilingo <mickey.scilingo...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Virus alert - do not open any email from this address and delete contact from your files if you have saved it.
A marker was created for 'stakeout Western Kingbird, Springfield (2018)' in
Erie County. The hotspot should be available within 12 hours.
If you wish to merge your personal location with an existing hotspot here
are the steps:
— Sign into eBird.org
— Go to "My eBird" & select "Manage My Locations" in the right panel
— At the bottom of the screen click "Show All" to see all locations on one
page
— You can sort the list by clicking on any of the headers: Location,
Country, State/Province, County, Type* or # of Checklists
— Select your personal location (it will show a letter "P" under Type*) by
clicking "Edit" on the right side of the line
— Select the "Merge" button and you'll see all nearby hotspots as red icons
— Keep the checkmark for "Delete after merging" selected
— Click the icon that best fits your location
— ... now you'll see the hotspot description above the 'Merge' button along
with the # of checklists you'll be merging
— Click on the 'Merge' button
— Answer Yes to the 'Yes or No' query
All checklists for that personal location will be combined with the hotspot
with this process.
--
Ben Cacace
Manhattan, NYC
Facebook Discussion for NYS eBird Hotspots: Q & A
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/NYeBirdHotspots/>
Date: 10/18/18 6:40 pm From: GQ <glennq...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Sands Point Preserve this morning
Another very heavy migration this morning at the Sands Point Preserve (Nassau). At 8AM, it was 42° with a stiff NW wind. The sky was a non-stop river of American Robins, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and others. Very similar to my last post on October 13th at this location.
The highlight, for me at least, was a single Pine Siskin drinking and bathing with a small group of American Goldfinches at the pond. It remained around the pond for the 3 hours that I was there. Nice to see one on the ground close up instead of the usual flyovers.
Waterfowl showed up a bit with several hundred Brant, several small flocks of American Black Ducks heading here and there fairly high up, and 3 distant ducks on the sound heading west turned out to be Greater Scaup, a bit early. Still no loons.
Lots of Common Flickers and Eastern Phoebes. Good number of Blackpoll Warblers. Hermit Thrush, absent on my last post, showed up in numbers today. A very crisp Lincoln’s Sparrow in the brush pile. More White-crowned Sparrows, including a very bright adult. Purple Finches are still everywhere and there are some House Finches mixed in with them. I say this only because I don’t know where House Finches come from.
Date: 10/18/18 5:34 pm From: David Suggs <dsuggs...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] RBA Buffalo Bird Report 18 Oct 2018
- RBA * New York * Buffalo * 10/18/2018 * NYBU1810.18 - Birds mentioned
------------------------------------------- Please submit reports to <DSuggs...> -------------------------------------------
WESTERN KINGBIRD CATTLE EGRET Horned Grebe Snow Goose Redhead Surf Scoter Common Merganser Bald Eagle Merlin Sandhill Crane Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Solitary Sandpiper Sanderling Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Dunlin Little Gull Bonaparte's Gull Common Tern Ruby-t. Hummingbird Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Bluebird Hermit Thrush Orange-cr. Warbler Nashville Warbler Yellow-r. Warbler Palm Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Mourning Warbler Common Yellowthroat Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Fox Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-thr. Sparrow White-cr. Sparrow
- Transcript Hotline: Buffalo Bird Report at the Buffalo Museum of Science Date: 10/18/2018 Number: 716-896-1271 To Report: Same Compiler: David F. Suggs Coverage: Western New York and adjacent Ontario Website: www.BuffaloOrnithologicalSociety.org
Thursday, October 18, 2018
The Buffalo Bird Report is a service provided by your Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society. To contact the Science Museum, call 896-5200. Press the pound key to report sightings before the end of this message.
Highlights of reports received October 4 through October 18 from the Niagara Frontier Region.
October 17, in southern Erie County, a rare, vagrant, WESTERN KINGBIRD, at 8765 Genesee Road, between routes 219 and 240 in the Town of Concord. There are less than 20 records of WESTERN KINGBIRDS in 50 years of the BOS archives.
In the Iroquois Refuge, a CATTLE EGRET, October 10, at Cayuga Pool, on Route 77.
From Chautauqua County, October 4, a lingering RUBY-T. HUMMINGBIRD at a feeder in Forestville. Also, three PINE SISKINS at the same location, October 7.
Still in Chautauqua County, at Dunkirk Harbor, both DUNLIN and SANDERLING, with REDHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER, HORNED GREBE, BONAPARTE'S GULL, COMMON TERN and BALD EAGLE.
On the Niagara River, off Unity Island in Buffalo, two LITTLE GULLS with 1000 BONAPARTE'S GULLS. Nearby at the Bird Island Pier, 7 SURF SCOTERS, KILLDEER, SANDERLING, DUNLIN and LEAST SANDPIPER.
Down the Niagara River at Grand Island, 70 COMMON TERNS and a HORNED GREBE. On the island, at Beaver Island State Park, MERLIN, ORANGE-CR. WARBLER, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER and PALM WARBLER, and a SNOW GOOSE on the park golf course.
October 14 at Krull Park in Olcott, eight sparrow species, included FOX SPARROW and LINCOLN'S SPARROW, with CHIPPING SPARROW, FIELD SPARROW, SONG SPARROW, SWAMP SPARROW, WHITE- THR. SPARROW and abundant WHITE-CR. SPARROWS. Warblers at Krull Park were ORANGE-CR. WARBLER, MOURNING WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, PALM WARBLER and YELLOW-R. WARBLER; plus HERMIT THRUSH, EASTERN BLUEBIRD and PILEATED WOODPECKER.
During the first week of October, in the Iroquois Refuge marshes, numbers of GREATER YELLOWLEGS and LESSER YELLOWLEGS, with PECTORAL SANDPIPER and SOLITARY SANDPIPER. Also, six SANDHILL CRANES at Kumpf Marsh.
There will be a BOS field trip to the Batavia Waste Water Plant on Sunday, October 21. Meet at 9 AM at the plant office, on Industrial Blvd., off Route 33 on the west side of Batavia. The plant has a history of rare and unique species, especially in the fall. Visitors are always welcome on BOS trips.
You may report sightings after the tone. Thank you for calling and reporting.
Date: 10/18/18 4:58 pm From: Steve Walter <swalter15...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Fort Tilden Hawk and Shorebird Movements
With the strong NW wind today, I had to of course go hawk watching. With the unseasonal cold that came with it, I chose Fort Tilden (Queens). Either from the fisherman's parking lot or from 193rd Street, you can see them all coming from the comfort of a car. While the count of 413 was only about half of last Friday's flight, it came with better variety. Twelve species is, as far as I can remember, the best I've done on the Long Island shore. Those that spend time here know that Buteos are scarce. It seemed like quite a feat to see Red-shouldered, Broad-winged and Red-tailed Hawk (and Bald Eagle) all in the space of about 15 minutes. Also surprising was that the Red-shouldered and one of the day's 5 Broad-wings were adults. It's usually immatures that end up out of place here. There's this myth that that's the deal with coastal migrating Sharp-shinned Hawks. But at Fort Tilden, the flight becomes dominated by adults as you get deeper into October. Many of today's 161 Sharpies were colorful adults. And it was another day with Turkey Vultures, another soaring bird that has been historically scarce along the beach. The numbers have been low - 2 or 3 day - but they've appeared here on all four days that I've been here this season - something that was unheard of when a full time watch was conducted here in the 1990's.
One other raptor seen was an owl. I arrived early to beat the traffic build up. At 6:40, it flew from the field to the west of 193rd Street past my car and into the park. It landed in a bare tree, where it was almost immediately buzzed by a Merlin. It was still rather dark at this time, so it was just a silhouette. My thinking is that it was a Great Horned.
I've hawk watched here many times, so there's not much I'm going to see that I haven't seen before. However, I can't remember an occasion when so many flocks of shorebirds were flying by over land. And I mean going east to west like other migrants. There must have been 20 or so flocks of different species, over the course of the day. Now they move fast, and having said that I was in my car a lot of the time, many of the flocks were past me by the time I got out. So many went unidentified. One large one moving alone was a Willet, almost certainly a Western at this point. On one occasion, I was outside the car and well positioned to identify about 15 Lesser Yellowlegs directly overhead. I suspected a few others not seen as well were Lesserlegs. Dunlin were certainly part of the flight. American Oystercatchers were one easily identified species, with up to 15 in one flock, but these were moving between the ocean and bay sides of the peninsula. Another water bird making itself conspicuous was Wood Duck. This is pretty regularly seen moving past hawk watches, but a count of about 40 (in several groups) was more than normal.
Passerine, woodpecker (Red-bellied, but mostly Flicker), and Chimney Swift movements were lively and varied, although not spectacular yet. Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds have begun to move, and about 10 days from now could be described with a superlative. Purple Finches keep coming - and unlike what I'm accustomed to with finches - throughout the day. Finally, a Lincoln's Sparrow landed about 20 feet from me on 193rd Street.
Date: 10/18/18 4:20 pm From: Willie D'Anna <dannapotter...> Subject: RE:[nysbirds-l] [GeneseeBirds-L] Western Kingbird - Erie County - Alec Humann
To add to Alec Humann's message below, the Western Kingbird has a strong preference for one isolated tree/bush in the goldenrod field on the north side of the road. Josh Ketry found it yesterday in this tree and it was seen there again today. Look for two mailboxes on the north side of the road with the number 8765 on one of them. The tree/bush was directly north of that, 50 yards or so. The bird may wander widely and disappear for a time but it seems to like this tree and often returns to it. Yesterday afternoon we had not seen it in over an hour of searching when it finally showed up in that tree. It then sat in that tree for a half hour, making only two or three brief short forays down into the goldenrod and then back to the tree. We left it there. One can see this tree from their car but, as Alec noted, be careful! Lots of fast moving traffic!
Good birding!
Willie
-----Original Message-----
From: <geneseebirds-l-bounces...> [mailto:<geneseebirds-l-bounces...>] On Behalf Of Bird observations from western New York
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2018 6:57 PM
To: <geneseebirds-l...>
Subject: [GeneseeBirds-L] Western Kingbird - Erie County - Alec Humann
Joshua Ketry found a Western Kingbird in southern Erie County at 8765 Genesee Road, Springville, NY yesterday morning. The bird continued through the day today. It has been actively feeding in the goldenrod meadow across the street from this address. The road has a narrow shoulder and traffic travels at a fast speed...please make sure you are all the way over onto the shoulder and be very wary of traffic. Don’t linger with your car door open as the hilly terrain doesn’t always give you enough time to see oncoming traffic!
Date: 10/18/18 8:24 am From: Sy Schiff <icterus...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Hempstead Lake SP
Some INTERESTING birding at Hempstead Lake SP this morning. WOOD DUCK in Schodack Pond flying out in 3 groups with consensus from the birders for a total of 80+ and probably more; a SOLITARY SANDPIPER; YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, 3 COMMON RAVEN, 2 immature and an adult BALD EAGLE all 3 circling above
Trees still leafed out in Summer green. No fall color yet. Except for the Ravens all of the above posed for pictures for them that had cameras,
Sy Schiff
Multiple observers reported the Scissor-tail Flycatcher for a ninth day on krumkill road outside albany. Some reports place the bird just a little further west, on the fences by the horse farm, but it seems to also be returning to its usual spots as well.
Date: 10/17/18 2:39 pm From: Orhan Birol <orhanbirol4...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Philadelphia Vireo
Finally had some variety in my yard to day. There were many Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a few Yellow Rumps, a Red -eyed Vireo and a Philadelphia Vireo all on the Goundsel bush. I am sure about the ID of the Philadelphia, smaller than Red eyed, brighter and sharply colored head than Warbling. Tomorrow morning may be better, Orhan Birol Shelter Island
Date: 10/16/18 10:01 pm From: Sean Sime <sean...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Kings County dark morph Broad-winged Hawk
Shortly after noon today I set up on Battle Hill in Greenwood Cemetery hoping to witness some raptor migration. The birds were coming through, but the clear conditions and lack of a low cloud deck kept most of the activity high and at scope length. There seemed to be two distinct tracks birds were taking; one from the NE heading SW and one from the south heading north, eventually using the northwest corner of the cemetery for an updraft and then drifting west towards Staten Island. The highlight was an apparent juvenile dark phase Broad-winged Hawk that came through around 1pm taking the latter of the two tracks, in scope view for roughly 3 minutes. A few people have asked for details so here is a summation of the field notes I took after the sighting and prior to consulting any references.
"Looked like a juv to me. It came bombing in from the south with two accipiters (it was slightly larger than) then slowly gained altitude west of battle hill before drifting off towards SI. The tail barring was dull and the bands were thin and more numerous than an adult would have. The upper wing seemed warmer near the body, but dark overall. Another birder asked initially if it could be a Raven because it looked all black in his scope. The underwings appeared dark, potentially lighter in the primaries and secondaries but hard to ascertain. Long, uniformly broad wings tapering to a relatively rounded tip. Lots of RTHA around and this one jumped out immediately as a small buteo. Classic BWHA shape on the gliding approach with leading edge curving back and short tail held square."
Something I didn't mention in the notes was that the initial approach was from the south the bird was backlit and the ID to species was made by shape and size prior to realizing it was a dark bird. Only when it eventually soared due west of our location was the color apparent.
Knowing this fall has had many well documented late BWHA records I wasn't shocked by the species, but was aware at the time of the potential for early Rough-legged Hawk. The small size of this bird and wing shape, along with it's quick wingbeats and flat wings when soaring all support BWHA and not RLHA.
I stepped away from the scope twice in attempts to photograph the hawk and failed both times. This should give an idea of the distance in play. That said, the lighting for the last minute plus was sunny and without any real heat shimmer to speak of.
I am not aware of how many records of dark morph birds there are in our area, but will be looking into it as well as checking some area hawkwatch data in the NE to see if there have been any dark morph birds coming through this year. If I find anything worth sharing I'll follow up to the list.
Other highlights included;
Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Bald Eagle (adult) Osprey Merlin American Kestrel Purple Finch Cape May Warbler
Among many, many migrants found in the big wave and at least moderate (some areas, more than moderate) ‘fall-out’, was a very rare vagrant from the southwestern / west Mexico region, a PAINTED Redstart, which was seen Sunday, 10/14 on Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts… a 2nd state record for MA, if approved by that state’s avian records commitee. Some photos & a long narrative of later observers (not the finder, who was M. Sylvia) are in this checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49201832 & a report from the finder is archived here:
http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=1463682
And, yet another Black-throated Gray Warbler in the east, this (found on 10/13) also photographed, with many observers, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and following 2 others very recently photo’d in the region. Some nice photos of this latest B.-t. Gray were included in a checklist by one of the observers: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49170624 There are also reports of a Western Tanager in coastal Maine, and Yellow-headed Blackbird in New Hampshire both Oct. 15th.
- - - - -
New York County, including Manhattan -
Saturday, 10/13 - A Great Egret was again seen at Inwood Hill Park area’s Muscota Marsh, on W. 215 St. in Manhattan. The main event migration-wise, in Manhattan, seemed to be the push of newly-arrived songbird migrants, with some species seen widely through all of the borough, & for those who seek & report such, a lot of migrant-diversity, & fairly high numbers, in even the smallest of parks, mid-sized parks, & in some cases, just in street trees or shrubs.
At least a few birders had first-ever walks in Central Park on this rather intense migration day of at least modest fall-out; some may have wondered, is it always this bird-filled here? No, it is not always quite that way, but under the circumstances presented, it can be. The fall-out conditions were noted in varying extent along the coastal and near-coastal regions of at least parts of 3 states (NY, NJ, & CT), where rains came in soon before or, in some areas, soon after day-break, with a lot of migrants having been on the move anyhow over Friday night.
In N.Y. County, at least 20 American warbler species were found on Saturday, with at least 17 of those also seen in Central Park. Those twenty were: Tennessee, Nashville, Northern Parula, Yellow, Magnolia, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], Black-throated Green, Pine, Prairie (reported at least from Governor’s Island), Palm, Bay-breasted (photographed at Washington Square Park, 3 observers), Blackpoll, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, and Wilson's Warbler.
Tufted Titmice have been showing increases, & this seems to have been so even as summer was ending; Black-capped Chickadee is not as numerous just yet, and it will be interesting to see if they start to appear more as the autumn continues along. Blue Jays have been moving in ongoing high numbers, and are turning up in a lot of odd small spaces, as well as being seen as fly-overs even in unexpected locations, along with more usual flight-paths for diurnally-moving species. This is all from just a Manhattan perspective, & a lot may be happening differently in other parts even of N.Y. City. The autumn is still “young”, even if migration as always starts on or around the first days of calendar summer (in general, as some shorebirds start to return, & less watched, but some songbirds also do: think for example of Louiisiana Waterthrush…)
Sunday, 10/14 - I wondered if some of the fall-out of the day prior could still be seen in any of the smaller parks & greenspaces in mid & lower Manhattan, & spent well over half the day visiting a number of them, including: Battery Park, City Hall Park, Trinity Church (near Wall St.) cemetery, Union Square Park, Bryant Park, Madison Square Park, Washington Square Park, Stuyvesant Square Park, Stuyvesant-town greenspace, & Tompkins Square Park. The answer for lingering migrant numbers in these was, yes: all these sites had migrants, and by my prior experience, a lot more variety & numbers of some species than any average would be, even at this mid-Oct. period. By visiting a lot of sites all in one part of 1 day, this was driven-home; very high numbers in particular were noted for Kinglet species, a preponderance being Ruby-crowned, overall, but in a few sites, many Golden-crowned as well. And again the fact that nearly every site had at least one, & more had two or three of Black-and-white Warbler, underscored that an unusual number of those came through, more so in this latest push from Friday night / Sat. morning’s fall-out. Also a bit notable, 8 of the above sites had at least 1 Winter Wren, and that is not at all typical of these smaller parks or greenspaces, even if this is the ‘right' time of year. Further, at least notable to me were that in 6 of the above locations, Blue-headed Vireo was seen, & in the multiple in at least 3 sites. (and by contrast, while species such as Gray Catbird, and White-throated Sparrow, as well as Common Yellowthroat were seen in numbers I might expect for these locations at this date, the numbers of the latter 3 migrant spp. were not out of line with a more normal, routine set of sightings on a mid-Oct. day. Thus did some of the other aforementioned (less-often seen in such numbers in the smaller parks) migrants stand out that much more, to me. And I am aware of a fair number of reports from other points in Manhattan (alone) where some migrants were noted again Sunday, as on Sat., in high numbers - at smaller sites. (I could site the report of a Brown Creeper at Seward Park for Sunday, as another example, but there, I’m not sure, only hazarding a guess, that that latter species is rather rarely seen by anyone at that particular site, even on days when the species is clearly moving through in good numbers.)
At Central Park, a Wilson’s Snipe appeared on & later next to the Great Lawn, & was seen & photo’d by M.B. Kooper as shown in her checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49187781 as well as by many others earlier & later on. The first big arrival of certain waterfowl species was noted in (& over) Manhattan by multiple observers, from various points; [Atlantic] Brant were seen in skeins estimated to total 250+ from n. Manhattan in the a.m.; others saw & photo’d some later farther south; I saw a modest number on a lawn very early near Battery Park, & a few fly-bys (this was not first day of arrival at all, just a much larger push); Ruddy Duck, also having already arrived but Sunday saw far more push in, with at least 30 in Central Park’s reservoir late in the day. A walk led by Lenore Swenson for the Linnean Society of New York, a biannual memorial bird-walk honoring of the legacy of NY’s beloved Starr Saphir, tallied nearly 60 species, with especially high numbers of Kinglets recorded for the north end of Central, & particularly for Golden-crowned Kinglet. This corresponded with some high numbers of both Kinglet spp. in many locations, as seen in many reports & my own wanderings; the numbers of Golden-crowned Kinglet also were very high in sightings reported at Governor’s Island, off the south tip of Manhattan & politicaly a part of N.Y. County as is Manhattan island. Among the many warbler sightings on the Linnaean Society’s walk was a Bay-breasted Warbler, also at the park’s n. end. At least 15 Warbler species were found in Manhattan for Sunday & all of them were also seen in Central Park, with a multitude of observers.
On Governor’s Island, a Veery was reported for a walk done there, appearing in multiple eBird checklists, although with minimal notes; this is getting quite late for the species, yet others were being still reported in a modest number of locations equally or farther north this month - however, at least in enBird records with photo documentation for Veery in Oct., there are barely more than a handful in all of the northeast; a couple of these from NYS, & one for this year in Suffolk County, NY photo’d. by B. Bull on Oct. 2nd (& also photo’d at same location & by same obs. on Oct. 1, 2017); one photo’d. in Buffalo, NY on dates of Oct. 8, 9, & 10th, 2016 by S. Seidman - but with that individual bird missing its tail, as shown in photos plus the accompanying field notes; there are a bare handful of even later records in Oct. that include convincing photos (a few indistinct photos may or may not show Veery, but possibly other Catharus species of later-moving kinds) - any Veery seen by this late ought be given some notation & if possible, a few photos or video. (Many Veery have, as is expected, already been found prior to now in central America & northern S. America, in places where they winter).
Monday, 10/15 - Rain showers occurred before daybreak, & were also still passing by N.Y. City after that, with a so-called warm front also arriving, on WSW winds. There was migration the prior night, as seen in the make-up of some species and their numbers Sunday to Monday, but perhaps not a lot of migration in comparison again with the strong movement of the weekend. And again, some of these migrants could be struggling a bit, locally, to gain much distance in local rain (& wind-shift) events.
Gabriel Willow’s Bryant Park report for the morning included a sad reality, a Blackburnian Warbler, expired on the ground there; this is a rather late date for that species, although a very few had been reported in NYC & nearby in just the past week or so. Also seen by G.W. in Bryant Park were 3 American Redstarts, & these also a little on the later side, though not nearly to the extent of a mid-Oct. Blackburnian in NY. Unfortunately the realities are that for migrants moving through an urban area (and other areas where there can be impediments to their migrations from humanly-built causes) these passages in spring & fall are always at-risk, and not all these individuals will make it.
At Central Park, no very obvious changes from the day before; there were 25 Ruddy Ducks in a raft on the reservoir at 7:10 a.m.; more duckage is just starting to flow from the north, and in these spurts of rain or any storms, it’s worth checking to see if any unexpected birds plop down, whether waterfowl, or other kinds. With that somewhat in mind, I also went for a fairly quick visit to Randall’s Island off the east side of Manhattan. I saw nothing at all really out-of-ordinary for this date, but there were very high numbers (150++) of American Goldfinch in several discrete feeding flocks, as well as at least a few Purple Finches with them. Also in several sites, there were a total of at least ten White-crowned Sparrows, as well as many more of Savannah, the latter not such new arrivals, however. I also had a look thru the 240 or so Canada Geese on Randall’s - no other geese sp. found, even if one individual at first looked a bit small & ‘duskier’, it was on closer inspection just a smallish Canada, well within the size & plumage diversity within the “canadensis”.
I also made a fairly short stop at Carl Schurz Park, on the East River & near E. 86 Street, where I had not been in a while. I found such migrants there, in just 25 minutes, as N. Parula, Blackpoll (3), Black-throated Green (1), Palm (2), & Yellow-rumped (5+) Warblers, Hermit Thrush (2), Ruby-crowned (4 or more) & Golden-crowned (8 or more) Kinglets, Sparrows: mainly White-throated but also 3 of Swamp and 1 White-crowned (1st-year) Sparrow, as well as a female E. Towhee, and a few Slate-colored Juncos, plus 6 or more Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers & 3 or more Yellow-shafted Flickers. This smallish park had, in the past, hosted some rarities, & could well do so again, with enough perusal. While they last, the multiple flower-plantings out near a promenade can have migrants, although on a sunnier day, birds might be less-inclined to be as exposed as the drizzly visit I enjoyed on Mon. mid-morning.
Back in Central for some while, the variety was still to be found, if one had the time & energy to get to various parts of the park - but surely some of and probably many of the weekend’s individuals had moved on. I was still able to come up with a dozen warbler spp. (and taking a few reports in, there were 15 species of warblers found in just Central alone on this damp day) - & a number of these were feeding either in low shrubs & vegetation, occasionally on the ‘deck’, or out on lawn spaces when not too disturbed by any dogs or humans, and with the drizzles, there was less disturbance than the usual. First birds to greet me as I re-entered the park were 3 Magnolia Warblers, all near the Meer & north end woods. At the compost area’s weedy patches, at least 5 White-crowned Sparrows and easily could have been more; that species has made a very good showing all over Manhattan & vicinity in the last several days; also in the compost area were Field, Swamp, Savannah, Song (many) & Chipping, with again White-throated about in many patches of shrubs, weeds, flower-plantings, & woods. One sparrow species I did not happen into all day was Lincoln’s, although some certainly may be lingering still. I also noticed fewer Gray Catbirds today in total, although did see some in most places I birded thru. It also looked as if many thrushes may have moved on, with Hermit, as now-expected, getting to be the dominant species, although I had 2 Swainson’s Thrush later on in the day, in the mid-park area. In the Ramble, I checked out the feeders that were set up recently again, but saw no uncommon species in my late visit there (& some of the feeders were near-empty, so someone’s been at them).
Sat., Sun., Monday, Oct. 13-14-15, 2018 -
Double-crested Cormorant (multiple fly-overs, & some in Central Park)
Great Blue Heron (several lingering)
Great Egret (still at Muscota Marsh / Inwood)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (several continue; also at Randall’s Island)
Turkey Vulture (some fly-overs, weekend only)
Canada Goose (multiple fly-overs; a minimum of 240 at Randall’s Island Monday)
[Atlantic] Brant (numbers of flyovers, including some reports of 200+ as fly-overs)
Wood Duck (drake continues at The Pond, at least 2 there on Sat.)
Gadwall (modest numbers continue at Central Park)
American Black Duck (several)
Mallard (typical large numbers)
Northern Shoveler (10+, including Meer & Turtle Pond)
Ruddy Duck (flock of at least 25, & exact count of 25 on CP reservoir eastern side, on Monday; at least 5 at the Meer also Sat. eve.)
Osprey (mostly over the weekend)
Bald Eagle (several sightings, from various locations on Sat.)
Northern Harrier (Saturday at Fort Tryon Park)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (multiple on the weekend)
Cooper's Hawk (at least several over weekend)
Broad-winged Hawk (several reports from the weekend, now getting a bit late, although stragglers can appear even later)
Red-tailed Hawk
Virginia Rail (1 was photographed on an East Side off-street area, Saturday early morning)
Wilson's Snipe (Sunday, Central Park, scores of observers)
Ring-billed Gull
[American] Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
['feral'] Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove (quite numerous in many areas)
American Kestrel (regular in and near Central Park, as well as in various neighborhoods)
Merlin (thru Monday, in Central Park)
Peregrine Falcon (regulars in various locations, and fly-overs also noted often, poss. some migrants too, in watches for raptor movement)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (to at least Sunday, with more than several in various parks on Saturday)
Chimney Swift (ongoing, but mainly lowered numbers in most reports; up to 40+ on Monday at 2 locations; higher no’s. from the weekend)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (still being seen in several parks)
Belted Kingfisher (several continue; including at least 2 at Randall’s Island)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (regular, & perhaps some increase over the last week)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (many including numbers in a lot of smaller parks thru the weekend, & ongoing in larger parks)
Downy Woodpecker (typical numbers)
Hairy Woodpecker (scant, but present)
Yellow-shafted Flicker (ongoing movements, including very modest no’s. arriving on Monday, in multiple parks & areas)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (last reports seem to be from Sunday… and are getting a bit late now)
Eastern Phoebe (many in a lot of smaller parks on the weekend but fewer by Sunday, & far fewer by Monday as seen in Central Park)
Blue-headed Vireo (multiple in some smaller parks on Sat. & Sun. - far fewer by Monday, but still present in Central Park)
Red-eyed Vireo (few being reported or found, none seen by me on Monday; a few on Sunday, with not that many on Saturday)
Blue Jay (common, & many hundreds in flight on both weekend days, as well as still some diurnal movement Monday)
American Crow (more seem to have arrived in recent days and some also likely moving)
Fish Crow (a few reports; I’ve not seen or heard any lately)
Common Raven (several reports, possibly some moving lately)
Tree Swallow (small numbers on Saturday)
Barn Swallow (one report from Sunday, but without any details; now quite late for both Manhattan & in general in SE NY)
Black-capped Chickadee (small numbers compared with the following sp. but may have increased modestly this past week)
Tufted Titmouse (numbers have built, with likely 100+ thru all of Manhattan on weekend)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (numbers ongoing with more on flight days; not as many as 1 month ago in Manhattan parks)
White-breasted Nuthatch (increases on some flight days, but not as many in Manhattan as the preceding species this fall - so far)
Brown Creeper (modest numbers, & seen in a number of small parks & even a few on street trees, esp. on Saturday; also some lingering)
Carolina Wren (modest numbers)
House Wren (fewer being reported since Sat., & scarce then as well)
Winter Wren (common & in many small parks & greenspaces over the weekend; & some lingering)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (very strong push through the weekend, multiple reports of more than 40; seen in many, many small greenspaces, parks, & a few reports from street trees)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (as above, also nearly ubiquitous on the weekend, with very high numbers in many locations; many also lingering but still fewer by Monday)
Veery (1 was reported from Governor’s Island by a number of experienced obs. on Sunday, a very late date, but not quite unprecedented. - A LOT of this species are now in C. & S. America)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (few to at least Sunday)
Swainson's Thrush (very few through Monday)
Hermit Thrush (a good push of this species on the weekend, with many seen in small parks & greenspaces, as an example, one which I photographed hopping the old gravestones at Trinity Church cemetery, near Wall St. on Sunday; also found in modest numbers in all parks now)
Wood Thrush (a couple of reports at least to Sat., this is not as scarce as is Veery for late fall)
Gray Catbird (ongoing, but reduced numbers compared with the week prior)
Northern Mockingbird (some singing recently)
Brown Thrasher (far fewer by Monday, but still at least a few in Central Park)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (rather few seen or reported)
Scarlet Tanager (very few reports by Monday; I photographed a male at Battery Park Sun. & some others were seen for the weekend)
Eastern Towhee (fairly common on the weekend, some reports of 10+ in one site; some also in smaller parks & greenspaces through at least Sunday)
Chipping Sparrow (modest numbers, slightly reduced after Saturday)
Field Sparrow (small numbers thru the weekend)
Savannah Sparrow (most are from the islands that are off Manhattan, but politically part of the same county, “New York County”.
Song Sparrow (many in many locations; seen in some smaller parks as well, and a few heard singing occasionally)
Lincoln's Sparrow (few, some reports continued thru Monday, but fewer than a week or more prior)
Swamp Sparrow (increased, multiple in many larger parks, & a few in some smaller parks also)
White-throated Sparrow (common to ubiquitous, a good push on the weekend, with multiples in many smaller parks, & hundreds in some larger parks)
White-crowned Sparrow (very good push arriving by Sat. and perhaps more on Sunday; with some locations having double-digit no’s.- some lingering)
Slate-colored Junco (multiple, but biggest arrival not yet; seen in some small parks & greenspaces)
Northern Cardinal (regular residents)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1 or 2 reports to Sat., getting late…)
Indigo Bunting (fewer, but several over the weekend, & getting slightly late - this species has [rarely] wintered, or found on a local C.B.C. in N.Y. City)
-
Tennessee Warbler (scarce, and any seen from now on ought to be scrutinized, as the more-expected lookalike would begin to be Orange-crowned…)
Nashville Warbler (several to at least Sun.)
Northern Parula (multiple, some continued to Monday)
Yellow Warbler (to at least Sat., fairly late)
Magnolia Warbler (at least several through Mon. & more in various parks on the weekend)
Cape May Warbler (1, Central Park Monday, with at least several on the weekend; reduced from a week prior)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple in a lot more locations than is “typical”, some reported from Manhattan streets, & in many small parks; I photo’d 3 in 3 such small parks on Sunday; also continuiong in some larger parks to Monday, incl. Central Park)
Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (also multiple with many sightings in small parks as well as modest no’s. and higher no’s. for Sat., then reduced somewhat)
Black-throated Green Warbler (at least several on the weekend in various parks, 1 at Carl Schurz Park on Monday; also in Central Park, north end woods)
Blackburnian Warbler (1 as noted above, found expired on the ground at Bryant Park by G. Willow, Monday - quite “late”.)
Pine Warbler (modest numbers, & a few in smaller parks on the weekend, 1 at Carl Schurz Park on Mon.)
Prairie (1, reported from Governor’s Island on Sat., slightly late)
Palm Warbler (fairly common, thru the weekend, some in small parks & many greenspaces; lingering into Monday but fewer by then)
Bay-breasted Warbler (a few were noted thru the weekend with some details; this and a few other spruce-budworm specialists were seen in greater numbers the last several years, possibly in part thanks to good outbreaks of the spruce budworm in boreal-breeding areas for these warblers, which include Bay-breasted, Cape May, & Tennessee and perhaps other species, which consume vast numbers of the spruce budworm larve.)
Blackpoll Warbler (still moving through Monday, and good numbers in many locations on the weekend)
Black-and-white Warbler (this species has been more numerous than expected into the first half of this month; modest fallout as many were seen in smaller parks, greenspaces, & a few at least also in street trees recently; not as many by far as of Monday…)
American Redstart (few now, but still several in Manhattan, formerly rather rare after late Oct. & still may be…)
Ovenbird (far fewer this weekend but some; not a component much in the fallouts observed in many smaller parks and greenspaces on the weekend; some may have lingered for longer in some odd locations, which is a typical habit with this species in Manhattan in late fall, even rarely into Dec.)
Northern Waterthrush (several from the weekend, a few reports from Mon.)
Common Yellowthroat (modest numbers, but far fewer than one week prior)
Wilson's Warbler (one, Central Park on Monday, & a few reports from the weekend)
-
Red-winged Blackbird (still few; a few moving on Monday)
Common Grackle (modest no’s. and no large flights yet…)
Brown-headed Cowbird (few)
Purple Finch (in numbers on Sat. & also at least a few thru Mon. in several parks)
House Finch (fairly common in scattered areas)
Pine Siskin (a few reports but lacking details; this species is on an irruption course, so more may show up as autumn continues)
American Goldfinch (more moving through Monday, this species is having a large flight, and more would be likely anyhow as autumn continues)
House Sparrow (ubiquitous & very over-numerous)
- - - - -
"I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good."
― Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Greetings: This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week on October 01, 2018
Highlights:
RED-NECKED GREBE
CATTLE EGRET
CACKLING GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
SURF SCOTER
GOLDEN EAGLE
NORTHERN BOBWHITE
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
RED PHALAROPE
RED-HEADED WOODPECKER
SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER (Extralimital)
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER
AUDUBON’S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER
DICKCISSEL
LAPLAND LONGSPUR
PINE SISKIN
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC)
------------
Shorebird numbers were down a bit this week to 15 species seen at the complex. In addition 3 other species were seen elsewhere.
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
RED PHALAROPE
WILSON’S SNIPE
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER
KILLDEER
DUNLIN
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
STILT SANDPIPER
LEAST SANDPIPER
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
Species seen elsewhere
--------------------------------
SANDERLING - Fairhaven, Cayuga County
AMERICAN WOODCOCK - 3 Rivers WMA, Onondaga County
SPOTTED SANDPIPER - Oneida Shored State Park, Onondaga County
10/9: A RED PHALAROPE was seen at Eaton Marsh on the Wildlife Trail but was not relocated.
10/12: A CATTLE EGRET was seen from East Road. An EURASIAN WIGEON was seen on the Wildlife Trail. A HUDSONIAN GODWIT was seen at the Sandhill Crane Unit.
10/13: A RED-NECKED GREBE was seen on the Wildlife Trail.
Onondaga County
------------
10/10: A DICKCISSEL was heard at 3 Rivers WMA north of Baldwinsville.
10/11: An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was found at 3 RIVERS WMA.
10/12: AUDUBON’S YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS were found at 3 Rivers WMA and at Lemoyne College Woods in Syracuse.
10/14: An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER and 11 BRANT were seen at Oneida Shores State Park on Oneida Lake.
10/15: A PINE SISKIN was heard at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Baldwinsville.
Oswego County
------------
10/11: A LAPLAND LONGSPUR and a SURF SCOTER were seen at Oswego Harbor.
10/12: 10 BRANT and 25 SURF SCOTERS were seen at Derby Hill.
A GOLDEN EAGLE was seen in flight at Constantia. An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen at Phillips Point on the north shore of Oneida Lake.
Madison County
------------
10/13: A CACKLING GOOSE and a SURF SCOTER were seen on Woodman Pond. 115 BRANT were seen at the cornell Biological Field Station on Oneida Lake.
Oneida County
------------
10/9: 2 adult RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS and an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER were found in Proctor Park in Utica.
10/10: A NORTHERN BOBWHITE, possibly an escaped bird was seen on Maple Flats Road in Cleveland.
Extralimital
------------
A very rare SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER was seen throughout the week on Krumkill Road in Gilderland in Albany County. It was seen extensively yesterday. No reports yet for today.
See report below — the Scissor-tailed flycatcher continues for a seventh day
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Larry & Penny Alden <overlook...>
Date: Mon, Oct 15, 2018 at 12:45 PM
Subject: [hmbirds] Merlin & Scissor tailed Flycatcher
To: hmbirdsgroup <hmbirds...>
Drove by STFL Krumkill location late this morning and saw a Merlin plucking
and eating a bird from a perch atop a power pole. No immediate sign of the
STFL....
Then I saw it in one of the apple trees by the red barn! It’s still there.
Larry Alden
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation (WINORR) is a non-profit,
volunteer organization serving New York City, Nassau, and Western Suffolk
Counties. They provide professional care for sick, injured, and orphaned
wildlife. WINORR rescues and cares for wild animals received through the
Department of Environmental Conservation, local police, animal hospitals,
humane societies, animal control, as well as the general public. The state
and federal governments license us to provide this service. In addition to
rehabilitation, WINORR also provides information and education for the
community.
WINORR was the beneficiary of this year’s Brooklyn Bird Club World
Migratory Bird Day birdathon.
The founder of WINNOR, wildlife rehabilitator Bobby Horvath, will discuss
the daily trials and tribulations in rehabilitating wild birds and the
hardships that threaten the lives of the animals brought in to the care of
WINORR.
Date: 10/15/18 7:05 am From: Shaibal Mitra <Shaibal.Mitra...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Migration This Weekend
After successive nights with northwesterly winds (unusual on Long Island in recent years), the barrier beach was predictably active both mornings this weekend. Although the light precip on Saturday morning apparently deterred a lot of my friends, it did not discourage the large group of intrepid elementary, middle, and high school science teachers who joined me on the Seatuck Teachers Ecology Workshop at the Fire Island Lighthouse Tract. And, as Glenn noted from the North Shore, bird activity was tremendous, despite the rain.
One theme that was hard to miss this weekend was the finch flight, which is building nicely this fall. Purple Finches are moving very heavily along the coast, and Pine Siskins and American Goldfinches were migrating in decent numbers yesterday. In addition, Pipits were conspicuous overhead both mornings, and there was a nice mix of early and late fall migrants in general.
The most striking thing to me, however, and something I honestly dont understand, was the ongoing and seemingly coordinated invasion by Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Red-breasted Nuthatches, which accelerated yesterday to an astonishing level. Red-bellied Woodpecker used to be rare on the barrier beach, and even into the early years of its abundance on the adjacent Long Island mainland, it remained scarcer on the beach than, for instance, Red-headed Woodpecker. In recent years, however, it has emerged as an irruptive migrant, occurring both spring and fall in highly variable numbers from year to year, with an overall trend toward increasing high counts. Before this year, my daily high count at Fire Island was 20. This was recorded almost as a footnote on the tremendous flight day of 25 October 2014, which was memorable in many ways, but which also was part of a season that featured Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches, and various other forest-breeding species (check out the listserv archives!).
Anyway, that total was smashed by some of my vismig colleagues on 30 September of this year, when they tallied 26 Red-bellied Woodpeckers in morning flight at Robert Moses SP. Crippled by jealousy since that day, Id been yearning for a chance to see such things myself. And yesterday, it happened. Between 7:20 and 11:20, from a stationary position, my colleagues and I counted 71 Red-bellied Woodpeckers passing from east to westpossibly a new high count for New York State. We also counted 104 Red-breasted Nuthatches (and a locally notable total of five White-breasted Nutscruising through the airspace like miniature Red-bellies), as well as 37 Purple Finches and 83 Pine Siskins.
I can understand why Red-breasted Nuthatches and Purple Finches fly in the same years, because their breeding ranges overlap so broadly that factors affecting one would naturally affect the other. But the breeding ranges of Red-bellied Woodpecker and Red-breasted Nuthatch are about as exclusive as is possible for areas of such size. Where are the woodpeckers coming from?
Highlights of the 5+ hours I spent birding in my yard on Sunday morning were -
1 Hermit Thrush2 Lincoln's Sparrows2 flyover Pine Siskins
and the single GOLDEN EAGLE that passed in a line of Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures pretty close to the noon hour. I tried to get a photo of the bird, but I succumbed to the bane of all photographers - the dead battery in the camera.
The full list of birds with some notes is pasted below - -
Constantia Yard, Oswego, New York, US
Oct 14, 2018 7:15 AM - 12:45 PM
Protocol: Stationary
45 species (+2 other taxa)
Canada Goose 4
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 21
Mourning Dove 6
Ring-billed Gull 3
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Turkey Vulture 75
Golden Eagle 1 Probable adult bird. Moving straight west to east in a line of Red-tails and Turkey Vultures. Large eagle with small head and longish tail. Mostly dark underneath.
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper's Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 2 1 adult, 1 immature. Both probably local birds.
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Red-tailed Hawk 40
hawk sp. 4
American Kestrel 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 48 Still small numbers moving through. Much quieter now than a few weeks ago.
American Crow 6
Black-capped Chickadee 59
Tufted Titmouse 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch 4
White-breasted Nuthatch 9
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 6
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 79 migrating - We are still a few weeks away from peak migration for Robins here.
Gray Catbird 1
European Starling 11
House Finch 2
Purple Finch 2
Pine Siskin 2 individual flyovers separated by a few hours.
American Goldfinch 9
Dark-eyed Junco 7
White-throated Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 4
Lincoln's Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 1
Red-winged Blackbird 21
Yellow-rumped Warbler 33
Northern Cardinal 2
passerine sp. 131 Many birds moving in the morning. This is the number of small birds that flew over that I was unable to get a positive ID on. Mostly warblers i'm guessing.
Date: 10/14/18 8:01 pm From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Sun. Oct. 14, 2018 - 10 Species of Wood Warblers, Wilson's Snipe, Bald Eagle, Osprey
Central Park NYC Sunday October 14, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, Deborah Allen, m.ob.
Highlights: the parade of fall migrants continued with ten Species of Wood Warblers, Wilson's Snipe, Bald Eagle, and Osprey.
Canada Goose - heard on the Lake Northern Shoveler - 5 Turtle Pond Mallard - 5 Turtle Pond Mourning Dove - 2 Pinetum Chimney Swift - 10 Wilson's Snipe - Great Lawn (Arthur Shipee and Carine Mitchell) Herring Gull - flyovers Osprey - FOV migrant Great Lawn Cooper's Hawk - female with pigeon near Summer House Bald Eagle - one-year-old over Great Lawn (migrant) Red-tailed Hawk - immature over Great Lawn Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2 or 3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 10 to 20 Northern Flicker American Kestrel - 2 migrants over Tupelo Field, local male Great Lawn Eastern Phoebe - 3 (Maintenance Field, Upper Lobe, Balancing Rock) Blue-headed Vireo - 4 Blue Jay - some migrants heading south mostly before 8am American Crow - family of 5 feeding on Pin Oak Acorns in Ramble Black-capped Chickadee - at least 3 Tufted Titmouse - at least 20 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 15 White-breasted Nuthatch - 9-12 Brown Creeper - 3 (2 at the Oven, 1 Laupot Bridge) House Wren - Shakespeare Garden Winter Wren - 4 or 5 (Sol Grysman) Carolina Wren - 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 10 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 3 Shakespeare Garden Swainson's Thrush - 3 or 4 Hermit Thrush - 10-20 American Robin - around 30 Gray Catbird - few Brown Thrasher - 2 (Maintenance Field, Pinetum) Cedar Waxwing - 7 all hatch-year birds Sparrow Rock House Finch - Sparrow Rock American Goldfinch - 3 Eastern Towhee - 4 Chipping Sparrow - sparrow Rock Song Sparrow - 3 or 4 White-throated Sparrow - common Black-and-white Warbler - 3 Common Yellowthroat - 5 or 6 American Redstart - near Boathouse (Gillian Henry) Northern Parula - 4 Magnolia Warbler - 3 (Laupot Bridge, Great Lawn, Maintenance Field) Blackpoll Warbler - 4 Black-throated Blue Warbler - 2 females Palm Warbler - "Yellow" (Great Lawn & Maintenance Field) Pine Warbler - near King of Poland Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4 Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting - Tupelo Field
-- Roger Pasquier reported a Nashville Warbler at the north end of the Maintenance field at around 8am.
--
Deb Allen Follow us on twitter @BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Date: 10/14/18 5:27 pm From: Andrew Block <ablock22168...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] extralimital Black-throated Gray Warbler nearby in NJ
10/14/18 - w. of ball fields on mowed trail at end of Whitcomb Rd., E. Windsor, NJ
1 BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER (ad. male)1 Tennessee Warbler3+ Cape May Warblersmany Yellow-rumped Warblers2+ Pine Warblersmany Palm Warblers3+ Blackpoll Warblers1 Common Yellowthroatseveral Chipping Sparrows1 CLAY-COLORED SPARROWseveral Field Sparrows4+ Savannah Sparrowsmany Song Sparrows1 LINCOLN'S SPARROWseveral Swamp Sparrows4+ White-crowned Sparrows
- Great Swamp N.W.R., Harding Twp., NJ
1 Nashville Warblermany Yellow-rumped Warblersmany Palm Warblers (both ssp.)1 Blackpoll Warbler1 Common Yellowthroat3 Eastern Towheesseveral Chipping Sparrows8+ Field Sparrowsmany Song Sparrowsseveral Swamp Sparrows3 White-throated Sparrows2+ Dark-eyed Juncos
Andrew
Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist
20 Hancock Avenue, Apt. 3
Yonkers, Westchester Co., New York 10705-4629
www.flickr.com/photos/conuropsis/albums
--
Date: 10/13/18 6:40 pm From: GQ <glennq...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Sands Point Preserve & Prospect Point (Nassau)
The Sands Point Preserve and adjacent Prospect Point were extremely active this morning, especially after the rain ended. I was in the preserve, in the rain, from 8-10:30 AM. Even with the rain, the sky was fairly active, with large numbers of American Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers moving from east to west, generally not stopping. Cedar Waxwings were also present with close to 200 seen, along with lots of Purple Finches and American Goldfinches. It was difficult to estimate the numbers of many species because of the constant stream of migrants overhead.
My go to brush pile in the preserve was packed with sparrows including White-crowned, Lincoln, Swamp, a Winter Wren and a Brown Thrasher. Song Sparrows made a major push with huge numbers in the preserve. The first Dark-eyed Junco showed up along the beach. There were 9 Wood Duck on the pond.
At 10:30, I headed west to Prospect Point, where it’s a bit more wild. The rain had also ended. Along the beach, the number of Yellow-rumped Warblers exploded. Also, many, many Eastern Phoebe, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Palm Warblers and many more Purple Finch. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers also started moving along the beach. I hadn’t seen a single hawk in the preserve but I saw quite a few here. 3 Merlins, 1 American Kestrel, 1 Cooper’s Hawk, 1 unidentified accipiter, 2 Northern Harriers. I saw Merlins pick off Yellow-rumped Warblers twice.
I saw a post some time ago here about Alley Pond Park (close to Prospect Point as the hawk flies) being a legitimate hawk migration corridor. With the number of hawks showing up today, I wonder how that location did today.
By far the most interesting hawk sighting was a Red-tailed hawk. As I was walking along the beach just past the preserve, in front of the 2nd hyper-mansion, a Red-tailed Hawk came cruising around the mansion half-heartedly chasing a large passerine. The passerine was in some distress and crash-landed on one of the many large angled windows on the mansion’s conservatory. It slid down the window, clawed it’s way back up only to slide down again. It did this a half-dozen times before giving up. It remained on the window with its wings and tail completely spread. The hawk sat on the roof patiently waiting for several minutes until it finally pounced on the bird, brought it to the roof, and devoured it. The passerine was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. No cocoa puffs for him tonight.
A Marsh Wren was still in the....marsh. It was missing half of its tail (obviously the lower half) and, for an instant through the thick reeds, was reminiscent of Sedge Wren.
Apparently, Blue Jays have been migrating heavily this year. There were more than usual in the preserve but there were also several along the dune vegetation at Prospect Point. One of them, before I saw it, surprised me by doing a damned close imitation call of Red-shouldered Hawk. I’m assuming this validates it as a true migrant and not one of the local Long Island Blue Jays???
I returned to my car in the preserve at 12:45 PM and a Great Horned Owl was calling VERY loudly from the woods.
On an active October day like today, I expected to see Hermit Thrush and American Pipit but struck out. Also, still no loons on the sound and only a single Brant on the beach today.
Prior to all this, at 7:45 AM, I stopped at Bar Beach Park on Hempstead Harbor (Nassau) to wait a few minutes for the steady rain to lessen. There were 3 Great Blue Heron, 4 Great Egret, a Pied-billed Grebe, and a nice group of 17 Forster’s Terns fishing around the pilings.
Date: 10/13/18 4:08 pm From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Sat., Oct. 13, 2018 - 12 Wood Warbler Species, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Purple Finches, Solitary Sand.
Central Park NYC Saturday, October 13, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, Deborah Allen, m.ob.
Highlights on a morning with light rain after a cold front: Twelve Species of Wood Warblers, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Purple Finches, Solitary Sandpiper & Green Heron. Thanks to Gillian Henry, Ryan Serio, and Theodora Redding for spotting many of today's birds.
Canada Goose - pair Riviera Northern Shoveler - 7 Turtle Pond Mallard - 23 Turtle Pond Double-crested Cormorant - 7 Reservoir Mourning Dove - 3 or 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Turtle Pond Chimney Swift - flock of 75 over Turtle Pond, some getting drinks Solitary Sandpiper - Turtle Pond Herring Gull - flyovers and a few at the Reservoir Great Black-backed Gull - 11 Reservoir Double-crested Cormorant - 7 Reservoir Green Heron - Ramble Cooper's Hawk - migrant over Belvedere Castle Red-tailed Hawk - local bird low over Sparrow Rock Red-bellied Woodpecker - 5 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - around 20 Downy Woodpecker - 2 Ramble Northern Flicker - around 25 incl. 4 on the ground at Sparrow Rock American Kestrel - 2 migrants Eastern Phoebe - 5 Blue-headed Vireo - 7 Red-eyed Vireo - 3 Blue Jay - flock of 25 migrants with another 30 scattered around Black-capped Chickadee - 5 or 6 Tufted Titmouse 20-25 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 25 White-breasted Nuthatch - 15 Brown Creeper - just north of Upper Lobe House Wren - Ramble Winter Wren - 4 Carolina Wren - Swampy Pin Oak Golden-crowned Kinglet - at least 10 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 8-10 Swainson's Thrush - 10 Hermit Thrush - 15 American Robin - 10 Gray Catbird - 15 Brown Thrasher - Sparrow Rock Cedar Waxwing - flock of 15 over Boathouse, 4 or 5 perched Sparrow Rock House Finch - 4 Purple Finch - 22 (flock of 20 Sparrow Rock, 2 females Shakespeare Garden) American Goldfinch - wildflower planting east side Maintenance Field Eastern Towhee - 4 Chipping Sparrow - 8 Sparrow Rock Song Sparrow - 20-30 Lincoln's Sparrow - Sparrow Rock Swamp Sparrow - 4 or 5 White-throated Sparrow - at least 200 Dark-eyed Junco - at least 8 (Pinetum, Sparrow Rock & Great Lawn) Common Grackle - 75 flyovers (some going south, some north) Ovenbird - 2 (Gill Overlook & Humming Tombstone) Black-and-white Warbler - 4 or 5 Common Yellowthroat - 3 (2 Warbler Rock, 1 Swampy Pin Oak) American Redstart - Ramble Northern Parula - Shakespeaare Garden Magnolia Warbler - Shakespeare Garden Blackpoll Warbler - 3 (Shakespeare Garden, Ramble, Locust Grove) Black-throated Blue Warbler - 4 females Palm Warbler - "Yellow" 15 Pine Warbler - 4 Pinetum Yellow-rumped Warbler - 10 Black-throated Green Warbler - just north of Upper Lobe Northern Cardinal - 3 --
Deb Allen Follow us on twitter @BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Date: 10/13/18 11:23 am From: Gail Benson <gbensonny...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Jones Beach West End Coast Guard Station update
Among 8 species of Sparrows seen at the hedge row at the Coast Guard Station were 1 immature Lark Sparrow, 1 Clay-colored Sparrow, and 4 White-crowned Sparrows. At least 3 Marbled Godwits were on the bar with the Oystercatchers.
Date: 10/13/18 8:54 am From: Timothy Healy <tph56...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Migration Activity, Nassau County
Anyone who stayed inside this morning to avoid the rain may want to consider checking hour local patches for a bit. There has been some solid movement overnight into this morning with good numbers and diversity of birds. At Jones Beach today I rallied 79 species, with triple digit totals for flickers, Yellow-rumps, Tree Swallows, and a few others. Notable sightings included a few Pine Siskins among the Purple Finches moving west, continuing Marbled Godwits on the spit, a pair of vocal flyover Pectoral Sandpipers, and a Blue Grosbeak first heard in the median and later seen flying west over the turnaround. I also found a handful of birds that are somewhat unusual at the beach at this time of year, such as Wood Duck, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Scarlet Tanager. Raptors were hunting up and down the median strip all morning.
Last night at my house I heard good numbers of Swainson’s Thrushes passing overhead, as well as a Hermit Thrush and at least three Gray-cheeked Thrushes. Two of them were calling simultaneously as they flew south together. My family also shared pictures of a Rusty Blackbird foraging on our lawn after the rain this morning, a pretty solid yard bird that I unfortunately missed.
The favorable winds are forecast to continue overnight. Tomorrow could be another productive day.
Date: 10/13/18 8:45 am From: susan joseph <susan.joseph.birder...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] STFL 11:15 AM Krumkill Road Albany
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was still present this morning on the telephone wire by the red barn at 11:15 and vocalizing. After about ten minutes, it made a beeline for cover in a nearby deciduous tree when a Merlin swooped through the field. As of 11:35 it remained in hiding but will probably return to its perch eventually.
Date: 10/12/18 9:47 pm From: Gail Benson <gbensonny...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] NYC Area RBA: 12 October 2018
-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Oct. 12, 2018
* NYNY1810.12
- Birds Mentioned
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Common Nighthawk
Virginia Rail
American Oystercatcher
American Golden-Plover
MARBLED GODWIT
Stilt Sandpiper
BAIRD'S SANDPIPER
Long-billed Dowitcher
Parasitic Jaeger
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Black Skimmer
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Worm-eating Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
Mourning Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Canada Warbler
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
Nelson’s Sparrow
Lincoln’s Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
BLUE GROSBEAK
DICKCISSEL
Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, October 12,
2018 at 9 pm.
The highlights of today’s tape are WESTERN KINGBIRD, MARBLED GODWIT,
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER, CONNECTICUT WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, BLUE
GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL and CLAY-COLORED SPARROW.
Another WESTERN KINGBIRD provided this week's rarity highlight, though it
was a bird seen only for a brief time last Monday afternoon at the Salt
Marsh Nature Center section of Marine Park in Brooklyn, searches to
relocate it coming up empty.
Six MARBLED GODWITS have remained around Jones Inlet at least to Thursday,
often seen on the island sandbar just east of the Coast Guard Station at
Jones Beach West End. Also on the bar Thursday among a nice selection of
shorebirds were an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER plus large gatherings of AMERICAN
OYSTERCATCHERS and BLACK SKIMMERS, with 11 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS also
at West End.
A BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was still around the tip of Breezy Point Thursday,
along with 4 PARASITIC JAEGERS harassing Gulls and Terns off the tip as
well. Two PARASITIC JAEGERS were also noted off Robert Moses State Park
Thursday, where 9 LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were also counted. Other
multiple LESSER BLACK-BACKEDS included 4 at Breezy Point Saturday.
Single LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were identified last Sunday on Jamaica Bay
Wildlife Refuge’s East Pond as well as at Santapogue Creek in West
Babylon. A STILT SANDPIPER was also still on the East Pond Tuesday.
Several reports of CASPIAN TERNS this week included 4 at Jamaica Bay
Tuesday and 2 each at Mecox Saturday, Plumb Beach and Piermont Pier Sunday
and Floyd Bennett Field Thursday, while ROYAL TERNS remain at various
coastal sites, including up to 4 at Plumb Beach.
Strong northwest winds today provided a decent hawk flight locally, with
about 20 BALD EAGLES, for instance, recorded over Central Park and a few
BROAD-WINGED HAWKS still moving through. At Fort Tilden today the hawk
count included 102 MERLINS and 594 AMERICAN KESTRELS, the latter, however,
overshadowed by over 5,000 KESTRELS counted at Cape May today.
Single BLUE GROSBEAKS last weekend were noted on Saturday at Flushing
Meadows Park and at Croton Point and on Sunday at the Queens Botanical
Garden.
DICKCISSELS during the week included 1 still in Central Park Saturday,
another at Floyd Bennett Field Saturday, and on Monday 2 each at the Salt
Marsh Nature Center and at Robert Moses State Park.
CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS reported this week included 1 at Floyd Bennett Field
during the week, 1 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Sunday, and 1 in Kissena
Park, Queens, Sunday to Tuesday. Among the other SPARROWS now arriving are
some NELSON’S in various coastal salt marshes and some LINCOLN’S and
WHITE-CROWNED.
Among the more unusual WARBLERS this week were a CONNECTICUT reported in
Central Park Monday and Tuesday, a MOURNING banded at Tobay Saturday, and
an ORANGE-CROWNED in Gardiner Park in West Bayshore Sunday.
A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was spotted at Southard’s Pond Park in Babylon last
Sunday.
A small influx of YELLOW WARBLERS this week augmented the list of late
lingering WARBLERS locally, including WORM-EATING, CAPE MAY and CANADA.
A small unfortunate fallout of VIRGINIA RAILS onto the streets of lower
Manhattan Saturday through Monday demonstrates the fragile and uncertain
nature of rail migration and the perils the birds sometimes find themselves
faced with.
On the later side this week have been COMMON NIGHTHAWK and BLACK-BILLED and
YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS.
To phone in reports, on Long Island call Tony Lauro at (631) 734 4126 or
call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922 and leave a message.
This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the
National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.
2 Black-throated Gray Warblers are one of the most-recent western vagrants to appear near southeast NY state, one not that far south of NYC, in Mercer County, N.J. on Oct. 12, the earlier on Oct. 10 at Higbee’s Beach, Cape May County, N.J. Both individuals were photographed; the more recently-seen is in this checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49136279 (and the latter also having been re-found & seen by additional observers on-scene)
- - - - - -
Manhattan, N.Y. City -
A recent escapee or release of a Mandarin Duck in Central Park, at The Pond in the park’s SE sector, had some folks all a-twitter, and I saw a few people seeking that bird still on Friday, with no luck. This is not the first nor 2nd time that species had found it’s way to at least very temporary “freedom” from captivity in Central Park. There were even sightings a couple of decades ago, where the escapee Mandarin got up-close with a Wood Duck (the two species are most closely-related to each other, in the same genus), the latter regular in Central Park, & in one of the long-ago escapee’s time out of captivity, it also visited a few of the other waterbodies of Central Park, beyond the one nearest to the C.P. Zoo. (For those wishing to see a Mandarin Duck truly in the wild, get ready for a trip to northern Asia. The species has been known to breed from parts of California after escapes there, but is not seen as a migrant in this region at all. It is also a species kept by waterfowl fanciers, and the recent one in Central Park had a leg band. There have been feral Mandarin Ducks also in the U.K. and likely the occasional escapes also in other non-Asian regions where waterfowl-fanciers, and zoos, also exist.)
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Thurs., Oct. 11 - A Worm-eating Warbler, lingering at Union Square Park was noted by A. Deutsch. A Great Egret was noted at the lagoon off the n. side of Inwood Hill Park on a low tide. A number of other smaller parks & green-spaces in Manhattan also held a modest variety of migrants, including some other warbler species. At Central Park, fewer migrants detected than on days just prior, but still Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Wood (1), Gray-cheeked, & Swainson’s Thrushes, & at least one dozen warbler species; among the busier of areas with migrants was from W. 81-86 St. section of the park, including the Pinetum area, where at least 7 warbler species were present. It was also noticed that on this day at least some of the warblers were moving to & from trees lining the bridle path on the n. side of the 86th St. Transverse. Rain was intermittent, but mainly held off to late in the day & that evening.
Friday, Oct. 12 - The storm that was Hurricane ‘Michael’ passed east off the s. shore of Long Island, NY Thursday night thru early Friday, as a cold front accompanied by strong NW wind moved in from the WNW also over Thurs. night into early Friday, and the rain was clearing away from N.Y. City shortly before day-break. I went into Central Park’s north end, finding just a modest variety of expected species, and possible evidence of a bit of new arrival, which if so would’ve landed in just the 2 hrs. or so from end of harder rain to before first light & daybreak.
It was a very good flight day in much of the eastern U.S. for raptors, falcons, vultures & other diurnally-migrating birds & above all, American Kestrels in Cape May, N.J., where more than 5,400 of those were counted migrating, on just 1 day, & (I believe) this a new record-high 1-day count of the species for that site.
Among the very early a.m. sightings at the Great Hill were 3 thrush species: Hermit, Swainson’s, & Gray-cheeked; just a few more Hermit Thrush were subsequently seen in 20 minutes in the n. woods; a few warbler species that included an American Redstart, & a fair number of Blue Jays in a vocal flock. I then moved on to Riverbank St. Park (137th St. edge, with a wide view of sky in all directions) & for 40 minutes, 8 - 8:40 a.m., saw: 6 Bald Eagles (all non-adults, & at one point, 4 in view at once), 10 Ospreys (with up to 6 in view at one point), 3 Sharp-shinned & 1 Cooper’s Hawk, as well as 2 Peregrines (adults, possibly local residents of the area), & a couple of Red-tailed Hawks moving mostly low near buildings, & likely “locals”.
By 9 a.m. having returned to Central Park, I took a position near the s. side of the N. Meadow, & observed more raptor & vulture movement, for an additional 2.5 hours, thru 11:30. Further sightings then included at least 14 additional Bald Eagles (mostly non-adults), 8 additional Osprey, 6 additional Sharp-shinned & 4 additional Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Merlins, additional Peregrine sightings as well as several of American Kestrel (although hard to say how many, if any of the latter 2 spp. were of migrants here, or just residents moving around the park as is usual.) Later in the day, the wind diminished & started to be from the west. And, later checking various areas in much of Central, including the s. end as well as perimeters on the w. side, I found modest numbers, with improving visibility as the sun fully emerged, & ongoing feeding, by most of the clearly hungry smaller migrants that were lingering.
Warbler species for the day in Manhattan included at least these: Nashville, Northern Parula, Yellow, Magnolia, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], Black-throated Green, Pine, Palm, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Ovenbird, & Common Yellowthroat, so a mimimum of 15 species; all of these were found in Central Park, & a fair number were also seen in a variety of other parks. There was a report as well of 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler in the n. end of Central Park.
Besides the above warblers, & some of the raptors noted, there were these many other species:
Common Loon (3, fly-overs)
Double-crested Cormorant (modest no’s. of fly-overs, plus some on waters)
Great Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Turkey Vulture (minimum of 62, likely more, moving south-sw in groups of a few, up to 10+ at a time, much of the day after about 9 - sought the other vulture species too, but did not see any)
Canada Goose (multiple fly-overs, but not that many)
Wood Duck (3 drakes, Pond, not together)
Gadwall (few)
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler (at least 5)
Broad-winged Hawk (a few, likely - I saw 2 probable, and others have seen at least several; getting late, but not unprecedented at all; those I saw were very high-flying W/SW later in day)
Red-shouldered Hawk (report of at least one landed, at the Pinetum in Central Park, from J. Wooten)
Ring-billed Gull
[American] Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
['feral'] Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift (smaller no’s., but 15+ still in a group)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (late-ish, Conservatory Garden)
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (multiple, esp. at various elm trees)
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted Flicker (not in high no’s.)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (getting a little late)
Eastern Phoebe (in very modest numbers)
Blue-headed Vireo (12+, Central Park, & 2 noted at Morningside Park in very brief pass, a.m.)
Red-eyed Vireo (a few)
Blue Jay (many, but poss. not a flight day?)
American Crow (many, up to 40, probably more, in & over Central Park; also some elsewhere)
Tree Swallow (several fly-bys moving rapidly, in a.m., not too high)
Black-capped Chickadee (12+ in Central Park, also a couple in other areas where not seen lately)
Tufted Titmouse (25+++ in Central Park, & a few even in such as courtyards of larger developments)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (at least several, Central Park; I did not focus at all on seeking these today)
White-breasted Nuthatch (present in Central Park)
Brown Creeper (several locations)
Carolina Wren
House Wren (1, Central Park s. end)
Winter Wren (several locations)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (multiple, including several in conifers at the southern edge of Central Park)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (multiple, but not that many)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (few)
Swainson's Thrush (few)
Hermit Thrush (few)
Wood Thrush (1, s. end of Central Park)
American Robin (fairly common)
Gray Catbird (fair no’s.)
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher (several, Central Park)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (few, Central Park)
Scarlet Tanager (at least 2, Central Park)
Eastern Towhee (scattered sightings, but not common this day)
Chipping Sparrow (very modest numbers)
Song Sparrow (widespread but not great no’s.)
Lincoln's Sparrow (at least 2, Central Park, Hallett Sanctuary, & Strawberry Fields s. section)
Swamp Sparrow (very modest no’s.)
White-throated Sparrow (modest no’s. & ‘patchy', not seen in all wooded areas of the park this day)
White-crowned Sparrow (at least several, from North Meadow & east, & thru Strawberry Fields & east)
Dark-eyed Junco (small no’s. but widely scattered in Central Park)
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (2 were reported with some notes, from the n. end of Central Park)
Red-winged Blackbird (few, Central Park)
Common Grackle (small flocks in several areas)
Brown-headed Cowbird (few noted today)
Purple Finch (several, including some in s. end of park at a few more lush goldenrod & aster patches)
House Finch
American Goldfinch (60+++, at first a few, then increasing no’s. of fly-bys, calling & seen fairly easily + some feeding in various areas, including more than 20 together at the north end's “knoll” nectar for pollinator species plantings)
House Sparrow
_ _ _ _
"We look at science as something very elite, which only a few people can learn. That's just not true. You just have to start early and give kids a foundation. Kids live up, or down, to expectations.” - Dr. Mae Jemison (first African-American woman into space; NASA mission of Sept. 12, 1992)
Date: 10/12/18 5:58 pm From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Fri., Oct. 12, 2018 - Common Ravens & 13 Species of Wood Warblers
Central Park - North End, NYC Friday, October 12, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, m.ob.
Highlights: Common Ravens (2) & 13 Species of Wood Warblers
Canada Goose - flyover flock of 45 migrants, a dozen on the Harlem Meer Northern Shoveler - 7 Meer Gadwall - 2 Meer Mallard - 15 Meer Mourning Dove - 4 Chimney Swift - flock of 10 overhead at 7am Double-crested Cormorant - 3 flyovers Osprey - 1 migrant Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4 migrants Red-tailed Hawk - 3 local birds Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2 (North Woods & Wildflower Meadow) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 4 Downy Woodpecker - male Conservatory Garden Northern Flicker - 15 American Kestrel - male migrant Eastern Phoebe - 5 Blue-headed Vireo - 5 Red-eyed Vireo - 1 Wildflower Meadow 7am Blue Jay - flyover flock of 60, 20 others in the North Woods American Crow - flyover flock of 40 Common Raven - 2 flyovers seen from Conservatory Garden Black-capped Chickadee - 2 (Wildflower Meadow & Loch) Tufted Titmouse - 7 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2 Great Hill White-breasted Nuthatch - 3 North Woods Brown Creeper - Meer House Wren - 2 Great Hill Golden-crowned Kinglet - 3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 8 Swainson's Thrush - Wildflower Meadow eating Pokeweed berries 7am American Robin - not many, mostly in Conservatory Garden eating crab apples Gray Catbird - 10-15 Northern Mockingbird - 2 (Fort Clinton & Conservatory Garden) Cedar Waxwing - around 20 eye-level at Fort Clinton House Finch - 4 Purple Finch - female Wildflower Meadow American Goldfinch - 5 Eastern Towhee - 5 (males & females) Chipping Sparrow - 25 (Green Bench & Grassy Knoll) Song Sparrow - 8 (Green Bench & Wildflower Meadow - early) Swamp Sparrow - 2 Wildflower Meadow White-throated Sparrow - 7 Common Grackle - flyover flock of 30 migrants east side Great Hill Northern Waterthrush - Loch Black-and-white Warbler - 5 Common Yellowthroat - 3 American Redstart - 2 (SE Great Hill, adult male North Woods) Cape May Warbler - adult female Meer Island Northern Parula - 7 Yellow Warbler - Grassy Knoll 7am Blackpoll Warbler - 4 Black-throated Blue Warbler - male east Great Hill Palm Warbler - 2 "Yellow" North Meadow Ball Fields 7am Pine Warbler - 3 Yellow-rumped Warbler - flock of 4 North Woods Black-throated Green Warbler - male Grassy KNoll 7am Northern Cardinal - 4 or 5
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Deb Allen Follow us on twitter @BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Date: 10/12/18 1:28 pm From: Raina <twinroses1...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Juvenile Bald Eagle, Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Oakdale, Long Island
I don't post often (if ever lol) but felt this one warranted a share. We were very happy to spot a juvenile Bald Eagle at Bayard successfully fishing on the river this afternoon. Plenty of American Robins, some YRW, chickadees, blue jays, and one kestrel flew overhead. Happy birding! Sincerely,Raina Angelier --
The scissor-tailed Flycatcher on krumkill road was reported to the HMbirds listserv at 10 AM Friday morning, for those considering a weekend chase. -- Zach Schwartz-Weinstein 203 500 7774
Date: 10/11/18 5:45 pm From: Nancy Tognan <nancy.tognan...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] "20 Best Birds" by Corey Finger - a Queens County Bird Club presentation this Weds. Oct. 17
The Queens County Bird Club will be meeting at the Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd Douglaston, NY 11362 >Map of location< <http://goo.gl/8cnmjT> at 8:00 pm this Wednesday, October 17, 2018. Free admission. Refreshments served.
Corey Finger will present “The Twenty Best Birds I have Seen"
Blogger and field guide author Corey Finger has birded on four continents since he first picked up binoculars in 2005. In this presentation he will share photos and stories of encounters with his most memorable birds, from the common species that made him a birder to far-flung rarities and Neotropical jewels. This is a presentation you won't want to miss!
Nancy Tognan
<nancy.tognan...> <mailto:<nancy.tognan...> Vice President, Queens County Bird Club
Date: 10/10/18 9:16 am From: JOHN TURNER <redknot...> Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] They're back !
Bob: Not many birders are willing to explore the "vulture circuit";
you're a brave man!
On Tue, Oct 09, 2018 at 11:58 PM, robert adamo wrote:
I happened to look skyward as I was leaving the Riverhead Library at ~
1600 and saw 2 Turkey Vultures circling above. My eyes automatically
moved to the nearby Roanoke Ave Elementary School, where a another bird
was resting on the chimney. Driving closer toward the school, I noticed
7 more TV's on the antennae of the Riverhead Fire Dept building, located
just across the street from the school. By the time I finished driving
the entire vulture circuit (and not finding any more) I returned to the
F.D. (at ~ 1630) all the vultures had moved on !
Date: 10/10/18 9:11 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 10/6-7-8-9 incl. V. Rails, Dickcissel, CT Warbler, & more
The coming week might be interesting in terms of an approach by the tropical cyclone pushing into the Gulf coast named “Michael”, some part or remnant of which may come into waters off Long Island (NY) around the end of the week, although a cold front passing through the northeast may limit effects on us, and on birds locally. If nothing else, the cold front expected for the start of the coming weekend may bring a push of later-moving neotropical-wintering species as most clear out of the north country and also a possible arrival of some expected later-season migrants &/or winterering species.
Slightly closer to NY, but also extra-limital, a Bell’s Vireo, with excellent photos & notes, was found Oct. 8 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, by Tim Spahr; checklist is here:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S49040077 Bell’s can be a tricky vireo to get a definitive ID on; it is a species that is a posssibly-regular, if rare vagrant to the northeast.
And on Oct. 8th, a N. Shrike was found in Onondaga Co. NY (at the Dewitt marsh & landfill); reported in eBird.
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Manhattan, N.Y. City - 21 species of warblers were well-reported, including one Connecticut in Central Park 10/8, and, at Randall’s Island in NY County, a photographed Orange-crowned on 10/8; as well as a few somewhat late-running species; other highlights included both Cuckoo species, a lingering Dickcissel, & other birds. Of warblers, seemed to be a spate of Black-and-white Warblers in various parks on Tues., 10/9; although not extremely late, it struck me to see this number distributed in as many different small parks amidst the city-center, on one Oct. day: in 9 different sites, one of them being Central, and all the other much smaller parks or green-spaces.
Sat., Oct. 6 - At Central Park, the vast majority of birds (species) were the same as found on the big arrival of Thursday night / Friday Oct. 5th. A Dickcissel, the one documented rarity, was again in virtually the same location as found on Fri. - and the same could be said of other uncommon species seen Sat. The dispersal of migrants also was a factor, so that many patches in all of the park had some migrants, in for example the Hallett Sanctuary at the extreme SE corner, & also at the NW corner of the park at the Great Hill, and in-between areas that are very under-birded, even at peak migration times, such as that area north of the reservoir, & from there to the North Meadow. These areas all had migrants, in some numbers, on Sat., the most obvious being White-throated Sparrow, & also to lesser extent, Palm Warbler, esp. in the more northerly sites. An ongoing big flight of Purple Finch, esp. noted on the north side of Long Island Sound’s (shoreline) recently, has not surprisingly brought some more of this “irruptive” into N.Y. City including Manhattan. At The Pond in Central Park, 4 drake Wood Ducks were found.
Of the at least 18 warbler species on the day (just in Central) seen on Saturday, a Northern Waterthrush is one of the slightly-late ones (yet this species has been seen even to Dec. in NYC, & is not that unusual yet, in October) - today’s seen by multiple observers; the same of Yellow Warbler, although this species is typically quite uncommon in Manhattan by this month; Saturday’s also seen by (at least) several observers. (N.B., it is not surprising to have slightly more in warbler diversity found a day after a big arrival of migrants, as the 1st day is often filled with a wave of some of the most-common species for the time of year when seen, and some of the few less-common, or stragglers (for fall) still about, are noted in the day or so after such a wave passes thru. On Friday, those had been Yellow-rumped & Palm Warblers, as is expected. These did stay, but for numbers, a great reduction of Yellow-rumped in particular by Sat., one day later - which is very typical of such periods of that species’ movements thru Central, & is seen in many other locations also.
At Washington Square Park: ongoing Worm-eating Warbler still present, seen at n. side next to “NW” playground at 8:30 a.m.; other warblers also in W.S. Park included Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Palm, Yellow-rumped, Common Yellowthroat (6 species of warblers), as well as Wood Thrush (same area & time as Worm-eating W.), Swainson’s Thrush, Y.-s. Flicker, Y.-b. Sapsucker (2), E. Phoebe, White-throated Sparrow (6+), Dark-eyed Junco (1), Gray Catbird (4 seen simultaneously), American Robin (several). Other smaller parks in lower Manhattan also had reports that included migrants, including at least some warblers, as well as sapsuckers, kinglets, thrushes, native sparrows, & other birds.
Sun., Oct. 7 - After a foggy start, a warmer day with a SW wind developing. Central Park sightings included one Common Nighthawk, over the Ramble’s e. edge in early eve., seen by J. Wooten. At least 14 warbler spp. were found & reported on the day; also a larger number (but still not many) of Hermit Thrushes, as well as a few Swainson’s & Gray-cheeked types plus Wood Thrush. A White-eyed Vireo was seen in the Ramble, the ID made by K. Quinones.
Mon., Oct. 8 - fog, a bit of drizzle & light SE breezes, & not an obvious amount of fresh arrival in Manhattan. However, newly found birds continued to be reported, including a Connecticut Warbler near the “Sparrow Rock” area, which is west of the Great Lawn & just west of the old bridle path; eBirded by P. Dandridge. Yet another (photographed) Worm-eating Warbler sighting in nearly the same neighborhood as another long-staying one, this found by A. Tey at Union Square Park (not far north, slightly east, from Washington Square Park) in lower downtown. Also reported but with just a few notes at Union Square Park was a Canada Warbler which would be especially late for the latter; Worm-eating is quite late now also. Laughing Gull, one on C.P. reservoir. At least modest evident of some further movement (both arrivals & departures), although again, no day since Fri./5th had as large & diverse an arrival of migrants. Also again, with somewhat fewer individual birds to sort thru, observers found a bit more of what diverse species actually are present (on very large pushes of migrants, there can inevitably be a few species that ‘get away’.) Cape May Warblers were seen in nice numbers, up to 10 in Central Park alone (through all of the park). A ‘probable’ Red-headed Woodpecker was seen as a fly-over in the fog at the n. end of Central Park. Yellow-billed Cuckoos continue to be seen in at least several Manhattan parks and Black-billed Cuckoo again was reported in Central Park. Virginia Rails continue to be found in, unfortunately, urban streets, where some have been in poor shape, thus needing care & rehabilitation.
Tuesday, Oct. 9 - Milder with some fog; light SSW winds, and a chance for some modest migration, mostly departures, from the NYC area the night before. It was interesting to spend over half the day looking in small parks in lower & mid-Manhattan, with a variety of lingering migrants present. That variety was still greater, as expected, in the larger parks; I had a short time in early a.m., & more in p.m. looking in Central Park. Overall, numbers of migrants were lowered from prior days.
Sightings & some reports from Sat.-Tues., Oct. 6-9th, 2018:
Double-crested Cormorant (modest flight, Sat. 10/6)
Great Blue Heron (few sightings in various locations)
Black-crowned Night-Heron (much scarcer this week)
Turkey Vulture (few fly-overs noted for the weekend)
Canada Goose (modest numbers)
Brant (a very few arriving migrants; fly-overs)
Wood Duck (2 drakes, 10/9, The Pond, s.e. part of Central Park)
Gadwall (continuing small no’s., & reduced now)
American Black Duck (few, E. & Hudson rivers)
Mallard (regular residents)
Northern Shoveler (minimum of 12 in Central Park 10/9 (7 on Meer; 5 on Turtle Pond; not noted by me at CP reservoir)
Ruddy Duck (just 1 seen at Central Park into weekend)
Osprey (few, fly-overs, mainly last weekend)
Bald Eagle (several reports from the past weekend)
Northern Harrier (few; fly-overs, mostly last weekend)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (few noted, mainly as fly-overs)
Cooper's Hawk (few, mainly as fly-overs)
Red-tailed Hawk (residents in many Manhattan areas)
Virginia Rail (several found in street situations, also as brought to rehab. facilities, Sun.-Mon. 10/7-8)
Laughing Gull (cont. visitor to C.P. reservoir at least to Mon., 10/8)
Ring-billed Gull (regular in modest numbers)
[American] Herring Gull (common)
Great Black-backed Gull (easily seen at C.P. reservoir most days, also on Hudson river)
['feral'] Rock Pigeon (ubiquitous)
Mourning Dove (very common and widespread recently)
American Kestrel (residents & a few poss. migrants also)
Merlin (few weekend migrants noted)
Peregrine Falcon (residents in multiple Manhattan locations)
Black-billed Cuckoo (through at least Mon. 10/8 at Central Park)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (to Tues. in several locations; multiple parks thru Mon., 10/8)
Common Nighthawk (one well-reported from Central Park, early evening on 10/7.)
Chimney Swift (numbers dropping off through this period; fewer by Tues., 10/9)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (few, with poss. no reports from after Sun., 10/7 for Manhattan)
[N.B. - any hummingbird noted after passage of the next cold front should be identified with an eye for poss. vagrant species]
Belted Kingfisher (to at least 10/8)
Red-headed Woodpecker (reported as ‘probable’ - 1 adult - & in the a.m. fog on 10/8, from Central Park’s north end.)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (residents & also a few poss. migrants on some days)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (more common, some in various smaller parks, as well as larger)
Downy Woodpecker (residents)
Hairy Woodpecker (scant, but some may also be moving this fall)
Yellow-shafted Flicker (fewer than before last weekend, but still regular & some moving in early mornings; on 10/9 at Battery, City Hall, Tompkins Square, Union Square & Madison Square Parks, and in the multiple at Central Park, as well as on prior days)
Eastern Phoebe (10/9, my obs. only from Central Park, and far more in north end of park, with up to 12 there, a few in the rest of the park; also seen on prior days there & elsewhere)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (to at least 10/8, but by now scarcer)
Least Flycatcher (reported to 10/8, all Empidonax seen from now on in fall should be closely scrutinized for poss. vagrant species: of non-eastern-breeding kinds)
White-eyed Vireo (to at least Sun., 10/7 in Central Park; N.B., this vireo species has - rarely - overwintered in NYC in the modern era)
Blue-headed Vireo (some continuing thru 10/9 in multiple locations)
Red-eyed Vireo (scant now, but a few thru 10/9, various locations)
Blue Jay (large numbers continue to pass thru, diurnal movements seen each day of this period; with still up to 100’s per day/location)
American Crow (regular; resident)
Tree Swallow (few fly-overs thru at least the long weekend)
Black-capped Chickadee (scant; a brief movement of these seems to have dried up, for now)
Tufted Titmouse (modest numbers, incl. some additional small movements)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (10/9, one at Battery Park, one at City Hall Park, one at Tompkins Square Park, one at Madison Square Park, one at Chelsea greenspace, & in at least several locations in Central Park; also on prior days in Central)
White-breasted Nuthatch (one at City Hall Park, one at Chelsea greenspace, & also multiple at Central Park & in prior days there)
Brown Creeper (one, Battery Park, one, Madison Square Park, multiple in Central Park & on prior days there)
Carolina Wren (several in Riverside & Central Parks, also in prior days in both)
House Wren (scarce now, 2 locations on 10/9 in Central Park)
Winter Wren (uncommon; no large no’s. in this report period)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (ongoing w/ no large no’s. in this period)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (ongoing w/ no large no’s. in this period)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (few reports w/ details; ongoing thru 10/8)
Swainson's Thrush (scant now, but ongoing in various locations thru 10/9)
Hermit Thrush (10/9, one at Washington Square Park one at Chelsea green-space W. 27-28th, 8th & 9th Ave’s., & at least several in Central Park as well as on prior days)
Wood Thrush (very scarce now, several sightings on long weekend in a few locations)
American Robin (common, many small parks, greenspaces, as well as all larger parks; also at least some in scattered movements)
Gray Catbird (uncommon now, & some seen in almost all smaller parks & greenspaces, as well as in the larger parks)
Northern Mockingbird (regular)
Brown Thrasher (fewer in this reporting period; a few in odd locations & also relatively few now in some larger parks)
European Starling (common & ubiuitous resident)
Cedar Waxwing (uncommon in this report period; ongoing small numbers moving thru)
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Orange-crowned Warbler (one photographed by J. Keane, 10/8, not on Manhattan island but Randall’s Island is politically part of New York County, as is Manhattan; this sighting came on same day as another photo’d in Queens Co. NYC; there were a few photo’d reports from this region on 9/30 this year.)
Tennessee Warbler (very few remained after long weekend, one at Central Park to 10/9)
Nashville Warbler (10/9, several in Central Park, also on prior days there)
Northern Parula (10/9, still in multiple areas, one at the Battery, one at Tompkins Square, one at Madsion Square; at least several in Central Park, & on prior days)
Yellow Warbler (to at least Mon., 10/8 at Central Park)
Magnolia Warbler (at least one, 10/9, Central Park; has been scarce since prior to report period)
Cape May Warbler (10/9, minimum of 8 in Central Park, including 5 at Pinetum elms; similar numbers in Central on prior days also)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (10/9, one at Tompkin’s Square Park, at least 3 in Central Park; few also seen in Central on prior days)
Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (seen in every smaller park & green-space visited, ten locations in all, on 10/9 - with up to 3 even in small Trinity church-yard near Wall St.)
Black-throated Green Warbler (several to 10/9, far fewer since the long weekend)
Pine Warbler (10/9, several in Pinetum area in Central Park - east & west portions; also present in a few other areas in Central, & on prior days)
Palm Warbler (10/9, present in at least 4 smaller parks or greenspaces - Battery, Tompkin’s Sqaure, Madison Square, & Chelsea location; also multiple in Central Park & on prior days)
Bay-breasted Warbler (a few reports lacking in detailed notes; at least a few were also being reported recently to the north of NYC)
Blackpoll Warbler (few remaining; on 10/9 I found 2 in Central Park & not in the smaller parks visited)
Black-and-white Warbler (on Tues., 10/9, seen in 8 out of ten smaller parks & green-spaces in mid & lower Manhattan; these included: Battery Park, Trinity Church-yard (B’way near Wall St.), City Hall Park, Liz Christy Bowery & Houston community garden, Tompkins Square Park, Union Square Park, Madison Square Park, & Chelsea greenspace W. 27-28th, 8th & 9th Ave’s.; also reported from other parks, seen in Central Park later as well, & on prior days there.)
American Redstart (to 10/9, in Central Park; scant now since at least the past week)
Worm-eating Warbler (photograped at Union Square Park on 10/8; just possibly the same individual that was lingering at nearby Washington Square until 10/7)
Ovenbird (10/9, a few in multiple locations including City Hall Park, Union Square, Madsion Square, & at least several in Central Park, & reported from Bryant Park; also prior days)
Northern Waterthrush (1 at The Pond’s s. shore; s.e. part of Central Park, 1 at Tanner’s Spring, C.P. both 10/9; a few additional others seen elsewhere on prior days in Central Park)
Connecticut Warbler (1 report with detailed notes, 10/8 in Central Park, at “sparrow rock” area west of the Great Lawn and bridle path area.)
Common Yellowthroat (fewer, but some lingering in small parks & green-spaces, which is typical in fall in Manhattan; also few lingering in Central Park)
Wilson's Warbler (few, to the long weekend, none noted since)
Canada Warbler (one report but lacking in full details, on 10/8, a rather late date for the species in NY)
-
Scarlet Tanager (few now, still found on 10/9)
Eastern Towhee (fewer than prior period of reports; ongoing in several locations thru 10/9)
Chipping Sparrow (modest no’s. in various locations over the weekend, not largest arrival yet this fall)
Field Sparrow (few, scattered in Central & a couple of other parks in this report period)
Savannah Sparrow (few, scattered; but more seen on the other islands of N.Y. County)
Song Sparrow (fairly common now in many locations)
Lincoln's Sparrow (few, scattered sightings, various locations in Central & other parks)
Swamp Sparrow (10/9, one at Battery Park, one at Union Square Park, one at Chelsea green-space W. 27-28th Sts., 8th & 9th Ave’s.; few in other larger parks including Central)
White-throated Sparrow (few to moderate no’s. in all green-spaces visited on Tues., 10/9; fairly widespread now in wooded areas in at least most larger parks in Manhattan)
White-crowned Sparrow (thru 10/9, Central Park; at least several there on prior days)
Slate-colored Junco (10/9, one at Battery Park, one at Chelsea green-space W. 27-28th Sts., 8th & 9th Ave’s.; very modest no’s. in Central Park & elsewhere mostly on days prior)
Northern Cardinal (residents)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (scarce now, very few still in Central Park to 10/9)
Indigo Bunting (continuing in Central Park thru Tues., 10/9; and from a few locations in Manhattan on prior days)
Red-winged Blackbird (few)
Rusty Blackbird (no reports or sightings since Sat., 10/7 in Central Park)
Common Grackle (scattered flocks & fly-over groups in modest numbers)
Brown-headed Cowbird (few)
Purple Finch (contiuning in small no’s. in Central Park thru 10/9)
House Finch (common, & some possible movement as well as residents)
American Goldfinch (ongoing & some found in smaller greenspaces, as well as larger Manhattan parks)
House Sparrow (ubiquitous & overly/hugely numerous)
_ _ _ _
"We look at science as something very elite, which only a few people can learn. That's just not true. You just have to start early and give kids a foundation. Kids live up, or down, to expectations.” - Dr. Mae Jemison (first African-American woman into space; NASA mission of Sept. 12, 1992)
Date: 10/10/18 6:47 am From: Andrew Block <ablock22168...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Swifts and RB Nuthatches
I'm still getting Chimney Swifts and Red-breasted Nuthatches in my yard in Yonkers. Saw about 3 swifts and one or two hatches in my yard yesterday. The hatches are also still around in Scarsdale too.
Andrew
Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist
20 Hancock Avenue, Apt. 3
Yonkers, Westchester Co., New York 10705-4629
www.flickr.com/photos/conuropsis/albums
--
Date: 10/9/18 8:59 pm From: robert adamo <radamo4691...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] They're back !
I happened to look skyward as I was leaving the Riverhead Library at ~ 1600 and saw 2 Turkey Vultures circling above. My eyes automatically moved to the nearby Roanoke Ave Elementary School, where a another bird was resting on the chimney. Driving closer toward the school, I noticed 7 more TV's on the antennae of the Riverhead Fire Dept building, located just across the street from the school. By the time I finished driving the entire vulture circuit (and not finding any more) I returned to the F.D. (at ~ 1630) all the vultures had moved on !
Greetings: This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week on October 01, 2018
Highlights:
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON
CACKLING GOOSE
EURASIAN WIGEON
BLACK SCOTER
WHITE-WINGED SCOTER
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
RED PHALAROPE
RED KNOT
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL
SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER (Extralimital)
LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE
NORTHERN SHRIKE
LINCOLN’S SPARROW
PINE SISKIN
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC)
------------
Shorebird numbers were up from last week. 17 species were seen at the complex and 3 more were seen elsewhere.
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER
KILLDEER
LEAST SANDPIPER
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
STILT SANDPIPER
DUNLIN
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
AMERICAN WOODCOCK
WILSON’S SNIPE
--------------------------
Shorebirds seen elsewhere.
RED PHALAROPE - Oneida Shores, Onondaga County
RED KNOT - Sandy Pond, Oswego County
SANDERLING - Sandy Pond, Oswego County
10/4: A HUDSONIAN GODWIT was sound in Knox-Marsellus Marsh. On 10/6 it was seen at the Visitor’s Center. On 10/7 it was again seen at Knox-Marsellus but had not been relocated since.
10/6: An EURASIAN WIGEON was seen on the Wildlife Trail. A WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, a CACKLING GOOSE and a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLwere seen from East Road.
10/8: A BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON and a LINCOLN’S SPARROW were seen from VanDyne Spoor Road.
Onondaga County
------------
10/2: 2 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS were seen at the Inner Harbor in Syracuse.
10/3: A RED PHALAROPE was seen at Oneida Shores Park in Brewerton.
10/8: An early NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen at the Dewitt Marsh and landfill. An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen at Radisson River Park (private) on the Oswego Rover in Radisson.
Oswego County
------------
10/2: A RED KNOT was see at the outlet of Sandy Pond on Lake Ontario.
10/6: A very rare LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE was seen from Bishop Hill Road north of Pulaski. 6 Shorebird species including WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER and SANDERLING were seen at the outlet of Sandy Pond on Lake Ontario.
10/7: An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen at Derby Hill.
10/8: BLACK SCOTER and WHITE-WINGED SCOTER were seen at Selkirk Shores Park on Lake Ontario.
Madison County
------------
10/7: 20 PINE SISKINS were seen flying at Woodman Pond.
Oneida County
------------
10/6: A SANDERLING was seen at Sylvan Beach on Oneida Lake.
Herkimer County
------------
10/8: 3 SURF SCOTERS were seen on Fourth Lake in the Adirondacks.
Extralimital
------------
A rare SCISSOR-TAILED FLYCATCHER was seen on Krumkill Road in Guilderland in Albany County. The bird had been relocated today.
Date: 10/9/18 11:07 am From: Sy Schiff <icterus...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Kissena Park, Queens
Joe Giunta and I (Sy Schiff) parked down the street from the Kissena Community Garden, entered the park and birded the edge of the field where we found a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, a flock of CEDAR WAXWINGS and several HERMIT THRUSHES among other birds. We moved into the park and found it quite overgrown. A large flock of AMERICAN GOLFFINCH were feeding on the weeds, stopping to fly up into the trees where we found a single female or young PURPLE FINCH. Few birds and only a couple SONG SPARROWS.
The Community Garden was also quiet, but always lovely with its abundant flowers. Here we found about 30+ AMERICAN GOLDFINCH feeding on seeds, 7 PALM WARBLERS on the ground, and a single BLACKPOLL WARBLER. A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and an AMERICAN KESTREL flew over. Total species 24. Still not a migration day.
Sy
Date: 10/9/18 10:58 am From: Glenn Quinn <glennq...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Southhaven County Park (Suffolk)
This afternoon, around 1PM, there were a nice collection of common migrants feeding on the ground around my car as I ate lunch, in the NW corner of the main grass parking lot. 4 Eastern Bluebirds, 3 Eastern Phoebes, 9 Pine Warblers, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler, 1 Scarlet Tanager, 2 Northern Flickers, 15 Chipping Sparrows, 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch (in trees). The 9 Pine Warblers is noteworthy. This past winter, after a heavy snow, I found 5 together in the same parking lot. There must be a heavy concentration of breeding pairs in this park and I question what percentage of these local breeders actually head south in the fall. Cheers, Glenn QuinnHauppauge, NY --
Date: 10/9/18 10:24 am From: Weiskotten, Kurt <kweiskotten...> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: [hmbirds] Scissor-tailed flycatcher still present
Bird was there at 12:45 today. Last seen preening for 10 minutes in the left most of three apple trees on the red barn property (trees are in a row adjacent to the red barn). The bird was not present the first half hour I was there. First spotted on the roadside wire to the west of the red barn, then flew high across the field to the tall broad-topped white pine behind the red barn. It then flew to the wires directly in front of the red barn and caught insects from there for 10 minutes. Great bird! Kurt W.
Sent from my Verizon LG Smartphone
------ Original message------
From: zach schwartz-weinstein
Date: Tue, Oct 9, 2018 12:47 PM
To: nys birds;
Cc:
Subject:[nysbirds-l] Fwd: [hmbirds] Scissor-tailed flycatcher still present
Update on the Guilderland Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, for those considering chasing it.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Martin <david...><mailto:<david...>> Date: Tue, Oct 9, 2018 at 12:45 PM
Subject: [hmbirds] Scissor-tailed flycatcher still present
To: <hmbirds...><mailto:<hmbirds...>>
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was seen by at least 4 birders as late as
10 AM today (10/9). When I was there it regularly perched on the top of
a tall spruce near an old-looking house a couple of driveways east of
646. Curt Morgan had earlier seen it perched on the power lines and
flying out low over the field across the road.
Date: 10/9/18 9:47 am From: zach schwartz-weinstein <zachsw...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: [hmbirds] Scissor-tailed flycatcher still present
Update on the Guilderland Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, for those considering chasing it.
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: David Martin <david...> Date: Tue, Oct 9, 2018 at 12:45 PM Subject: [hmbirds] Scissor-tailed flycatcher still present To: <hmbirds...>
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was seen by at least 4 birders as late as 10 AM today (10/9). When I was there it regularly perched on the top of a tall spruce near an old-looking house a couple of driveways east of 646. Curt Morgan had earlier seen it perched on the power lines and flying out low over the field across the road.
Date: 10/8/18 5:50 pm From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Mon. Oct. 8, 2018 - Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Northern Harrier, 13 Species of Wood Warblers
Central Park NYC Monday October 8, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, m.ob.
Highlights: Yellow-billed Cuickoo (2), Northern Harrier, Hairy Woodpecker, and 13 Species of Wood Warblers including Bay-breasted and Cape May Warblers.
Canada Goose - 6 Lake Northern Shoveler - 4 Turtle Pond Mallard - 10 Turtle Pond Mourning Dove - 5 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 2 Upper Lobe (Will Papp) Chimney Swift - 20 Herring Gull - flyovers Double-crested Cormorant - hatch-year Turtle Pond Northern Harrier - female over Strawberry Fields at 9:10am Cooper's Hawk - 3 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 20 Downy Woodpecker - Ramble (Carine Mitchell) Hairy Woodpecker - heard near feeders Northern Flicker - 12 Eastern Phoebe - 4 Red-eyed Vireo - 3 Blue Jay - flock of 50 migrating over Sparrow Rock, plus 15 American Crow - flock of 15 flying west Tufted Titmouse - 6 (Ramble & Strawberry Fields) Red-breasted Nuthatch - 25 (15 Strawberry Fields, 8 Pinetum, others scattered around) White-breasted Nuthatch - 7 House Wren - 6 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 15 Swainson's Thrush - 4 Hermit Thrush - 2 in Ramble (Carine Mitchell) American Robin - usual numbers Gray Catbird - 40 to 50 Brown Thrasher - 6, most in Strawberry Fields Cedar Waxwing - 2 Sparrow Rock Purple Finch - female Shakespeare Garden American Goldfinch - Sparrow Rock Eastern Towhee - 6 (males & females) Strawberry Fields Chipping Sparrow - Sparrow Rock Song Sparrow - 2 Sparrow Rock White-throated Sparrow - 25 to 30 White-crowned Sparrow - adult & hatch-year fenced area north of Sparrow Rock Common Grackle - 5 Ovenbird - Shakespeare Garden Northern Waterthrush - 2 Upper Lobe Black-and-white Warbler - west of feeders (Carine Mitchell) Common Yellowthroat - 4 Cape May Warbler - 3 Pinetum Bay-breasted Warbler - Ladies Pavilion (Carine Mitchell) Blackpoll Warbler - Strawberry Fields Northern Parula 7 American Redstart - 2 (Strawberry Fields & Shakespeare Garden) Magnolia Warbler - Strawberry Fields Pine Warbler - Pinetum Palm Warbler - "Yellow" Pinetum Yellow-rumped Warbler - Strawberry Fields Scarlet Tanager - 2 in Hackberry s. side of Strawberry Fields Northern Cardinal - 5
Deb Allen Follow us on twitter @BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
A Western Kingbird was seen briefly at Marine Park late this afternoon. It perched in two different trees in a brushy area (which can be accessed via E 38th street "entrance") before it flew off in the direction of the ball field. Josh Malbin and Juan Salas joined me to try and re-find the bird. Despite searching till around 6:30 pm, we were unsuccessful in our attempt to re-find it.
The road it is being seen from is a busy two lane county highway with little to no shoulders. Please don't park in such a way, i.e., partially on the highway, that you may force a vehicle to have to cross over into the oncoming traffic lane to get around your parked vehicle.
Rich Guthrie
On Mon, Oct 8, 2018 at 5:09 PM Brendan Fogarty <bnf25...> wrote:
I am forwarding a thirdhand but very credible report from Larry Alden, bird seen at 646 Krumkill Rd, presumably this morning, slightly west of Albany near towns of Slinerlands and Vorheesville.
Date: 10/8/18 9:39 am From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Sun. Oct. 7, 2018 - 10 Species of Wood Warblers & Van Cordtlandt Park Owl Note
Central Park NYC Sunday October 7, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, Deborah Allen, m.ob.
Highlights: 10 Species of Wood Warblers including Cape May Warblers, Ovenbird, and Northern Waterthrush. See end of list for VanCordtlandt Park Owl Note.
Canada Goose - 4 Lake Northern Shoveler - 5 Turtle Pond Mallard - 16 Turtle Pond Mourning Dove - Shakespeare Garden Chimney swift - largest flock of around 20 seen over Warbler Rock Herring Gull - flyovers Sharp-shinned Hawk - immature Pinetum (WBF release?) Cooper's Hawk - flyover Turtle Pond Red-bellied Woodpecker - Azalea Pond & west side of Great Lawn Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - at least 5 Downy Woodpecker - male Shakespeare Garden Northern Flicker - Sparrow Rock & south of Maintenance Field Eastern Wood-Pewee - Persimmon Slope s. of Maint. Field Traill's Flycatcher - Persimmon Slope s. of Maint. Field (Ajit Deshmukh) Eastern Phoebe - 2 (Bow Bridge (Karen Evans), Persimmon Slope s. of Maint. Field) Blue-headed Vireo - 3 (2 Maint. Field (Gillian Henry), Tupelo Field) Red-eyed Vireo - 4 Blue Jay - 9 Turtle Pond & a few others Tufted Titmouse - 4 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 7 (the first spotted at Maint. Field by Karen Evans) White-breasted Nuthatch - Pinetum, Maintenance Field, & Gill Overlook House Wren - Bow Bridge Island Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 5 Wood Thrush - south side of Tupelo Field American Robin - at least 20 Gray Catbird - 16 Brown Thrasher - 3, another heard only House Finch - 2 males NE Maintenance Field Purple Finch - male east of Azalea Pond Eastern Towhee - Azalea Pond & Sparrow Rock Chipping Sparrow - 2 Sparrow Rock (Sandra Critelli) Song Sparrow - 2 Sparrow Rock White-throated Sparrow - at least 20 White-crowned Sparrow - adult Sparrow Rock (Karen Evans) Dark-eyed Junco - 2 Sparrow Rock Common Grackle Ovenbird - Ramble (Bob & Gillian Henry) Northern Waterthrush - below Castle Black-and-white Warbler - male Gill Overlook Common Yellowthroat - 3 American Redstart - 5 Cape May Warbler - 2 (adult & hatch-year) Pinetum in Siberian Elm Northern Parula - Gill Overlook & Maintenance Field Magnolia Warbler - 3 Blackpoll Warbler - Cucumber Magnolia s. of Maintenance Field Pine Warbler - Pinetum Northern Cardinal - several juveniles around
-- Sunday evening in Van Cortlandt Park, we got good looks at a Red Morph Eastern Screech-Owl in one location and heard two others (opposite sides of the path) in another.
Deb Allen Follow us on twitter #BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Hi all, I believe this is going to be a good birding day for the Tristate area and especially NYC. There was a dense green color over all the boroughs of NYC, in particular Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island, at 1 am this morning which indicates significant number of birds landing in our area. I saw this happened only once before this season, three weeks ago, and it turned out to be a good birding day then. Let's hope for a repeat. Gus Sent using Zoho Mail --
I thought many of your would be interested in my talk with Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle, aka Bat Man, an ecologist, wildlife photographer, and conservationist who has studied bats and championed their preservation for more than 55 years and continues as the
Founder of Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation.Enjoy! https://bit.ly/2akUsxp
Date: 10/7/18 8:16 am From: Robert Paxton <rop1...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Com. Raven, Marbled Godwits Jones Beach West End
A Common Raven flying east at 9:30 a.m. over the entrance kiosk to the West End of Jones Beach S.P., Nassau Co., LI. First we have ever seen there. Six Marbled Gowits returned to the spit at the Coast Guard Station at about 10:30. Bob Paxton and Sarah Plimpton
Date: 10/7/18 7:37 am From: Jay McGowan <jwm57...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Hudsonian Godwit, Montezuma NWR
The HUDSONIAN GODWIT that has been reported intermittently the last few days is currently in Knox-Marsellus Marsh at Montezuma NWR as viewed from East Road (Seneca County). It seems to be favoring a more vegetated area in the middle of the marsh but will come out to more open areas in the northast section occasionally.
Date: 10/7/18 7:34 am From: JOHN TURNER <redknot...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] 2018 Totals for Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch - Setauket
The Stone Bridge Nighthawk Watch finished with a whimper with only five
birds being seen during the last week. The best day was 9/11 when we 306
nighthawks.
We saw thousands of blackbirds flying north each day toward the end of
the count as they headed to roost in the Phragmites stands in Conscience
Bay and hundreds to thousands of robins flying southeast. Several
Peregrines flew by including one bird with prey in its talons. Many
cormorants passed to the southwest and migrating ospreys both sounth and
west. Occasional warblers and the daily movements of kingfishers and
wood ducks.
Too many balloons, both individually and in bunches, floating by
though.......
Final Totals for 2018 Season:
2018 birds
4,041 minutes
41 Days
.499 birds per minute
Best Day: 9/11 - 306 nighthawks
Final Totals for 2017 season:
2,046 nighthawks
3,984 minutes
40 Days
.513 birds per minute
While at my friends home on Macy Rd. looking at his plants I had a Black-and-white Warbler, several of both kinglets, a couple of Purple Finches, several chickadees and titmice, some Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-breasted Nuthatches, some goldfinches, a Common Yellowthroat, a few robins, blue jays, and some others that seemed to be together going through the area. Had seen the finches this year yet.
Andrew
Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist
20 Hancock Avenue, Apt. 3
Yonkers, Westchester Co., New York 10705-4629
www.flickr.com/photos/conuropsis/albums
--
Date: 10/6/18 2:37 pm From: Deborah Allen <dallenyc...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park NYC - Sat. Oct. 6, 2018 - Dickcissel, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Cape May & Tennessee Warblers
Central Park NYC Saturday October 6, 2018 OBS: Robert DeCandido, PhD, m.ob.
Highlights: Dickcissel, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, 14 Species of Wood Warblers including Cape May & Tennessee Warblers.
Northern Shoveler - 2 (male & female) Turtle Pond Mallard - around 10 Turtle Pond Mourning Dove - 5 Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Upper Lobe Chimney Swift - several groups of 2-4 overhead Herring Gull - 8 flyovers Double-crested Cormorant - Turtle Pond Cooper's Hawk - 2 flyovers Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 25 Downy Woodpecker - 3 Northern Flicker - 20 flyovers Eastern Phoebe - 3 Blue-headed Vireo - 11 (incl. 5 Maintenance Field, 4 NW Great Lawn) Red-eyed Vireo - 6 Blue Jay - 8 (no visible migration this a.m.) Tufted Titmouse - 4 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 8 White-breasted Nuthatch - 5 House Wren - 5 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 12 Swainson's Thrush - around 12 before 7:15am, only one in Shakespeare Garden later Wood Thrush - 6 before 7:15am, only one in the Ramble later American Robin - 10 Gray Catbird - 10 Brown Thrasher - 8 (3 of these together at Tupelo Field) Cedar Waxwing - 21 Maintenance Field also 1 or 2 flyover flocks of around 10 ea. Purple Finch - 16 (11 Sparrow Rock, 5 Upper Lobe Lawn) American Goldfinch - 4 Sparrow Rock Eastern Towhee - 4 Chipping Sparrow - 2 Maintenance Field before 7:15am Song Sparrow - 4 White-throated Sparrow - 60 White-crowned Sparrow - adult Maintenance Field (Ryan Serio) Common Grackle - 30 Ovenbird - Ramble Black-and-white Warbler - 6 Tennessee Warbler - Upper Lobe Common Yellowthroat - 2 Ramble American Redstart - 4 (no adult males) Cape May Warbler - 3 north end of Pinetum Northern Parula - 12 Magnolia Warbler - Turtle Pond Dock (Ryan Serio) Blackpoll Warbler - 6 Black-throated Blue Warbler - 2 males (Humming Tombstone & Gill Overlook) Palm Warbler - "Yellow" Pinetum Pine Warbler - 2 Pinetum Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3 Pinetum Black-throated Green Warbler - female Maintenance Field Scarlet Tanager - male Maintenance Field Northern Cardinal - few, but very vocal in early a.m. Indigo Bunting - Maintenance Field Dickcissel - N. end of ball fields n. of Great Lawn (David Barrett & about half the group)
--
A Palm Warbler and a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, all at the Wildflower Meadow were inadvertently omitted from Friday's list.
Deb Allen Follow us on twitter #BirdingBobNYC & @DAllenNYC
Date: 10/6/18 8:05 am From: zach schwartz-weinstein <zachsw...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: [hmbirds] LECONTE'S SPARROW, Albany Pine Bush Preserve- 10/5
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: trwdsd via Groups.Io <trwdsd=<yahoo.com...> Date: Sat, Oct 6, 2018 at 10:52 AM Subject: Re: [hmbirds] LECONTE'S SPARROW, Albany Pine Bush Preserve- 10/5 To: <hmbirds...> CC: <hmbirds...>
Several groups of birders looked for the sparrow this morning without success as of 10:30a.m. We had a late Indigo Bunting and three Pine Warblers, along with White-crowned Sparrow, Purple Finch, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Roving hordes of juncos and White-throated Sparrows as well.
Tom Williams Colonie _._,_._,_ ------------------------------ Groups.io Links:
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Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, October 5, 2018
at 9 pm.
The highlights of today’s tape are MARBLED and HUDSONIAN GODWITS, BAIRD’S
SANDPIPER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, CONNECTICUT WARBLER, YELLOW-BREASTED
CHAT, LARK and CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS, BLUE GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL and more.
A week of decent variety featured 5 MARBLED GODWITS last weekend on the bar
adjacent to the Coast Guard Station at Jones Beach West End. First noted
there on September 20, their numbers increased to 6 by Tuesday; a single
was also seen last Saturday at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, where 2
HUDSONIAN GODWITS were also present last weekend on the East Pond.
Four WHIMBRELS were still around Fort Tilden last Sunday, while 3 BAIRD’S
SANDPIPERS at Breezy Point’s tip on Saturday dropped to 1 on Sunday.
Up to 4 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS continue with other shorebirds, including
some SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, along Santapogue Creek off Venetian Boulevard
in West Babylon – please be careful not to intrude onto private property
when visiting this area.
A WILSON’S SNIPE was flushed at Floyd Bennett Field last Saturday.
Three CASPIAN TERNS were at Breezy Point last Saturday, with 2 more at
Mecox that day, and 2 appeared at Robert Moses State Park Wednesday, while
the more frequent ROYAL TERNS along the coast included 8 at Brooklyn’s
Plumb Beach last Saturday.
A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was spotted in Central Park Tuesday, and 1 or more
continue at Connetquot River State Park.
Among the passerines, WARBLERS expectedly continue to decline both in
variety and numbers – among the more notable this week were single
CONNECTICUTS in Central Park Saturday and on Governor’s Island Sunday, with
a MOURNING at Floyd Bennett Field Saturday, and early ORANGE-CROWNEDS were
reported from Fort Tilden Sunday and Gardiner’s Park in West Babylon
Thursday. TENNESSEE, CAPE MAY, and BAY-BREASTED WARBLERS are among the
other migrants still being seen, though now the WARBLERS are mostly PALM,
BLACKPOLL, YELLOW-RUMPED and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT. Single YELLOW-BREASTED
CHATS were noted this week in Central Park last Saturday, in Mattituck
Sunday and at Robert Moses State Park Wednesday.
A LARK SPARROW lingered in Central Park’s north end to last Saturday, and
single CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS were noted in Kissena Park in Queens Sunday,
at Floyd Bennett Field on Wednesday, and at Croton Point Park in
Westchester Wednesday. Croton also featured VESPER SPARROW as well as a
DICKCISSEL Thursday, the latter just 1 of several DICKCISSELS noted this
week. Others chronologically included 2 at Fort Tilden and 1 each at
Howard Beach and Robert Moses State Park last Saturday, 1 at Flushing
Meadow Park in Queens Sunday, 1 at Crab Meadow Beach Tuesday, and singles
at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and in Central Park today.
BLUE GROSBEAKS, besides 2 continuing on private property in Manhasset,
included 1 on Fire Island Saturday and 1 out in Orient Thursday.
A small number of PHILADELPHIA VIREOS featured 2 at Robert Moses State Park
last Sunday, that same day also finding a couple of PINE SISKINS moving
by. Several SISKINS and good numbers already of PURPLE FINCHES certainly
raise hopes of a good winter finch movement coming up.
FLYCATCHERS this week included a couple of reports of OLIVE-SIDED plus
various Empidonax species, and also still coming through are the last of
the COMMON NIGHTHAWKS and both BLACK-BILLED and YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOOS as
well as BROAD-WINGED HAWKS. Other notable migrants this week included
YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET,
RUSTY-BLACKBIRD and such arriving SPARROWS as NELSON’S, LINCOLN’S and
WHITE-CROWNED.
To phone in reports, on Long Island call Tony Lauro at (631) 734 4126 or
call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922 and leave a message.
This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the
National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.
Date: 10/5/18 6:34 pm From: Sean Sime <sean...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Kings County Migration highlights
The tail end of morning flight was still evident in Prospect Park at 9:45 this morning with dozens of Blue Jays moving over the long meadow with smaller numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers (YRWA), 2 Purple Finch and an American Pipit. On the ground there were double digits of YRWA and Palm Warblers, but sparrows seemed to have moved in earnest overnight as well. White-throated Sparrows were in all areas of the park. Six Swamp Sparrow, 3 Dark-eyed Junco and singles of Lincoln's and Savannah were located in the area known as the "Sparrow Bowl." Warblers included Cape May, Blackpoll, YRWA, Pine, Palm, Black-throated Blue, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Northern Parula, Magnolia and Common Yellowthroat.
Moving over to Greenwood Cemetery a number of species were feasting on an insect hatch coming from the bark of an American Elm along Sylvan Water. Numbers of Cape May, Blackpoll and YRWA were at times working the trunk of the tree with up to five Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Other highlights included a young Bald Eagle and a Dickcissel both spotted by Josh Malbin.
An eBird checklist with some photos of the warbler frenzy can be seen at this link.
Date: 10/5/18 6:14 pm From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 10/5 - incl. Dickcissel + lots of arrivals
Manhattan, N.Y. City - Friday, Oct. 5th, 2018
A strong migration arrival even with so many birds that had taken a more western path early the previous night, and with many birds having passed by, contiuing southward through the night. A lot of drop-in may have occurred well before first-light, but there was also a moderate a.m. flight, including a bit of the local-reverse (northbound) movement that can happen in Manhattan (and especially as seen in Central Park), in autumn migrations. Some of that flight, as expected, was of Yellow-rumped Warbler, as well as warbler “species” not identified, and of course, American Robins, plus some C. Waxwings & blackbirds. Raptor flight later seemed a bit limited, but at least 1 Broad-winged Hawk passed low over the w. side of Central, and there were some more expected Sharp-shinned & Cooper’s Hawks, & a few Turkey Vultures also. Chimney Swifts were on the move too, some small groups passing high & very early. Early flight was observed at first-light from atop the Great Hill in the park’s n. end, then shortly afterward from all points along the west side of the park, and into the 8-9 a.m. hour, though slacking off a lot by 7:30 or so. Blue Jay movements continued thru the day, but perhaps a little reduced, although that might’ve been only by a change in their flight-path, and some were seen also from Riverside Park much later, in a short visit.
Among the most obvious of fresh arrivals were sparrows, with White-throated in large numbers as well as Chipping, but also a selection of others in their tribe - with E. Towhee, Song, Savannah, Field, Lincoln’s, Swamp, & (several) White-crowned Sparrows, plus Slate-colored Juncos also found. Numbers of Golden-crowned Kinglets arrived, with some mini-flockettes having 7-8 birds; & some additional Winter Wrens as well as Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. A female-plumaged Dickcissel was found on the north side of the Great Lawn’s expanse, close to the (south side) edge of the C.P. Police precinct building, or a bit east of the Pinetum’s northern edge. (Dickcissels have been having quite a run throughout the region, so far this season.)
Warblers also have continued, with as expected the bulk now being found of a half-dozen or so species, esp. Palms, & Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], although still not seeming a massive arrival of the latter. Other warblers included: Pine, N. Parula, Magnolia, Blackpoll, & lower numbers or singletons of Cape May (including 2 at the Pinetum elms early), Tennessee, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, Wilson’s, Yellow, Prairie (1), Chestnut-sided (1), plus Ovenbird, American Redstart, & Common Yellowthroat, and there well could be a couple of other species that have been found in this big push. Flycatchers included (mostly) E. Phoebe, with some E. Wood-Pewees remaining, & a couple of Empidonax [genus] that were likely Least Flycatchers. Thrushes did not seem to be in great no’s. but at least a smattering of the now more-expected start of Hermit Thrush arrival & still fair no’s. of Swainson’s, as well as at least a few Gray-cheeked, & a couple of reports of Veery, which now would be rather late. Icterids have continued to include mainly Common Grackles, including a modest no. of fly-overs in early a.m. - as well as the ongoing Blue Jay movements in daytime, & also in the Icteridae, Rusty Blackbird in a few sites in Central Park, at least. One Baltimore Oriole was all I saw, that in early morning at Summit Rock. Finches included the first serious movement here of American Goldfinch, while by comparison, Purple Finch seemed scant. A Solitary Sandpiper was at the compost area in Central. A Spotted Sandpiper was reported from Governor’s Island, as well as a single Broad-winged Hawk passing there. In Central Park & apparently elsewhere in & around Manhattan, any waterfowl movement was mainly confined to just that - fly-overs & not arrivals. Central still had a few N. Shovelers, the 2 drake Wood Ducks at The Pond, & at least 1 Ruddy Duck, but little more besides the most-expected or resident duckage. A Great Blue Heron has been visiting the Meer at times, & was there again late on Friday.
As expected, some small, even very small, parks & greenspaces have migrants on such a strong arrival, & yet also at least one example of a lingerer, a Worm-eating Warbler staying on at Washington Square Park, with also fresh migrants there, including uncommon-there Golden-crowned Kinglet in an eBirded list for the location. Various other small parks & greenspaces also held lingering birds, as well as some new arrivals, including sparrows, White-throated in particular - the latter also a regularly-wintering bird in N.Y. City and many of these in small areas as well as larger patches of habitat. A small number of other warbler species have been noted from parks around Manhattan in addition to the larger ones, and I found a few also in a rather short trip to Riverside Park, in mid-afternoon - Blackpoll, Yellow-rumped, Palm, & Common Yellowthroat, all from near W. 79th to near W. 91st Sts. in that park.
A reminder for Central Park: any & all amplified sound in Central Park is prohibited at all times & in all sections of the park, without a permit. This is posted on signage throughout the park - and is the law.
- - - - - -
"I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good."
― Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Date: 10/5/18 1:45 pm From: Richard Fried <rfried...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Linnaean Society of NY Program, Tuesday, October 9th, American Museum of Natural History, NYC
On Tuesday, October 9th, the Linnaean Society of New York's 2018-2019 Speaker Program will feature two new presentations:
6:00 pm - A Birding Miscellany - Patrick Baglee
After spending three years birding in New York City, Patrick Baglee has spent the last two years living and birding in northern California. He will show films and sketches made during birding trips locally in the South Bay of San Francisco, and farther afield on trips to Hawaii and Texas. Covering species in each of the three states, and one or two more unusual occurrences typical of the Bay area in spring and autumn, Patrick will offer a whistle-stop tour of his birding experiences over the last 18 months, and in particular, will describe his efforts to see, as well as hear, two of North America's more secretive rail species.
Patrick Baglee, a member of the Linnaean Society of New York, has spoken previously to the Society on the subject of Dr. E.R.P. Janvrin's contribution to the Society and ornithology in general in New York State.
7:30 pm - Current and Projected Effects of Climate Change on Boreal Habitats and Birds of the Adirondacks - Joan Collins
Boreal forests are especially sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. Using current research and personal observations, Joan Collins will offer insights on wildlife changes occurring in boreal habitats of New York's Adirondacks primarily as a result of climate change. The focus will be on boreal species such as Black-backed Woodpecker, Olive-sided and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Canada Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Bicknell's Thrush, Lincoln's Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, and Blackpoll and Palm Warblers, among others, and their high and low elevation habitats. Her presentation will utilize photographs, video, and audio of these iconic species of the Adirondacks (and a few mammal species too!).
Joan Collins leads birding trips year-round, is a New York State licensed guide, an Adirondack 46er, and has climbed all the Adirondack fire tower peaks. She is a past President of the New York State Ornithological Association and current Editor of New York Birders.
-----------------------
Both presentations are free and will be held in the Linder Theater on the first floor of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (enter at West 77th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue).
All welcome!
Complete details of these exciting presentations and the rest of the 2018-2019 program can be found here:
Date: 10/5/18 12:59 pm From: zach schwartz-weinstein <zachsw...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Fwd: [hmbirds] LECONTE'S SPARROW, Albany Pine Bush Preserve- 10/5
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: trwdsd via Groups.Io <trwdsd=<yahoo.com...>
Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2018 at 2:07 PM
Subject: [hmbirds] LECONTE'S SPARROW, Albany Pine Bush Preserve- 10/5
To: <hmbirds...>
CC: <hmbirds...>
I saw what I believe was a LeConte's Sparrow at the Albany Pine Bush
parking lot this morning. I watched it pop up onto a low split rail fence,
facing me, fifty feet away. I walked back to try to flank the bird, and got
a decent profile view for a few seconds before it flushed. It landed on a
curb and walked into the tall bluestem grass. It had distinctive ochre from
the throat that streaked into the clean white breast and underparts. There
were a few fine dark streaks on the flanks. The face seemed to be ochre as
well, with a thin line behind the eye. It also had clearly yellowish-flesh
(not pinkish) legs. I knew instantly that it was a species I hadn't seen
before. The only other possibility would be GRSP, but I think I've seen
enough of them to rule that out. Nelson’s would have been even more
orange-faced and more heavily streaked.
The bird was seen within the perimeter of the parking lot at the Discovery
Center building at 195 New Karner Rd
<https://maps.google.com/?q=195+New+Karner+Rd&entry=gmail&source=g>. The
habitat surrounding the lot is restored grassland habitat including Big
bluestem, Little bluestem, and Indian grass. When I arrived this morning
dozens of sparrows were moving around the area, mostly Chipping and
White-throated. Bird-banding operations throughout the morning turned up a
high diversity of species, but no rarities. I'm putting the word out so
other interested parties can investigate if they wish. Please be aware that
the parking lot is a busy place, and bushwhacking there is only allowed for
staff conducting work projects.
Tom Williams
Colonie
_._,_._,_
------------------------------
Groups.io Links:
Date: 10/5/18 8:10 am From: Larry Trachtenberg <Trachtenberg...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Croton Point
It is sparrow season at the Point. Reliable reports from the landfill of clay colored, dickcissel, and a photographed vesper in the last 2 days. I have seen none, but as a consolation did hear two screech owls in separate parts of the park whinnying yesterday morning.
Date: 10/5/18 4:19 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 10/1-2-3-4
Worthy of mention to this list, unless I missed a report here, is the NY harbor (from Staten Island / Richmond County, NY) Brown BOOBY sighting with video taken by J. Ramirez-Garofalo, on Tuesday mid-morning, Oct. 2nd - see: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S48896928
- -
Not NY state, but not too far away, a ROCK Wren is among the latest of western passerine rarities to turn up in the northeast, this in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania & seen by many on Oct. 3rd & 4th.
- -
In New York County - & on Governor’s Island, the 200th species of bird documented for that particular location came Sunday, Sept. 30th - Pectoral Sandpiper, nicely photo’d by Cathy Weiner.
--
Manhattan - Mon.-Thursday, 1-4th Oct. 2018:
Monday, 10/1 - A small sign of the new month, 8 Ruddy Ducks on the Central Park reservoir; many Chimney Swifts in various areas of Manhattan (also massing in large flocks around the nearby region); Blackpoll Warblers are among the migrant species showing up in some of the smaller parks & greenspaces around Manhattan.
Tues., 10/2 - Red-headed Woodpecker, seen by the leader & part of the group for A.M.N.H. bird-walk; a fly-over in early morning. Yellow-billed Cuckoo was found as was a rather late Yellow-throated Vireo (these also continuing the next day), these two migrants noted on the walk led for the Linnaean Society of New York by Richard Leiberman, & with many other obs. A Blue Jay flight in good numbers continued apace with 400+ trying to get over the high bldgs. near C.P. South at noon, and swirling about the s. end of Central Park then eventually most going SW instead of due south, which is more the heading they’d eventually need. Also, 175+ going south over Ft. Tryon Park even later, this all on a day with winds from the southwest.
Still present in Central Park alone were these warblers: Nashville, Northern Parula (multiple; not many), Magnolia (multiple; not many), Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], Black-throated Green (multiple; not many), Pine, Palm (multiple, not that many - & of both forms), Blackpoll (multiple, not that many), Black-and-white Warbler[s], plus American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush (at least 2), & Common Yellowthroat - 14 species, & perhaps a few other late stragglers. A slight uptick in Yellow-bellied Sapsucker numbers; whilst fewer of Flickers. A very slight uptick in Chipping & White-throated Sparrow no’s. but still not the big arrivals. While Swainson’s was still the most commonly seen of migrant thrushes, some Gray-cheeked Thrush also have been observed; & a few reports of Hermit Thrush. A few N. Shovelers appeared (again) in Central, & were continuing the next day.
Wed., 10/3 - A front came through overnight rather late, after some showers passed mainly north of NYC late the previous day. Despite a warm day, the wind from the N/NW, & a modest showing of raptors including several Bald Eagles & both Sharp-shinned & Cooper’s Hawks. The strong Blue Jay movements of late continued, with many hundreds, perhaps over 1,000, going by as seen from several vantage points thru the day. A moderately late Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was at the n.w. side of the Great Lawn. An Indigo Bunting was at the N. end’s “knoll”, and another Indigo Bunting was seen in Riverside Park near day’s end. A walk around the reservoir revealed a Lincoln’s Sparrow skulking in plantings on the north outer permiter. A single Ruddy Duck was at the reservoir’s eastern portion. There were still a number of E. Wood-Pewees, some of the many E. Phoebes apparently having moved on. Small parks & green-spaces again had some migrants, although not great numbers of them. A getting-late-now Common Nighthawk was reported by J. Wooten at around 5 p.m. from Central Park.
Thursday, 10/4 - Some migration the previous night, & at least a modest early-morning showing at the n. end of Central Park, from its highest point, with 14 Y.-s. Flickers, 3 E. Phoebes, 2 R.-e. Vireos, 50+ Blue Jays, 2 R.-b. Nuthatches, 2 Baltimore Orioles, 8 Common Grackles, & 2 Purple Finches, as well as 15+ individual warblers including a few recognized in flight as either Palm or Yellow-rumped Warblers. Also in the air in the 15-minute period just as sun was rising were 22+ Ch. Swifts. In the n. woods were 3 Brown Thrashers, 4 Swainson’s Thrushes, 2 Scarlet Tanagers, and in various areas in the n. end were 6 N. Parulas, 1 Nashville, 2 Black-throated Green, 3 Magnolia, 1 Blackpoll, & 6+ Myrtle Warblers, plus 2 Ovenbirds & 4 or 5 Common Yellowthroats. A modest movement of these species seemed to have occurred here: White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, & some sparrows including White-throated & Savannah, as well as E. Towhee. Additionally, are reports of Black-and-white Warbler from a number of smaller parks. There also may have been some movement by Red-bellied Woodpecker, based on just a few of my sightings where I don’t know them to be resident, & a few reports.
I visited Governor’s Island at mid-day, via the 8-minute boat ride from the southern tip Manhattan, & while I was more focused there on insect-observing (esp. butterflies, these including uncommon for this county Variergated Fritillary, and Common Checkered-Skipper each in the multiple, & 9 other spp.), there were some migrants around. None of the birds I noticed were remarkable, but several Blackpolls in the farthest south (picnic point) area of trees were interesting, there mixing with Palm & Yellow-rumped Warblers & a few sparrow species. In the Nolan Park area, closer to the ferry dock, were some other migranst such as N. Parula & Magnolia Warbler, as well as many flickers, and Y-b. Sapsuckers; a few Red-breasted Nuthatches were also in several locations on the island, as were Common Yellowthroats. I checked out the shore rocks & some puddles, but did not come up with birds of note in the quick scanning of these areas.
A later return to Central Park, & a look in part of Riverside Park at day’s end, were just modestly productive for a few more migrants.
- - - - -
"Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good?” - Rachel Carson (1907-1964; marine biologist, conservationist, author whose books include ‘Silent Spring’. Sir David Attenborough has remarked that that book may have had an effect on science second only to Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”.)
- Transcript Hotline: Buffalo Bird Report at the Buffalo Museum of Science Date: 10/04/2018 Number: 716-896-1271 To Report: Same Compiler: David F. Suggs Coverage: Western New York and adjacent Ontario Website: www.BuffaloOrnithologicalSociety.org
Thursday, October 4, 2018
The Buffalo Bird Report is a service provided by your Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society. To contact the Science Museum, call 896-5200. Press the pound key to report sightings before the end of this report.
Highlights of reports late September through early October from the Niagara Frontier Region.
Back on September 24, an unexpected location for a rare CLAY-COL. SPARROW, Times Beach Nature Preserve on the Buffalo waterfront.
September 29, a FORSTER'S TERN on Lake Erie at Dunkirk Harbor. Also, LESSER SCAUP in the harbor.
In Buffalo, a single BRANT has been residing at Black Rock Canal Park on the upper Niagara River. And a CACKLING GOOSE, first found at the Erie Basin Marina, was relocated at nearby LaSalle Park on September 30.
Shorebirds appear to have tapered down to SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, KILLDEER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS and SOLITARY SANDPIPER on the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario. In the Iroquois Refuge area, at the marsh at Griswold Road and Route 77 on September 28, six shorebird species - SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, SEMIPALM. SANDPIPER, LEAST SANDPIPER and WILSON'S SNIPE.
Landbird migrants were on the move October 3. Thirty-five species at Golden Hill State Park, on Lake Ontario in Niagara County, included YELLOW-B. SAPSUCKER, PILEATED WOODPECKER, NORTHERN FLICKER, EASTERN PHOEBE, BLUE-HEADED VIREO, RED-BR. NUTHATCH, WINTER WREN, GOLDEN- CR. KINGLET, RUBY-CR. KINGLET, GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, SWAINSON'S THRUSH, GRAY CATBIRD, PURPLE FINCH, abundant WHITE-THR. SPARROWS, BLACKPOLL WARBLER and BL.-THR. GREEN WARB.
Also by Lake Ontario, in a Wilson yard, HOODED WARBLER and ORANGE-CR. WARBLER, plus BLACKPOLL WARBLER, BAY-BREASTED WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER and TENNESSEE WARBLER.
You may report sightings after the tone. Thank you for calling and reporting.
Date: 10/4/18 6:03 am From: matt klein <matt.klein...> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Yellow-Billed Magpie in Great Neck today
Folks I am getting reports that the original photo was from California. While that is surely more plausible than the bird showing up well out of range, I need to get more information from the original sighter. Needless to say that this new information puts the original post’s veracity in doubt. Nonetheless, I have called my friend who reported it and he is sticking by his story.
I just want everyone to know that I didn’t take reporting the bird lightly and had a long conversation with my friend before reporting explaining how implausible it would be to see this species here in NY. More to come.
... to be continued.
On Oct 3, 2018, at 9:36 PM, Kevin J. McGowan <kjm2...><mailto:<kjm2...>> wrote:
Well, that's clearly a Yellow-billed Magpie. I'd say the chance of it being a wild vagrant is about zero. A nonmigratory species, separated by mountains and thousands of miles, turning up here is extremely unlikely.
JMHO
Kevin
Kevin J. McGowan, Ph.D.
Project Manager
Distance Learning in Bird Biology
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
<kjm2...><mailto:<kjm2...> 607-254-2452
My buddy, Dan Galimidi observed and photographed a yellow-billed magpie sitting on a telephone wire in Great Neck today between 3 and 4 PM. A link to the photo posted to Facebook is here.
It would be extremely out of range if it was in fact a wild bird. The species seems to only be found in a small area in California. Reporting it here to see is anyone else has seen it or has any ideas how it would have gotten here.
Date: 10/3/18 6:36 pm From: Kevin J. McGowan <kjm2...> Subject: Re:[nysbirds-l] Yellow-Billed Magpie in Great Neck today
Well, that's clearly a Yellow-billed Magpie. I'd say the chance of it being a wild vagrant is about zero. A nonmigratory species, separated by mountains and thousands of miles, turning up here is extremely unlikely.
JMHO
Kevin
Kevin J. McGowan, Ph.D.
Project Manager
Distance Learning in Bird Biology
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
<kjm2...>
607-254-2452
________________________________
From: <bounce-122962335-3714916...> <bounce-122962335-3714916...> on behalf of matt klein <matt.klein...>
Sent: Wednesday, October 3, 2018 8:57 PM
To: NYSBIRDS-L
Cc: <danielmgalimidi...>
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Yellow-Billed Magpie in Great Neck today
My buddy, Dan Galimidi observed and photographed a yellow-billed magpie sitting on a telephone wire in Great Neck today between 3 and 4 PM. A link to the photo posted to Facebook is here.
It would be extremely out of range if it was in fact a wild bird. The species seems to only be found in a small area in California. Reporting it here to see is anyone else has seen it or has any ideas how it would have gotten here.
Date: 10/3/18 5:57 pm From: matt klein <matt.klein...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Yellow-Billed Magpie in Great Neck today
My buddy, Dan Galimidi observed and photographed a yellow-billed magpie sitting on a telephone wire in Great Neck today between 3 and 4 PM. A link to the photo posted to Facebook is here.
It would be extremely out of range if it was in fact a wild bird. The species seems to only be found in a small area in California. Reporting it here to see is anyone else has seen it or has any ideas how it would have gotten here.
Date: 10/3/18 2:04 pm From: Joel Horman <jlhorman...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Western Kingbirds, LI North Fork
Two Western Kingbirds were seen at Hallock State Park Preserve, in Laurel, Riverhead area, halfway down the entrance road, actively foraging and flitting between the tree line and the high fencing, at about 12:15 today. Not seen again when we returned about one-half hour later, but possibly still around.
Date: 10/1/18 12:25 pm From: Peter Reisfeld <DrPinky...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] clay colored sparrow Kissena Park, Queens
A clay colored sparrow was found yesterday at Kissena park along the meadow paths west of the velodrome. It was reported on the Twitter’s Queens bird alert and entered on Ebirds. However it has not appeared on the ebird alerts either yesterday or today (possibly as it is not considered unusual enough for Kissena??). Nevertheless I thought some may wish to know, in case they’d still like to look for it. Here is a link to the ebird list:
Greetings: This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week on September 24, 2018
Highlights:
EURASIAN WIGEON
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
PHILADELPHIA VIREO
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH
NELSON’S SPARROW
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC)
------------
Shorebird numbers were down to 12 at the complex this week. No different species were seen elsewhere either. Warbler species were good at Montezuma and elsewhere this week. LINCOLN’S SPARROW is being seen at many locations also.
Shorebirds seen at Montezuma this week:
WILSON’S SNIPE
KILLDEER
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
LEAST SANDPIPER
9/27: A NELSON’S SPARROW was seen along the Wildlife Drive.
9/30: An EURASIAN WIGEON was see along the Wildlife Drive.
Onondaga County
------------
9/28: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen at Three Rivers WMA north of Baldwiinsville.
9/29: A GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH was seen at the ESF campus in Syracuse.
Oswego County
------------
9/27: 7 AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVERS were seen at the outlet of Sandy Pond on Lake Ontario.
Herkimer County
------------
9/28: A GREAT EGRET was seen near the Mohawk River in Little Falls.
Date: 10/1/18 11:26 am From: Sy Schiff <icterus...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Santapogue creek, West Babylon and Venetian Shores Park
Joe Giunta and I (Sy Schiff) went south on Venetian Blvd to Shore Pl. on the left. We parked at bit further on and viewed the island from the street (Please keep off the properties and be good neighbors). The island was covered with shorebirds. To see our target bird, we had to walk back to Shore place and down to the end. We looked at the feeding birds in the water on the back of the island, These birds were not visible from Venetian Blvd. Some of the birds flew across to the marsh edge across the water giving a longer but better light to view. Seen:--65 Greater yellowlegs, 15 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Long-billed Dowitchers, 3+ short-billed Dowitchers.
We then drove further south to Venetian shores Park. We walked to the edge at the extreme left and around to the left. Every poles in the water in front of the first house was a Royal Tern, 12 in all. Most had bright yellow bills. Young of the year. I doubt an Elegent Tern, but I’m going to look at the pictures.
Sy.
Date: 10/1/18 9:29 am From: Andrew Block <ablock22168...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Scarsdale birds
Had a Nashville Warbler and another Red-breasted Nuthatch at my friends home on Old Army Rd. in Scarsdale. Also still having Red-breasteds and hummers at my home in Yonkers.
Andrew
Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist
20 Hancock Avenue, Apt. 3
Yonkers, Westchester Co., New York 10705-4629
www.flickr.com/photos/conuropsis/albums
--
Date: 10/1/18 4:10 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, NYC 9/29-30 - migration
Just a note that a few western-region migrants were recorded this Sunday in eastern Massachusets - Say’s Phoebe, Black-throated Gray Warbler, & Lark Bunting (each in separate locations).
——
Manhattan (& all N.Y. County), N.Y. City
Sat., 9/29 -
Strong migration the preceding night, allowing many birds to move on - and many new arrivals to come in. However, one nice bird stayed around, the LARK SPARROW that had been discovered on Thursday, 9/27. It was again seen at the area just south of the Meer, offically called “Nutter’s Battery”, an historical name. A good flight of Purple Finch took place, and at least 2 Pine Siskins showed rather briefly at the southern tip of Manhattan’s Battery Park. Purple Finch are also appearing in modest numbers at Central Park, & a few were in Riverside Park as well, in the northern section near W. 112 St.; a very good flight of Purple Finch was also reported city & region-wide this day. Most Pine Siskin reports are still from farther north, so far.
A Connecticut Warbler was found, apparently just the 2nd to be photographed in Central Park so far this fall, in the Ramble, near a small wooden rustic shelter known as the Summerhouse. There was also a single report of Yellow-breasted Chat, w/good descriptive notes, from the area w. of Tanner’s Spring, this near W. 82 St. & Central Park West.
At Battery Park in lower Manhattan, there was a modest a.m. flight seen, which included at least 65 Blue Jays, 16 Yellow-shafted Flickers, & 160+ Common Grackles. There were also Red-eyed Vireos and other small birds passing thru & amongst the treetops, this activity all continuing to at least 8:15 a.m. - & almost all of the movement observed from east to west, or southeast to northwest. That meant that some birds were moving “up” along the edges of the Hudson river entrance, & along the plantings & trees of the greenspaces northwest & north of the Battery. American Robins were also in the area, but their early movements appeared, rather than random, associated with getting from available fruits to other trees & shrubs with potentially ripe fruit. In looking at the warblers, a number of which stayed in Battery Park during the time I was there, it seemed that Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] were the species that moved along most, and were - like many of the other migrants - coming from what seemed to be the south end of the East river, or at least, from the east, then as they passed around the skyscrapers at the southern end of Manhattan, making a turn to the NW, thus bringing them past the Battery & potentially to and along the greenway that lines the Hudson river (or farther). After looking in the Battery, I did venture part-way into the greenway, & did find some of these same species: Yellow-shafted Flickers, Red-eyed Vireos, Myrtle Warblers, many Blue Jays, and some other migrants. (One that I thought a possible migrant, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, this also poss. a resident there but I think not.) A Great Egret was still in this area, now having moved to a point in Battery Park City park, a bit north of prior site.
A Worm-eating Warbler continued what’s becoming an extended stay at Washington Square Park in Manhattan’s West Village neighborhood. Other lower & mid Manhattan smaller parks had some migrants, but seemingly not all that many or in notable diversity.
In Central Park, still quite nice diversity, although as expected, most warbler species larger no's are dropping off, as sparrows start to come in. Besides the highlight noted above for Central, other warblers there included: Blackburnian (at least 2), Nashville, N. Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], Black-throated Green, Pine, Palm (most common species now), Blackpoll (multiple, but not that many), Black-and-white & Wilson’s Warbler[s], American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, & Common Yellowthroat - thus still at least 20 warbler spp. on Manhattan island for the day, with the 2 individual spp. highlighted above. 6 Ruddy Ducks arrived on the reservoir. Other species around the park included Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Turkey Vulture (modest no. of fly-overs), Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Gadwall, American Black Duck, Osprey (a few flyo-vers), Bald Eagle (several fly-overs), Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned & Cooper's Hawks, Red-tailed Hawk, Ring-billed Gull, [American] Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Mourning Dove, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Black-billed & Yellow-billed Cuckoos (more than one of each), Chimney Swift (modest no’s.), Ruby-throated Hummingbird (at least several feeding), Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (still modest no’s.), Downy & Hairy Woodpecker[s], Yellow-shafted Flicker (many scattered thru park), Eastern Wood-Pewee (relatively few), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (2), Least Flycatcher (several), Empidonax [genus] Flycatchers (several unid. to species), Eastern Phoebe (still modest no’s.), Great Crested Flycatcher (at least 2, slightly late), Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo (multiple), Blue Jay (in numbers, also throughout Manhattan), American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee (2), Tufted Titmouse (few), Red-breasted Nuthatch (7 or 8), White-breasted Nuthatch (multiple), Brown Creeper, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Winter Wren, Ruby-crowned Kinglet (several), Gray-cheeked/Bicknell's Thrush (several or more of these, none vocalized), Swainson's Thrush multiple), Wood Thrush (few), American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Cedar Waxwing (low numbers), Scarlet Tanager (at least several), Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow (still very modest no’s.), Savannah Sparrow (3), Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow (still cant no’s.), Swamp Sparrow (few), White-throated Sparrow (still low no’s.), Dark-eyed Junco (1 in s. end of park), Northern Cardinal, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (fewer), Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird (at least several), Baltimore Oriole (several), and likely a few additional species, among them a surprise Barred Owl which was first found very early in the morning.
Sun., 9/30 -
A similar night preceding of light n. wind, shifting out of the n.e. a bit. On Governor’s Island, which is politically part of New York County but stands about 1/2 mile or so from the southern tip of Manhattan, in eastern NY harbor, a Connecticut Warbler was found by A. Barry, who had an impressive list of many other birds for the morning, with 50 additional species noted, & among other warblers a now-late Canada, & strong showing of Blackpoll (13), the latter corresponding well to other reports in the region; the report also included many Flickers (60), and Eastern Phoebes (36) both as noted elsewhere in numbers on Sunday. Both Kinglet species, & Brown Creepers were also in Ms. Barry’s report to eBird.
Central Park - A good variety, some uncommon species but perhaps none rare for the season, with Philadelphia Vireo and Marsh Wren among these; some change-over was noted and probably a slight diminution in overall diversity from just the day before. As to warblers, still in some variety, but increasingly dominated by just a few species, Palm above all, with Yellow-rumped in early a.m. movement, as is typical.
I took in Central for a while and then, seeing a rather strong movement of Flickers on (esp.) the west side of the park (although many, as well as some other species were flying in from east to west), I carried on to nearby areas, firstly along Morningside Park’s upper edge on Morningside Drive, with good views of sky looking to the east, and somewhat to south & north; then to a few parks just north, & while still somewhat early, to Riverbank State Park which juts into the Hudson River less than 2 miles north of the NW corner of Central Park. In this little circuit, I took in a strong flight of Y.-s. Flickers, as well as Blue Jays, and also numbers of Common Grackle, American Robins, and, while not that often seen in diurnal flight in Manhattan, what appeared to be just that for E. Phoebe - with a few seen actually dropping quickly from open blue sky, and nervously seeking quick perches, including, briefly, two that came onto a railing at the w. edge of Riverbank S.P. where it is barely filled with plantings; those 2 birds soon made it to a stand of trees. Additionally, there was at least a light movement of finch spp. with some easily ID’d as American Goldfinch (about 18) and a similar number of Purple Finches, those in 2 small groups, flying by the latter park, low, & giving distintive calls. It seemed that generally, thrush sightings were not that numerous & of those I found, I came up with some Swainson’s and 1 Gray-cheeked type. I later returned to Central Park, as well as a later look in a few midtown parks & ended the bird-y day in Riverside Park. All the parks I visited had some migrants & all at had at least some E. Phoebe[s] this day. One other small additional note, at Morningside Park in the morning, as the Flicker movement was at high strength, I saw & heard a Hairy Woodpecker, also moving along; a Red-bellied Woodpecker also got caught up with the flickers, but soon came in looping flight back to near where it had jumped into the fray. My impression of this, the Hairy may have also been moving along, while the Red-bellied there may not have; hard to say for sure, though. Watching morning-flight migrations at Manhattan island can be interesting, &/but also a bit different to watching such from a barrier-beach location.
- -
A belated note, to this list, and from a restricted-access location in any case, 2 Red Phalaropes were photographed by observer S. Camillieri on 9/25 at Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers, Westchester Co. - for those not familiar, this is NOT on Long Island Sound; these were almost certainly plopped into that reservoir in a strong rainstorm that day. They’ve not been reported there again; this record is in eBird, as is the Sabine’s Gull photographed that same day by J. Weeks, at Dorchester Park in Broome Co.- that gull also apparently not seen again there or in nearby sites checked. These the same day as the fantastic sighting of a N. Fulmar from land, at the Riis park beach on the Rockaway peninsula of Queens Co., as well as lots of other birds of interest reported from (& some on) land, off Long Island’s Atlantic barrier beaches.
—
An interesting note on the Great Black Hawk which many will be aware had visited coastal Maine in early August; this has been determined through analysis of feather patterns to be the same individual as was found in south Texas back in April this year.
— — —
“Knowing what must be done does away with fear” - Rosa Parks [1913-2005], American civil-rights activist
Date: 9/29/18 8:19 am From: Pepaul <pepaul...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Baird’s Sandpipers + Breezy Point Queens
There continue to be two Baird’s Sandpipers near the jetty on the beach side at Breezy Point.
Also of note:
1 Surf Scoter (bay)
1 White-winged Scoter (bay)
2 White-Rumped Sandpiper
3 or more Caspian Terns
8 or more Royal Terns
4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls
2 Common Raven
Date: 9/28/18 7:22 pm From: goshwk <goshwk...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Marbled Godwit, Smiths Point County Park, Suffolk County
A single Marbled Godwit found along the Ocean front on Smiths Point . County Park at approximately 4:53 PM Friday afternoon. The bird was feeding solo and with Black-bellied Plovers. Re-found on my return trip at 6:40 PM from Moriches Inlet in same area but with Sanderling. Cut 1 is the opening of Burma Road onto the Beach just east of the Camper site.
Some iPhone photos have been submitted to my E-Bird list.
On a side note, 29 Lesser Black-backed Gulls found along Ocean from Old Inlet to Cut 3 at Smiths Point County Park. Included in that 29 are 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the Smiths Point County Park Parking lot.
40 Royal Terns and 25 Black Skimmers also at Old Inlet.
Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, September 28,
2018 at 8 pm.
The highlights of today’s tape are NORTHERN FULMAR, RED PHALAROPE,
CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW, MANX and other SHEARWATERS, POMARINE JAEGER,
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, BAIRD’S SANDPIPER, CERULEAN,
YELLOW-THROATED and CONNECTICUT WARBLERS, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, LARK and
CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS and DICKCISSEL.
The storm Tuesday that produced very heavy rains also provided some
interesting birds locally.
A sea watch conducted at Riis Park Tuesday morning was highlighted by a
NORTHERN FULMAR passing well offshore, other notables including 2 GREAT
SHEARWATERS and 3 PARASITIC JAEGERS.
Two RED PHALAROPES also dropped down Tuesday onto Hillview Reservoir in
Yonkers, where they were nicely photographed. Unfortunately this
reservoir, part of the NYC water supply, is not open to visitors.
Off Robert Moses State Park on Fire Island Tuesday there were 1 MANX, 10
CORY’S and 5 GREAT SHEARWATERS, 11 NORTHERN GANNETS and a PARASITIC
JAEGER.
A watch off Sagg Main Beach in Sagaponack that morning produced 72 CORY’S,
3 GREAT, 1 late SOOTY and 4 MANX SHEARWATERS, 26 NORTHERN GANNETS, 10
PARASITIC JAEGERS and an immature BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE. The latter was
not the first KITTIWAKE locally this fall, with another immature
photographed off Fort Tilden last Saturday.
Another watch Tuesday from Old Inlet just west of Smith Point Park recorded
25 CORY’S and 2 GREAT SHEARWATERS, a PARASITIC JAEGER and 60 ROYAL TERNS.
And also eye-opening on Tuesday were gatherings of LESSER BLACK-BACKED
GULLS along Long Island’s south shore, with 61 counted both at Jones Beach
West End Field 2 and at Robert Moses State Park and another 60 noted at Old
Inlet. Most of these were well dispersed the next morning.
A POMARINE JAEGER was spotted off Great Gull Island last Sunday, and today
Jones Beach Field 6 netted a GREAT SHEARWATER, a PARASITIC JAEGER and 3
CASPIAN TERNS.
Shorebirds this week featured an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER at Fort Tilden
Saturday, 1 or 2 BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS at Breezy Point last weekend, and 3
HUDSONIAN GODWITS on the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Monday
along with 6 STILT and 3 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS, 2 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS and
a CASPIAN TERN.
Five WHIMBRELS were at Fort Tilden last Saturday and again Thursday, and 6
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS continue at Santapogue Creek in West Babylon.
A CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW was a great find in the Ramble in Central Park last
Saturday, and the week there provided a number of other good sightings as
well, including a male CERULEAN WARBLER from last Friday into Saturday, a
CONNECTICUT WARBLER and a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW last Sunday, a
YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT on Wednesday, and at the north end a LARK SPARROW
Thursday and today and a DICKCISSEL today.
Other species this week in Central and other regional parks have included
both YELLOW-BILLED and BLACK-BILLED CUCKOOS, PHILADELPHIA VIREO, LINCOLN’S
SPARROW, PURPLE FINCH, and a decent variety of WARBLERS including
TENNESSEE, BAY-BREASTED, CAPE MAY, WORM-EATING, and WILSON’S.
A YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER was quite a surprise at the Grumman grasslands
complex in Calverton last Saturday.
Another DICKCISSEL was at Robert Moses State Park last Saturday, and a LARK
SPARROW was spotted at Floyd Bennett Field Sunday.
A CACKLING GOOSE at Bay County Park in East Rockaway Sunday was somewhat
early.
Two RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were still in Connetquot River State Park last
Sunday.
A nice flight of over 5,000 BROAD-WINGED HAWKS passed over the Greenwich
Audubon hawk watch last Saturday, heading into Westchester.
To phone in reports, on Long Island call Tony Lauro at (631) 734 4126 or
call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922 and leave a message.
This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the
National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.
Date: 9/28/18 4:50 pm From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/26-27-28 (incl. Lark Sparrow+)
Wed., 9/26 - On a very humid, ultimately warm summer-like day, a Yellow-breasted CHAT was found at Strawberry Fields early in the morning; the bird-walk group with the AMNH (American Museum of Natural History) leader were able to see this as well. Modest numbers of migrants were all about the park, but in scattered areas. 4 N. Shovelers were seen at the Meer; those have continued as well to 9/28 at the Meer; I photo’d just one of that species at the reservoir the day before, 9/25.
Thursday, 9/27 - A cold front, arriving just slightly interrupted by showers, came through overnight & in N.Y.C. as day broke. A LARK SPARROW (in nice bright plumage) was discovered by Nadir Sourgi by the compost area in the park’s n.e. section; much later in the day, it was again seen on a fairly nearby area known as “Nutter’s Battery”, an historical place-name & just south of the Meer. At least 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo was at the park’s n. end.
Friday, 9/28 - Yet more rain the night before, much of it heavy and lasting into the first hours of daylight, with winds turning from the east, then from a more northerly direction. The LARK SPARROW was re-found, again at the compost area in the park’s n.e. quadrant, this location is due west, & uphill from the Conservatory Garden, & can be accessed via the park’s East Drive. Additionally, in the vicinity, a DICKCISSEL was spotted by T. Zahner at the butterfly plantings on what birders locally call the “grassy knoll”, a low rise just north of the n.-e. corner of the North Meadow ballfields; that area & a few others also had Purple Finches feeding.
Flycatchers have diminshed, but E. Wood-Pewee is still being found, along with now-expected E. Phoebe, & a very few Empidonax, most appearing to be Least Flycatcher now. Thrushes were also diminished but Wood & Swainson’s, along with likely Gray-cheeked Thrush all were found; there were sight-reports by some other birders for Hermit Thrush in a couple of places, but I was unable to find these. Rose-breasted Grosbeaks also have diminished a bit, but are still in scattered locations & as is usual, some taking the seeds of the impatiens known as Orange Jewelweed, or “touch-me-not”, the lingering flowers of which also still gather in a Ruby-throated Hummingbird or two.
Around some of the rock outcrops of the N. Meadow ballfields, there were a small number of sparrows, including Song, Chipping, & (at least 2) Savannah, as well as over a dozen Palm Warblers. Elsewhere, some Swamp and White-throated Sparrows were seen but not in any great number; a small additional number of Chipping Sparrows as well. Thru the park, migrants, including warblers, were quite scattered, with warbler species that included Nashville, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle], Black-throated Green, Pine, Prairie, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, & Wilson's Warbler[s], plus American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, & Common Yellowthroat, totaling at least 18 species, with Palm, although most, besides the latter, appeared at all numerous in any one location, & some I spotted, such as Cape May & N. Waterthrush were seen singly. The migrant activity ranged patchily from near the Meer, the Great Hill, & on south through the park’s south end. 3 Wood Ducks were at The Pond this day. Red-breasted Nuthatches have continued with up to a half-dozen or more in such locations as the Pinetum, even with all the commotion due to the massive event to take place on Sat., 9/29, & the ongoing prep. for that at the Great Lawn. (Access to some areas there may be restricted on that day.) Blue Jays continued a huge flight, seen daily in large numbers and in some other parts of Manhattan, in diurnal migration in droves; this is a widespread, well-reported phenomena of recent.
There had been an earlier report, from 9/23 of a male Summer Tanager in Central Park’s Ramble. Monarch butterflies have continued a great showing all through this month, as they migrate southwest towards central Mexico.
- - - - -
“Knowing what must be done does away with fear” - Rosa Parks [1913-2005], American civil-rights activist
Date: 9/28/18 1:10 pm From: Steve Walter <swalter15...> Subject: RE:[nysbirds-l] Jones Beach Sea Watching
I went down to Jones Beach in mid-morning, hoping for a hawk flight on the post-rain north wind. First, I swung through West End 2 to see a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. I guess that's a thing still, even though they're so expected. A glance out toward the ocean revealed a lot of activity, including the look of a jaeger-like chase. But that's a long way out from that lot. With no real indication of hawks starting up, I changed course and went over to the closer to the ocean Field 6 to focus seaward. Despite getting into the latter part of the morning and the wind north for a while already, I was lucky enough to see a close in Parasitic Jaeger, easily visible even from the parking lot, and a Great Shearwater. 3 Caspian Terns later flew by together. Even by 1:00, the hawks never really got going, as the weather didn't quite improve as fast as hoped for. Surprisingly, a Bald Eagle was one of the very few.
Another beach note is the Forster's Tern gathering again this year at Gilgo Beach. Maybe not something most would go out of the way for, but a nice spectacle if you're passing by.
Date: 9/28/18 7:30 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] September migrant Hermit Thrush (NYC, & elsewhere) +BBBO banding data
Pat & all,
Thanks to Andrea Patterson & you for passing along the trove of BBBO banding data. While this establishes a lot of recent-era September records for Hermit Thrush at Braddock Bay, on Lake Ontario, it may or may not reflect closely on the apparent paucity of Sept. records of the species in far-southeast NY, esp. in N.Y. City & the 2 Long Island counties. Also, I wonder how distant to Braddock Bay the nearest regular breeding areas for Hermit Thrush are. I also wonder how well the breeding areas of the species are faring that have been and may still be within under 100 miles of N.Y. City, particularly in northerly directions from it.
It’s possible, in looking at these more defintive banding records, the timing on migrants that would continue south from the shores of Lake Ontario on to the latitude of SE NYS could still be for arrival in the latter (SE) region into early Oct. or after, more consistent or closer to expected first-arrival dates. We have any number of Sept. reports in eBird & other media, but again, mainly for the last week of Sept., & not that many with notes on the species, and just the barest few including photographs for the Sept. reporting.
N.B., I lightly edited the email with the below banding info, and to the Sept. records of 2011-2017 that were provided.
best,
Tom Fiore
manhattan
_______________
> On Sep 26, 2018, at 9:38 PM, Pat Martin emartin139 -AT- earthlink.net <http://earthlink.net/> wrote:
>
> Hi Tom and all,
>
> Below see some records for fall-banded Hermit Thrush at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory in Monroe County.
>
> Pat Martin
- - - - - - - -
> On Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 8:51 PM, Pat Martin emartin139 -AT- earthlink.net <http://earthlink.net/> wrote:
> Andrea,
>
> Thought you might be interested in the ramblings below about September sightings of Hermit Thrushes, considered early. Most of the ebird records do not include photos. By any chance have you banded any this fall or have you in previous falls?
>
> Pat
> -----Forwarded Message-----
> From: Andrea Patterson
> Sent: Sep 26, 2018 9:18 PM
> To: Pat Martin
> Subject: Re: Fw: [nysbirds-l] September Hermit Thrushes (NYC, & elsewhere)
>
> Hi Pat,
> Here's a list of some early HETH:
> [edit: snip ]
> SEPTEMBER: 337 records in the database. Since 1993, HETH have been recorded in every year except 1994 and 2009. Some recent records:
>
> 2017: 8 records. Dates are 23 (1), 24 (1), 27 (2), 29 (2) and 30 (2)
> 2016: 2 records. Dates are 25 (1) and 27 (1)
> 2015: 1 record. Date is 29
> 2014: 12 records. Dates are 25 (1), 27 (5), 28 (3), and 29 (3)
> 2013: 9 records. Dates are 25 (4), 26 (1), 27 (1), 28 (1), 29 (1), and 30 (1)
> 2012: 24 records. Dates are 23 (1), 25 (2), 26 (2), 27 (5), 28 (3), 29 (3), and 30 (8)
> 2011: 1 record. Date is 30
[edit: snip]
> Cheers,
> Andrea-- Andrea Patterson Education Director, Braddock Bay Bird Observatory
[N.B. - Pat Martin had tried sending the new above info, along with below prior posts in slightly lengthier form to this list but this had not come thru.]
> -----Forwarded Message-----
> From: Thomas Fiore
> Sent: Sep 26, 2018 1:21 AM
> To: <nysbirds-L...> <mailto:<nysbirds-L...> > Subject: [nysbirds-l] September Hermit Thrushes (NYC, & elsewhere)
>
> Prompted by a note to this list on 9/23, from Shaibal Mitra, who was responding to my report for Central Park of 9/22. (see below for all of his, & the relevant portion of my, NYS Birds posts.) Dr. Mitra made note of 2 photographed late-September records of Hermit Thrush in NYC parks (Prospect, & Central) - & then there are also a small spate of eBird records for Prospect Park (Brooklyn / Kings Co., NY) from at least 20 years ago & rather more recently, in late Sept., of which all are sightings by very careful and experienced observers. Those sightings span at least from the years 1998-2010, and dates range from Sept. 10th (by a very sharp observer) to mostly in the Sept. 24th-29th date range. They are however, not photo-documented, as Dr. Mitra was noting. (I had replied with a personal response but without the accompanying info. or references herein.) This is just a “sample” of various reports and it may not represent all of this sort. I also made notes on some sightings (see below) herein which are much farther from our state. These other-region sightings may not necessarlly imply some phenological situation related to this region, but it is possible there is some relationship.
>
> I’ve found a few of my own records of Hermit Thrush (but w/o photos) for (some of my) first-of-fall sightings at Central Park, they include singles on Sept. 30, 2000, and on Sept. 26, 2001. (I’ve not progressed thru my own records for all years since, & nor some prior, for possible Sept. dates). There are eBird sightings listed for Central Park in the month of Sept., some reported by a number of very experienced observers, with dates esp. concentrated in the last week & particularly last few days of the month, over a span of some recent years, in the past decade. Among these, surprisingly few have much notation, but some do, including the attempt to rule out other species by plumage, and for a few, by behavior (ex: tail seen being cocked up, then dropping).
>
> Of scattered, cross-continental eBird-ed reports - with good photos - for Hermit Thrush at early or at least early-ish dates, this month (and in this year), there are at least a few, including 1 at Times Beach Nature Reserve, Erie Co. NY on Sept. 4th (seems quite early, although perhaps not so much for the location?); 1 in downtown Cleveland, Ohio on Sept. 18th; & 1 or poss. 2 at Lincoln Park in downtown Chicago on Sept. 22nd; there may be at least a few more, again: these few are those from just this current year & month that include diagnostic photos. These may or may not represent unusually-early records for the regions they’ll be representing - and as there are seemingly very few, it’s not clear they’re records representative of any wide-scale pattern.
>
> Then there are far more Sept. reports without photos, also many with no comment to this species, such as 1 for Kingston Point park on 9/23/18 (where Hermit Thrush is not nesting in the park, although certainly in the county, this park on the Hudson river next to downtown) in Kingston, Ulster Co., NY; 1 for Sherwood Island S.P. in Fairfield Co., CT on 9/13 & 9/15/18 (a coastal-strip park next to Long Island Sound, very good for migrants, and which does not have breeding Hermit Thrush; n.b.- I know the observer, a careful & experienced birder).
>
> Additional others in northern states (and not immediately adjacent or in the species breeding area, as of course Manhattan is not), as well as a few reports recently in the southern U.S. that may not have included photos, are outside the species breeding range. Comments to some of these were added, such as “somewhat early”. Much farther west, not that relevant perhaps, but easily a month earlier than expected for the specific, regularly-birded location were 2 reports (one w/photo) from the Desert Botanical Garden, outside Tucson, AZ (an oasis habitat that can attract various migrants), on Sept. 9 & 11 (2 obs. & reports) and still farther west, 1 at Agua Dulce creek in the Laguna Mts., San Diego, CA, on Sept. 19 [1 report but w/ 7 obs. & good photos, “very early”]. This is a small sample, and covers regions that may have somewhat different phenologies; however these do represent earlier-than-expected arrivals.
>
> I’ve been to most of the above-noted places, although at various seasons, & birded with (at varying dates, not at the time of these Hermit Thrush reports specifically) many of the observers of the NYC sightings noted above. There are a number of additional Sept. reports, but again, those that include photos or detailed notes are far fewer - again, this is now solely referring to September sightings of Hermit Thrush, and my minor ‘research' of this was concerned -as far as I know of- birds that were not seen within a known breeding location - even if as potential migrant[s], within the latter sort of a location. (i.e., only sightings from non-breeding locations, for these Hermit Thrush records.) It might also be interesting to try & locate banding-records for the species, in the month of Sept., something I’ve not attempted to do.
>
> For a widespread and cross-continental breeder, which also can overwinter in many rather northern areas (for ex., the species is f. common in winter in south-coastal NJ, & not rare in the NYC counties in winter, as well as hardy enough to overwinter in parts of New England, with perhaps mixed success), this is a tough bird to place into just one sort of category - the more so when the multiple forms are taken into account, although I am not aware if there are NY state records of more than 1 'subspecies-taxa' of Hermit Thrush. (Some among the western forms can be quite distinctive to our northeastern breeding form.)
>
> The species had been a scarce breeder on Long Island - I don’t know from my own experience if that is still the case now (?) That however would not correlate to a migrant appearing in a city park.
>
> Finally, if hardly a final word on this it is obvious that one way [as Dr. Mitra gently hinted] to be more certain of records of (really any species of) Catharus thrushes, particularly in migration, is to attempt photos &/or video &/or audio recordings, as well as making a few notes, esp. if the sighting[s] seem on the odd-date, odd-location, or high number of individuals sort[s] of sighting[s].
>
> Tom Fiore,
> manhattan
> ____ ____ ____ ____
> <NYSBirds-L...> <mailto:<NYSBirds-L...> > Subject: Central Park, NYC 9/22
> Date: Sun Sep 23 2018 7:52 am
> From: Shaibal.Mitra -AT- csi.cuny.edu <http://csi.cuny.edu/> > Hi Tom and all,
>
> Thanks for the information and your interpretive notes regarding the more unusual records.
>
> The thing that stood out most to me was the Hermit Thrush, which seems very early in my experience. I've never recorded the species during September in Suffolk County, despite a lot of record-keeping over 23 years (my earliest date here is 5 October). Checking eBird, there are no photos of Hermit Thrush during September from Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, or Bronx Counties, and just one photo each for Kings (29 Sep 17) and New York (24 Sep 17):
>
> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39460747 <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39460747> > https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39363435 <https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S39363435> >
> Maybe it's just an early arrival, or maybe it's part of a broader pattern of birds pulling out of the North Woods early and in numbers this year (e.g, Blue Jays, RB Nuts, Purple Finches, etc.).
>
> Shai Mitra
> Bay Shore
> . . . . . .
> - - - - - - - - - - - -
> To: <nysbirds-L...> <mailto:<nysbirds-L...> > Saturday, September 22, 2018 8:36 PM
> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/22
> From: Thomas Fiore tomfi2 -AT- earthlink.net <http://earthlink.net/> >
> Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City -
> Saturday, 22 September, 2018 (last day of summer)
>
> A (confirmed with photos) CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW in the Ramble was the top highlight, in a quite bird-filled day. At least 24 American Warbler species were found, a male Cerulean by far the least-expected (for fall, especially) here. There was a modest (but fairly good for Central Park) raptor flight, and a very strong Blue Jay migration all thru the day - these flights also seen from a variety of viewpoints around Manhattan. The numbers of Yellow-billed Cuckoo were higher than a typical fall day, & Black-billed Cuckoo were also found in the multiple, if just somewhat fewer than the former species. Typical of this part of the month of September, a few species not so expected by now were seen, as well as the start of later-fall migrants.
>
> [snip - to species noted, showing just the thrushes in the far-longer list]
> —>
> Veery (multiple, but far fewer now)
>
> Gray-cheeked / Bicknells Thrush (a few of this type, calls not heard nor closely-studied for plumage detail)
>
> Swainson's Thrush (many)
>
> Hermit Thrush (1 definitive, still quite early; giving a diagnostic call as well as typical tail-raising behavior)
>
> Wood Thrush (multiple, but not that many)
>
> American Robin (not especially numerous)
> <—— [snip/edit]
>
> good autumnal birding with the equinox,
>
> Tom Fiore
> manhattan
> _________
Date: 9/28/18 5:58 am From: Mike <mikec02...> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Heckscher SP, Suffolk County
My apologies to Arie for responding publicly. My phone bundles people together in ways I don’t understand.
I know we are on the same page as far as our concern for the birds and abiding by the ABA guidelines. And I agree that splitting off to another notification group is not a great solution.
We probably differ most in our faith in our fellow man- I’ve been in situations now where I’ve had to shame people into not chasing a bird over and over, some will stop and some won’t. I hope Arie is right and we can help people understand where we’re coming from.
Mike Cooper
Ridge
>> On Sep 27, 2018, at 2:25 PM, Mike <mikec02...> wrote:
>>
>> I no longer post any birds at this and other locations where I see photographers. I keep a group list of contacts and limit my postings to them. I’m sure I’m unintentionally leaving people out, and I’ve been throwing the idea of a WhatsApp group around with a few other birders. There’s currently a 256 member limit on a group, but there are ways around that if we some day exceeded that.
>> The photography stuff is out of control and I won’t contribute to a public group any sightings of birds that are in chaseable locations.
>>
>> Mike Cooper
>> Ridge
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Sep 27, 2018, at 1:53 PM, Patricia Lindsay <pjlindsay...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Yesterday I was alerted to six juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers and two
>>> Dunlin among the birds visiting the Heckscher puddles. When I arrived,
>>> several people with cameras were out of their cars attempting to get
>>> photos or get closer looks. These folks were approaching cautiously and
>>> slowly, and while the birds did not immediately flush, they were
>>> obviously hyper-alert, interfering with their ability to feed, rest and
>>> preen in peace.
>>>
>>> I was curious about the age of the Dunlins, as they were in a
>>> transitional plumage I suspected to be molting juvs. So I returned to
>>> the site this morning, where I was very upset to see, not for the first
>>> time, photographers in two cars and a truck positioned RIGHT IN THE
>>> PUDDLE, practically on top of and surrounding the birds. I decided this
>>> would not be a pleasant study and left.
>>>
>>> I can no longer remain silent on this issue. Folks, where is your common
>>> sense, courtesy, and decency? Give these birds a chance! Is your photo
>>> more important than the well-being of these migrating birds? Give other
>>> birds who may be avoiding this disruption a chance to land and feed or
>>> rest as well. And give other birders a chance to see them! Another
>>> birder, scoping the birds from great distance, through gaps among the
>>> closely gathered vehicles, was completely blocked when the truck,
>>> already on top of the birds, was re-positioned to be EVEN CLOSER to the
>>> birds.
>>>
>>> PLEASE - Stay in your cars! Or scope from a distance.
>>> PLEASE - Stay out of the main puddles. Especially do not drive up
>>> near/onto the grassy berm in the center of the main puddle.
>>> Please keep your distance --these long-distance migrants are dropping in
>>> to rest and preen and feed, impossible with such pressure on them so
>>> constantly.
>>> And please have respect for others trying to see the birds.
>>>
>>> The Dunlin, by the way, are indeed molting juveniles, as confirmed this
>>> morning by Shai.
>>>
>>> Patricia Lindsay
>>> Bay Shore
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> NYSbirds-L List Info:
>>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm >>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm >>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >>>
>>> ARCHIVES:
>>> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/<nysbirds-l...>/maillist.html >>> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L >>> 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 >>>
>>> Please submit your observations to eBird:
>>> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >>>
>>> --
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> NYSbirds-L List Info:
>> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >>
>> ARCHIVES:
>> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/<nysbirds-l...>/maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L >> 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 >>
>> Please submit your observations to eBird:
>> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >>
>> --
>>
Date: 9/27/18 3:14 pm From: Mike <mikec02...> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Heckscher SP, Suffolk County
If reporting them means the birds are under constant harassment then yes, they shouldn’t get reported. Guidelines like those promoted by the ABA should mean something.
Or they can get reported to groups that can have some control over their memberships. This is in no way a criticism of the Listserve, just recognition of the fact that the Listserve can be viewed by anyone, whether they subscribe or not.
Mike Cooper
Ridge, NY
Sent from my iPhone
> On Sep 27, 2018, at 3:43 PM, ArieGilbert <ariegilbert...> wrote:
>
> Great. More sightings that wont get reported.
>
> They're doing this in bkln and upstate.
>
> Yay.
>
>
>
>
> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
>
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Mike <mikec02...>
> Date: 9/27/18 2:25 PM (GMT-05:00)
> To: Patricia Lindsay <pjlindsay...>
> Cc: NYS Birds <NYSBIRDS-L...>
> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Heckscher SP, Suffolk County
>
> I no longer post any birds at this and other locations where I see photographers. I keep a group list of contacts and limit my postings to them. I’m sure I’m unintentionally leaving people out, and I’ve been throwing the idea of a WhatsApp group around with a few other birders. There’s currently a 256 member limit on a group, but there are ways around that if we some day exceeded that.
> The photography stuff is out of control and I won’t contribute to a public group any sightings of birds that are in chaseable locations.
>
> Mike Cooper
> Ridge
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Sep 27, 2018, at 1:53 PM, Patricia Lindsay <pjlindsay...> wrote:
> >
> > Yesterday I was alerted to six juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers and two
> > Dunlin among the birds visiting the Heckscher puddles. When I arrived,
> > several people with cameras were out of their cars attempting to get
> > photos or get closer looks. These folks were approaching cautiously and
> > slowly, and while the birds did not immediately flush, they were
> > obviously hyper-alert, interfering with their ability to feed, rest and
> > preen in peace.
> >
> > I was curious about the age of the Dunlins, as they were in a
> > transitional plumage I suspected to be molting juvs. So I returned to
> > the site this morning, where I was very upset to see, not for the first
> > time, photographers in two cars and a truck positioned RIGHT IN THE
> > PUDDLE, practically on top of and surrounding the birds. I decided this
> > would not be a pleasant study and left.
> >
> > I can no longer remain silent on this issue. Folks, where is your common
> > sense, courtesy, and decency? Give these birds a chance! Is your photo
> > more important than the well-being of these migrating birds? Give other
> > birds who may be avoiding this disruption a chance to land and feed or
> > rest as well. And give other birders a chance to see them! Another
> > birder, scoping the birds from great distance, through gaps among the
> > closely gathered vehicles, was completely blocked when the truck,
> > already on top of the birds, was re-positioned to be EVEN CLOSER to the
> > birds.
> >
> > PLEASE - Stay in your cars! Or scope from a distance.
> > PLEASE - Stay out of the main puddles. Especially do not drive up
> > near/onto the grassy berm in the center of the main puddle.
> > Please keep your distance --these long-distance migrants are dropping in
> > to rest and preen and feed, impossible with such pressure on them so
> > constantly.
> > And please have respect for others trying to see the birds.
> >
> > The Dunlin, by the way, are indeed molting juveniles, as confirmed this
> > morning by Shai.
> >
> > Patricia Lindsay
> > Bay Shore
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > NYSbirds-L List Info:
> > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm > > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm > > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > >
> > ARCHIVES:
> > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/<nysbirds-l...>/maillist.html > > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > > 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 > >
> > Please submit your observations to eBird:
> > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > >
> > --
> >
>
>
> --
>
> NYSbirds-L List Info:
> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >
> ARCHIVES:
> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/<nysbirds-l...>/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 >
> Please submit your observations to eBird:
> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >
> --
>
Date: 9/27/18 2:23 pm From: Corey Finger <10000birdsblogger...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Queens County Bird Club Big Sit
The Queens County Bird Club will be having our 5th Annual Big Sit on Saturday, October 13, at the Battery Harris Platform at Fort Tilden, Queens. Some of us will be there pre-dawn and we will continue until it is too dark to bird. If the weather is forecast to be absolutely horrific we will postpone until Sunday, October 14 (and I'll send out an email on Friday evening,10/12).
Good birds in past years include Parasitic Jaeger, Great Horned Owl, Red-headed Woodpecker, Philadelphia Vireo, Dickcissel, and Orange-crowned Warbler. Our all time high count is 76 species though we nearly matched that last year with 74. If we get good northwest winds we could end up with quite a show of landbird and raptor migration.
So come on out, bring coffee and snacks, stay for fifteen minutes, all day, or for any amount of time in between.
Date: 9/27/18 12:56 pm From: Shaibal Mitra <Shaibal.Mitra...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Some Thoughts on Recent Bird Movements
Hi all,
Bob Lewis's report of about seven Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Robert Moses SP yesterday would have caused a sensation just 20 years ago. I vividly recall Pat's and my excitement at finding four LBBGs in one day, including one of the first juveniles ever reliably recorded from Long Island, plus a presumptive hybrid LBBG x HERG, on 12 Oct 2002:
Flash forward to today, and Bob's count highlights how few LBBGs remained just one day after Tuesday's storm roosts of 61 birds. This illustrates not only how much and how quickly things have changed, but also illuminates the manner in which these birds are occurring most abundantly on Long Island--not primarily as as winter residents, as we used to think, but as passage migrants and summering non-breeders.
It was probably just bad luck that Bob found none at all at Jones Beach, where 61 (identical to the count at RMSP!) were present during the storm, but showing a very different age distribution:
Experience has shown that Second-Year and Third-Year birds occur most numerously as summering non-breeders, but also to an unknown extent as migrants, whereas juveniles and adults occur in a more stereotyped fashion as southbound passage migrants:
My thought is that the RMSP birds comprised largely migrants, whereas the JBWE flock consisted of a mix of lingering summer birds plus migrants added in.
Given these considerations, as well as the recent spate of juvenile northern gulls (Sabine's in Broome, Black-legged Kittiwake in Brooklyn and Suffolk, and Bonaparte's scattered sparsely around), I've been searching parking lots and puddles up and down the shores of Region 10 these past few days, hoping, perhaps, to find a Red-necked Phalarope (only failure so far). With Cackling Goose arriving in Queens on Sunday, Pink-footed Goose in northern NYS on Tuesday, and Ross's Goose in Rhode Island today, there's an strong scent of Greenland and the Arctic in the air. We used to debate whether late October Barnacle Geese were "too" early--apparently not!
I had another good morning out in the yard today, with a nice diversity of migrants and of course, a lot of Blue Jays. Tuesday was a washout here, but yesterday I had 562 Blue Jays before the rain started around 9:30. This morning was rain-free. I was outside by sunrise (6:57) to mostly clear skies and 44 degrees F with light south winds. The first Blue Jay passed over at 7:10, and by the time I had to leave for a previously scheduled appointment in the late morning, I had totaled 2,725 Jays:
486 between 6:57 and 7:57 748 between 7:57 and 8:57 1172 between 8:57 and 9:57 319 between 9:57 and 10:27.
There were plenty of other birds on the move today too. Here is a list of the birds that appeared to be migrating:
Date: 9/27/18 11:53 am From: Robert Lewis <rfermat...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Lessers at Robert Moses yesterday
Yesterday on the two parking fields that are open at Robert Moses Sate Park (Long Island) I saw a total of about seven Lesser Black-backeds, one juvenile, two second winters, and four adults (possibly more adults). I'll post some photos to the NYS birding photos facebook page. I found none at Jones Beach.
Date: 9/27/18 11:26 am From: Mike <mikec02...> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Heckscher SP, Suffolk County
I no longer post any birds at this and other locations where I see photographers. I keep a group list of contacts and limit my postings to them. I’m sure I’m unintentionally leaving people out, and I’ve been throwing the idea of a WhatsApp group around with a few other birders. There’s currently a 256 member limit on a group, but there are ways around that if we some day exceeded that.
The photography stuff is out of control and I won’t contribute to a public group any sightings of birds that are in chaseable locations.
Mike Cooper
Ridge
Sent from my iPhone
> On Sep 27, 2018, at 1:53 PM, Patricia Lindsay <pjlindsay...> wrote:
>
> Yesterday I was alerted to six juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers and two
> Dunlin among the birds visiting the Heckscher puddles. When I arrived,
> several people with cameras were out of their cars attempting to get
> photos or get closer looks. These folks were approaching cautiously and
> slowly, and while the birds did not immediately flush, they were
> obviously hyper-alert, interfering with their ability to feed, rest and
> preen in peace.
>
> I was curious about the age of the Dunlins, as they were in a
> transitional plumage I suspected to be molting juvs. So I returned to
> the site this morning, where I was very upset to see, not for the first
> time, photographers in two cars and a truck positioned RIGHT IN THE
> PUDDLE, practically on top of and surrounding the birds. I decided this
> would not be a pleasant study and left.
>
> I can no longer remain silent on this issue. Folks, where is your common
> sense, courtesy, and decency? Give these birds a chance! Is your photo
> more important than the well-being of these migrating birds? Give other
> birds who may be avoiding this disruption a chance to land and feed or
> rest as well. And give other birders a chance to see them! Another
> birder, scoping the birds from great distance, through gaps among the
> closely gathered vehicles, was completely blocked when the truck,
> already on top of the birds, was re-positioned to be EVEN CLOSER to the
> birds.
>
> PLEASE - Stay in your cars! Or scope from a distance.
> PLEASE - Stay out of the main puddles. Especially do not drive up
> near/onto the grassy berm in the center of the main puddle.
> Please keep your distance --these long-distance migrants are dropping in
> to rest and preen and feed, impossible with such pressure on them so
> constantly.
> And please have respect for others trying to see the birds.
>
> The Dunlin, by the way, are indeed molting juveniles, as confirmed this
> morning by Shai.
>
> Patricia Lindsay
> Bay Shore
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> NYSbirds-L List Info:
> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >
> ARCHIVES:
> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/<nysbirds-l...>/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 >
> Please submit your observations to eBird:
> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >
> --
>
Date: 9/27/18 10:53 am From: Patricia Lindsay <pjlindsay...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Heckscher SP, Suffolk County
Yesterday I was alerted to six juvenile Pectoral Sandpipers and two
Dunlin among the birds visiting the Heckscher puddles. When I arrived,
several people with cameras were out of their cars attempting to get
photos or get closer looks. These folks were approaching cautiously and
slowly, and while the birds did not immediately flush, they were
obviously hyper-alert, interfering with their ability to feed, rest and
preen in peace.
I was curious about the age of the Dunlins, as they were in a
transitional plumage I suspected to be molting juvs. So I returned to
the site this morning, where I was very upset to see, not for the first
time, photographers in two cars and a truck positioned RIGHT IN THE
PUDDLE, practically on top of and surrounding the birds. I decided this
would not be a pleasant study and left.
I can no longer remain silent on this issue. Folks, where is your common
sense, courtesy, and decency? Give these birds a chance! Is your photo
more important than the well-being of these migrating birds? Give other
birds who may be avoiding this disruption a chance to land and feed or
rest as well. And give other birders a chance to see them! Another
birder, scoping the birds from great distance, through gaps among the
closely gathered vehicles, was completely blocked when the truck,
already on top of the birds, was re-positioned to be EVEN CLOSER to the
birds.
PLEASE - Stay in your cars! Or scope from a distance.
PLEASE - Stay out of the main puddles. Especially do not drive up
near/onto the grassy berm in the center of the main puddle.
Please keep your distance --these long-distance migrants are dropping in
to rest and preen and feed, impossible with such pressure on them so
constantly.
And please have respect for others trying to see the birds.
The Dunlin, by the way, are indeed molting juveniles, as confirmed this
morning by Shai.
Date: 9/26/18 6:47 pm From: Mardi Dickinson <mardi1d...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Helen Hays, Great Gull Island 50th - BirdCallsRadio
Birders et al,
I thought many of your would be interested in my next BCR show coverage LIVE on the historic celebration of Helen Hays and Great Gull Island 50th Anniversary. Great Gull Island is a major tern research colony where Helen has directed since 1969 for the American Museum of Natural History. Great Gull Island is largest colony of Roseate Terns in the Western Hemisphere. Enjoy! https://bit.ly/2akUsxp
Date: 9/26/18 4:58 pm From: Andrew Block <ablock22168...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] hummers and others in my yard
The hummingbirds are still coming through the yard. I had at least five this evening chasing each other around the feeders and some fake mating between two on the feeder. Just wish they could all get along and feed together. Also had another Rose-breasted Grosbeak in the trees and four or five Chimney Swifts flying over the house. Surprised on the swifts.
Andrew
Andrew v. F. Block
Consulting Naturalist
20 Hancock Avenue, Apt. 3
Yonkers, Westchester Co., New York 10705-4629
www.flickr.com/photos/conuropsis/albums
--
Date: 9/26/18 4:08 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] September Hermit Thrushes (NYC, & elsewhere)
Prompted by a note to this list on 9/23, from Shaibal Mitra, who was responding to my report for Central Park of 9/22. (see below for all of his, & the relevant portion of my, NYS Birds posts.) Dr. Mitra made note of 2 photographed late-September records of Hermit Thrush in NYC parks (Prospect, & Central) - & then there are also a small spate of eBird records for Prospect Park (Brooklyn / Kings Co., NY) from at least 20 years ago & rather more recently, in late Sept., of which all are sightings by very careful and experienced observers. Those sightings span at least from the years 1998-2010, and dates range from Sept. 10th (by a very sharp observer) to mostly in the Sept. 24th-29th date range. They are however, not photo-documented, as Dr. Mitra was noting. (I had replied with a personal response but without the accompanying info. or references herein.) This is just a “sample” of various reports and it may not represent all of this sort. I also made notes on some sightings (see below) herein which are much farther from our state. These other-region sightings may not necessarlly imply some phenological situation related to this region, but it is possible there is some relationship.
I’ve found a few of my own records of Hermit Thrush (but w/o photos) for (some of my) first-of-fall sightings at Central Park, they include singles on Sept. 30, 2000, and on Sept. 26, 2001. (I’ve not progressed thru my own records for all years since, & nor some prior, for possible Sept. dates). There are eBird sightings listed for Central Park in the month of Sept., some reported by a number of very experienced observers, with dates esp. concentrated in the last week & particularly last few days of the month, over a span of some recent years, in the past decade. Among these, surprisingly few have much notation, but some do, including the attempt to rule out other species by plumage, and for a few, by behavior (ex: tail seen being cocked up, then dropping).
Of scattered, cross-continental eBird-ed reports - with good photos - for Hermit Thrush at early or at least early-ish dates, this month (and in this year), there are at least a few, including 1 at Times Beach Nature Reserve, Erie Co. NY on Sept. 4th (seems quite early, although perhaps not so much for the location?); 1 in downtown Cleveland, Ohio on Sept. 18th; & 1 or poss. 2 at Lincoln Park in downtown Chicago on Sept. 22nd; there may be at least a few more, again: these few are those from just this current year & month that include diagnostic photos. These may or may not represent unusually-early records for the regions they’ll be representing - and as there are seemingly very few, it’s not clear they’re records representative of any wide-scale pattern.
Then there are far more Sept. reports without photos, also many with no comment to this species, such as 1 for Kingston Point park on 9/23/18 (where Hermit Thrush is not nesting in the park, although certainly in the county, this park on the Hudson river next to downtown) in Kingston, Ulster Co., NY; 1 for Sherwood Island S.P. in Fairfield Co., CT on 9/13 & 9/15/18 (a coastal-strip park next to Long Island Sound, very good for migrants, and which does not have breeding Hermit Thrush; n.b.- I know the observer, a careful & experienced birder).
Additional others in northern states (and not immediately adjacent or in the species breeding area, as of course Manhattan is not), as well as a few reports recently in the southern U.S. that may not have included photos, are outside the species breeding range. Comments to some of these were added, such as “somewhat early”. Much farther west, not that relevant perhaps, but easily a month earlier than expected for the specific, regularly-birded location were 2 reports (one w/photo) from the Desert Botanical Garden, outside Tucson, AZ (an oasis habitat that can attract various migrants), on Sept. 9 & 11 (2 obs. & reports) and still farther west, 1 at Agua Dulce creek in the Laguna Mts., San Diego, CA, on Sept. 19 [1 report but w/ 7 obs. & good photos, “very early”]. This is a small sample, and covers regions that may have somewhat different phenologies; however these do represent earlier-than-expected arrivals.
I’ve been to most of the above-noted places, although at various seasons, & birded with (at varying dates, not at the time of these Hermit Thrush reports specifically) many of the observers of the NYC sightings noted above. There are a number of additional Sept. reports, but again, those that include photos or detailed notes are far fewer - again, this is now solely referring to September sightings of Hermit Thrush, and my minor ‘research' of this was concerned -as far as I know of- birds that were not seen within a known breeding location - even if as potential migrant[s], within the latter sort of a location. (i.e., only sightings from non-breeding locations, for these Hermit Thrush records.) It might also be interesting to try & locate banding-records for the species, in the month of Sept., something I’ve not attempted to do.
For a widespread and cross-continental breeder, which also can overwinter in many rather northern areas (for ex., the species is f. common in winter in south-coastal NJ, & not rare in the NYC counties in winter, as well as hardy enough to overwinter in parts of New England, with perhaps mixed success), this is a tough bird to place into just one sort of category - the more so when the multiple forms are taken into account, although I am not aware if there are NY state records of more than 1 'subspecies-taxa' of Hermit Thrush. (Some among the western forms can be quite distinctive to our northeastern breeding form.)
The species had been a scarce breeder on Long Island - I don’t know from my own experience if that is still the case now (?) That however would not correlate to a migrant appearing in a city park.
Finally, if hardly a final word on this it is obvious that one way [as Dr. Mitra gently hinted] to be more certain of records of (really any species of) Catharus thrushes, particularly in migration, is to attempt photos &/or video &/or audio recordings, as well as making a few notes, esp. if the sighting[s] seem on the odd-date, odd-location, or high number of individuals sort[s] of sighting[s].
Tom Fiore,
manhattan
____ ____ ____ ____
<NYSBirds-L...>
Subject: Central Park, NYC 9/22
Date: Sun Sep 23 2018 7:52 am
From: Shaibal.Mitra -AT- csi.cuny.edu
Hi Tom and all,
Thanks for the information and your interpretive notes regarding the more unusual records.
The thing that stood out most to me was the Hermit Thrush, which seems very early in my experience. I've never recorded the species during September in Suffolk County, despite a lot of record-keeping over 23 years (my earliest date here is 5 October). Checking eBird, there are no photos of Hermit Thrush during September from Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, or Bronx Counties, and just one photo each for Kings (29 Sep 17) and New York (24 Sep 17):
Maybe it's just an early arrival, or maybe it's part of a broader pattern of birds pulling out of the North Woods early and in numbers this year (e.g, Blue Jays, RB Nuts, Purple Finches, etc.).
Shai Mitra
Bay Shore
. . . . . .
- - - - - - - - - - - -
To: <nysbirds-L...>
Saturday, September 22, 2018 8:36 PM
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/22
From: Thomas Fiore tomfi2 -AT- earthlink.net
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City -
Saturday, 22 September, 2018 (last day of summer)
A (confirmed with photos) CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW in the Ramble was the top highlight, in a quite bird-filled day. At least 24 American Warbler species were found, a male Cerulean by far the least-expected (for fall, especially) here. There was a modest (but fairly good for Central Park) raptor flight, and a very strong Blue Jay migration all thru the day - these flights also seen from a variety of viewpoints around Manhattan. The numbers of Yellow-billed Cuckoo were higher than a typical fall day, & Black-billed Cuckoo were also found in the multiple, if just somewhat fewer than the former species. Typical of this part of the month of September, a few species not so expected by now were seen, as well as the start of later-fall migrants.
[snip - to species noted, showing just the thrushes in the far-longer list]
—>
Veery (multiple, but far fewer now)
Gray-cheeked / Bicknells Thrush (a few of this type, calls not heard nor closely-studied for plumage detail)
Swainson's Thrush (many)
Hermit Thrush (1 definitive, still quite early; giving a diagnostic call as well as typical tail-raising behavior)
Wood Thrush (multiple, but not that many)
American Robin (not especially numerous)
<—— [snip/edit]
Date: 9/26/18 4:01 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, incl. Central Park, NYC 9/23-24-25
The Pink-footed Goose in Clinton County, just reported to NNY Birds list adds that species to the other geese having been reported around the state, which include Ross’s Goose on 9/22 in Essex Co., Gr. White-fronted Geese in at least 2 counties incl. Niagara, Cackling Geese in Monroe & Nassau Co’s., and reports of Atlantic Brant, Snow Goose to round out some of the recent geese arrivals.
I have not seen any other note to this list for Say’s Phoebe seen by over 3 dozen observers on 9/22 at Braddock Bay’s east spit, Monroe County.
- - - - - - - -
Manhattan, N.Y. City
Sunday, 9/23 - A few of the highlights among migrants that were found in Central Park included: Connecticut Warbler (first-fall bird, found & nicely photo’d by T. Zahner at the glade, w. side of the Great Hill later in the day, mult. obs. also later), Clay-colored Sparrow (w/photos, mult. observers, e. side of park’s W. Drive, near approx. W. 83 St.), Philadelphia Vireo (at the Point, in the Ramble, also many obs. & photos) … a general arrival included more sparrows (incl. a few more of E. Towhee, Chipping and Savannah Sparrows, Dark-eyed Junco); it seems that that evening, some, possibly many of these moved on & in particular the above-noted (first two) rarest, but now-annual species. At least several Marsh Wrens have been seen, in at least 3 widely-separated locations in Central. These continued to the next day & at least one, at the Meer, stayed on thru 9/25 there. At Inwood Hill Park, in northern Manhattan, a single Monk Parakeet was found by Ricki Ravitts, this possibly the first of that species in a while to be reported on the island of Manhattan. This is not too far north from where a small group were found not many years ago and then seemed to have quit a known nest-site by the Hudson River. The species has also been occasional in the nearby (to Inwood) neighborhood of Spuyten Duyvil, in the s. part of western Bronx County.
Monday, 9/24 - perhaps most-notable among at least the warblers in smaller Manhattan parks seen (& photo’d nicely by another birder) was a lingering Worm-eating Warbler at Washington Square Park’s NE sector, this getting fairly late for the species. Various other parks in mid and lower Manhattan also had modest numbers & variety for migrants; I visited 7 of these from the Battery, which seemed not that active, on up through Bryant Park, on my way back into Central Park. The small parks & green-spaces can hold any number of surprises, & occasionally will have a real rarity, an obvious example the (winter / Jan. 2008) Scott’s Oriole in Union Square in Manhattan. The overall sense on Monday was of some departure of the weekend’s migrants.
Tuesday, 9/25 - Heavy rain & easterly winds; but the previous night did not feature rain to the north, & rain not pushing in from the S-W until well past midnight. Large numbers (80+) of Chimney Swifts were still about & clearly able to feed through the intermittent drizzles and showers. A good many migrants clearly were able to depart; still some scattered around Central Park and featuring a couple of lingering Red-breasted Nuthatches, Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warblers & at least ten other warbler species, with Magnolia, Black-throated Blue of both sexes, N. Waterthrush, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, Palms in the multiple, Blackpoll, American Redstart, Ovenbird and Common Yellowthroat; likely some others still in various locations; I had a rainy but not flooded walk to look, in part, for any puddle-inhabiting birds, but while puddles-a-plenty were found (a few large enough to have supported a raft of dabbling ducks or such), no migrants were seen having dropped-in to those temporary puddles. A very modest no. & variety of other species, with some Swainson’s Thrush, a lone Veery in the Ramble, a few White-throated, Swamp. & Chipping Sparrows, & plenty of Yellow-shafted Flickers (esp. fond of the several Sourgum, or Tupelo trees that are now ripening their prolific fruits), and Gray Catbirds contiuning to linger; Brown Thrasher in lesser no’s. & the same for Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Red-eyed Vireos, & House Wrens. The busiest area may have been the Ramble, but also even in moderate rain, parts of the north end. The reservoir & other waterbodies seemed to have very little, excepting 2 ongoing drake Wood Ducks at The Pond in the park’s s.-e. corner. The rather few E. Phoebes noticed did not seem thrilled by all the rain, but N.Y. County was likely much luckier than some areas nearby, where flash-flooding may have been serious.
A note - there is a major event taking place on the Great Lawn this coming Sat., 9/29; barricades are (have been) going up; access to a few birding areas may be restricted at and near the Great Lawn. That part of the park will become very crowded, by later that day.
...
For the record, a rather rarer-in-fall (in Manhattan) Yellow-throated Warbler was e-Birded by Adela Ruffatti for Sept. 18th, near the East River at 34th St.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Eric Damour <edam0ur...> [Northern_NY_Birds] <
<Northern_NY_Birds...>
Date: Tue, Sep 25, 2018 at 3:39 PM
Subject: NNYBirds: Northern Clinton Co. Pink Footed Goose
To: <northern_ny_birds...>
Today at around 3:00 I found a single Pink-footed goose in a farm field
mixed in with about 500 Canada Geese. The field is at the corner of Rt 11
and Boas Rd, west of Mooers Forks.
Date: 9/25/18 12:13 pm From: Sean Sime <sean...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Queens County NORTHERN FULMAR ++
Doug Gochfeld and I started a seawatch from Riis Park in Queens at roughly 10:30 this morning. We were met with almost immediate success in the form of a Great Shearwater coursing back and forth to the west of the main building. A few Parasitic Jaegers were moving east, but the highlight of the morning was a high arcing tubenose the appeared to the southwest and over the next 5-7 minutes slowly worked it's way east eventually revealing itself to be a light morph Northern Fulmar. It was interesting to have the Fulmar and GRSH in view at the same time. The Fulmar was executing explosive, high flying arcs with wings slightly bent at the wrists and would often add short bursts of wingbeats even well above the horizon while the GRSH was doing power glides on long straight wings with very little flapping at all. To echo Shai and Pat's reports from further east, there were a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls (and one hybrid) in the parking lot and two juvenile Ring-billed Gulls among the expected species on the beach. A nice flight of scoters was evident as well and Black and Surf were both viewed moving east. The eBird checklist with some documentation photos can be viewed at the following link.
-------- Original message --------
From: "matthieu.benoit76"
Date: 9/22/18 5:06 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: nys birds
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Black legged kittiwake, Fort tilden
>
>
1 juv now feeding very close to shore with the group of gulls and terns feeding over the dolphin group. Just at the end of trail that go from battery harris to the beach.
>
I had a golden plover flyover at the battery 1 hour ago. Multiple whimbrels in that area too.
>
Matthieu
>
>
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
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This morning's heavy rains and strong southeasterly winds predictably grounded a large number of Lesser Black-backed Gulls at Robert Moses SP, Suffolk County. The total from Fields 2, 3, and 5 was at least 60, including at least five beautiful juveniles:
Two fresh juv Ring-billed Gulls were also notable, as this age class has been very slow to move down to the coast this year.
Visibility was terrible during the heavy rain, but it improved markedly around 8:45. In one hour I counted 10 Cory's, 5 Great, and 1 Manx Shearwater, all moving west to east. Also of note were 11 Northern Gannets, an adult light morph Parasitic Jaeger, and a fresh juv Bonaparte's Gull, similarly moving to the east.
For the past two years, Jason Gregg has traveled with the Committee Against Bird Slaughter to join other activists in the fight against widespread poaching of migratory birds in Cyprus, Italy, and Spain. Each year, twenty-five million birds are killed by poachers in the Mediterranean area.
Jason J. Gregg is a conservation biologist and activist based in the United States. He has worked with Point Blue Conservation Science, the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, the Peregrine Fund as well as other conservation organizations and universities around the world as an ornithologist and field biologist.
Greetings: This is the Syracuse Area Rare Bird Alert for the week on September 17, 2018
Highlights:
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
RUDDY TURNSTONE
SANDERLING
SAY’S PHOEBE (Extralimital)
YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER
PHILADELPHIA VIREO
GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH
SNOW BUNTING
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (MNWR) and Montezuma Wetlands Complex (MWC)
------------
17 shorebird species again reported at the complex. One other species reported away from Montezuma.
AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
SEMI-PALMATED PLOVER
KILLDEER
STILT SANDPIPER
LEAST SANDPIPER
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER
PECTORAL SANDPIPER
SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER
LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER
SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER
WILSON’S SNIPE
GREATER YELLOWLEGS
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
SANDERLING
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER
SOLITARY SANDPIPER
-------------------------------
RUDDY TURNSTONE - Sandy Pond Outlet, Oswego County
9/22: A BAIRD’S SANDPIPER and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER were seen at the Visitor’s Center. A PHILADELPHIA VIREO and 7 more Shorebird species were seen along the Wildlife Trail.
Onondaga County
------------
9/18: A YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER was seen at Sunnycrest Park in Syracuse.
9/19: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO and a GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH were seen at Radisson River Park (Private) on the Seneca River.
9/22: 3 early SNOW BUNTINGS were seen on Plainville Road just south of County Line Road.
9/23: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen at Three Rivers WMA north of Baldwinsville.
Oswego County
------------
9/20: A PHILADELPHIA VIREO was seen at a private residence in Hastings.
9/22: 5 Shorebird species including RUDDY TURNSTONE and BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER were seen at the outlet of Sandy Pond on Lake Ontario.
Extralimital
------------
9/21: A very rare for the area SAY’S PHOEBE was discovered at the East Spit on Braddock Bay (Monroe County). The bird was relocated on the 22nd. but was not seen yesterday,
Date: 9/24/18 7:27 am From: Mickey Scilingo <mickey.scilingo...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Monday's Blue Jays - 2263
I was hoping to spend most of this morning observing the Blue Jay migration, but my watch was cut short unexpectedly. Despite being outside for less than 2 hours, I counted 2,263 Blue Jays between 7:22 and 9:11 AM. Following is a list of some other migrants that passed:
Cedar Waxwing - 17 Northern Flicker - 5 Eastern Meadowlark - 3 Common Raven - 6 American Robin - 5 Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2 Palm Warbler - 1 Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 4
Monarch - 17
Mickey Scilingo Constantia, Oswego County <mickey.scilingo...> 315-679-6299
Date: 9/23/18 9:12 am From: Mickey Scilingo <mickey.scilingo...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Blue Jay migration
There was a decent Blue Jay flight over my house this morning along the north shore of Oneida Lake. I made it outside by 6:45 am to 50 degrees, clear skies and light north winds. There was an obvious fog bank over the lake that slowly expanded itself throughout the morning, but eventually cleared out by 9:00 or so. The fog made it sometimes easier and sometimes harder to see the birds that were moving. Sunrise was at 6:52 and the first migrant Blue Jay passed at 7:01. By the time I went inside at 10:22, I had counted 2,339 Jays. Breaking the count down to hours after sunrise, I had:
401 Blue Jays in the first hour (6:52 to 7:52) 214 the second hour (7:52 to 8:52) 1407 the third hour (8:52 to 9:52) 317 in the next half hour, ending at 10:22.
I should note that the fog bank was busy expanding itself during the second hour and I am assuming the low Blue Jay total during this time was a direct result.
Here is a list of other birds that appeared to be migrating this morning:
1 local juvenile Bald Eagle that was flying very low up the road from Oneida Lake, but made a quick U-turn when I believe it saw me standing in my driveway 1 Common Raven 2 Merlin - I believe this is the pair that nested across the street from my house. I hadn't seen them since the end of July, and I thought they had moved on. They were both calling and chasing each other around. If it wasn't September, I would think that they were getting ready to breed again.
Mickey Scilingo Constantia, Oswego County <mickey.scilingo...> 315-679-6299
Date: 9/23/18 5:52 am From: Shaibal Mitra <Shaibal.Mitra...> Subject: RE: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/22
Hi Tom and all,
Thanks for the information and your interpretive notes regarding the more unusual records.
The thing that stood out most to me was the Hermit Thrush, which seems very early in my experience. I've never recorded the species during September in Suffolk County, despite a lot of record-keeping over 23 years (my earliest date here is 5 October). Checking eBird, there are no photos of Hermit Thrush during September from Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, Richmond, or Bronx Counties, and just one photo each for Kings (29 Sep 17) and New York (24 Sep 17):
Maybe it's just an early arrival, or maybe it's part of a broader pattern of birds pulling out of the North Woods early and in numbers this year (e.g, Blue Jays, RB Nuts, Purple Finches, etc.).
Shai Mitra
Bay Shore
________________________________________
From: <bounce-122919809-11143133...> [<bounce-122919809-11143133...>] on behalf of Thomas Fiore [<tomfi2...>]
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2018 8:36 PM
To: <nysbirds-L...>
Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/22
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City -
Saturday, 22 September, 2018 (last day of summer)
A (confirmed with photos) CHUCK-WILLS-WIDOW in the Ramble was the top highlight, in a quite bird-filled day. At least 24 American Warbler species were found, a male Cerulean by far the least-expected (for fall, especially) here. There was a modest (but fairly good for Central Park) raptor flight, and a very strong Blue Jay migration all thru the day - these flights also seen from a variety of viewpoints around Manhattan. The numbers of Yellow-billed Cuckoo were higher than a typical fall day, & Black-billed Cuckoo were also found in the multiple, if just somewhat fewer than the former species. Typical of this part of the month of September, a few species not so expected by now were seen, as well as the start of later-fall migrants.
Common Loon (several high fly-overs)
Double-crested Cormorant (many fly-overs)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret (few)
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Canada Goose
Wood Duck (continuing)
Gadwall (continuing)
American Black Duck
Mallard (common)
Osprey (many fly-overs, all thru the day)
Bald Eagle (multiple fly-overs, various ages)
Northern Harrier (at least 2, a.m. fly-overs)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (multiple fly-overs)
Cooper's Hawk (at least several fly-overs)
Broad-winged Hawk (40+, but some observers may have seen more - an excellent near-coastal flight of this species in SE NY state & the vicinity is reported from multiple hawk-watch sites)
Red-tailed Hawk (residents)
Ring-billed Gull (fair numbers moving)
[American] Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
['feral'] Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Kestrel (migrants as well as local birds)
Merlin (at least several fly-overs)
Peregrine Falcon (residents, and poss. a few migrants in the day's flights)
Black-billed Cuckoo (minimum of 4, park-wide)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (minimum of 8, park-wide)
Common Nighthawk (early a.m. - but not recorded by me in the eve.)
Chuck-will's-widow (as noted, 1 in the Ramble, seen by many with some photos taken in difficult light)
Chimney Swift (multiple fly-overs)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (multiple migrants, and at least a few feeding in the parks flowered areas)
Belted Kingfisher (at least 2)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1 continued at north end)
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted Flicker (multiple, but no strong flight noted in a.m.)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (fewer)
Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher (at least several, poss. of several species, including Least)
Eastern Phoebe (multiple)
Great Crested Flycatcher (at least 2)
Blue-headed Vireo (multiple)
Warbling Vireo (becoming scarcer)
Red-eyed Vireo (still fairly common)
Blue Jay (total for day, in diurnal flight, easily 3,000+ - many seen still moving at 4-5 p.m. & later)
American Crow (some apparent movement)
Tree Swallow (a few small flocks, early a.m., & high, as is rather typical in Central, when seen in the fall)
Black-capped Chickadee (very few)
Tufted Titmouse (very few)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (good influx, perhaps 40+ in all of the park; also a couple noted in greenspaces)
White-breasted Nuthatch (present, & poss. a few also on the move)
Carolina Wren (few)
House Wren (multiple, but not that many)
Winter Wren (several; & still slightly early)
Marsh Wren (several; still on the early side)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (few)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (at least 1, Ramble)
Veery (multiple, but far fewer now)
Gray-cheeked / Bicknells Thrush (a few of this type, calls not heard nor closely-studied for plumage detail)
Swainson's Thrush (many)
Hermit Thrush (1 definitive, still quite early; giving a diagnostic call as well as typical tail-raising behavior)
Wood Thrush (multiple, but not that many)
American Robin (not especially numerous)
Gray Catbird (still common)
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher (fair numbers, some in small groups in early a.m.)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (multiple, but no big flights noticed)
Scarlet Tanager (multiple)
Eastern Towhee (few, and still rather early)
Chipping Sparrow (very few noted)
Song Sparrow (few)
Lincoln's Sparrow (1, Great Hill, w. edge)
Swamp Sparrow (at least 2)
White-throated Sparrow (multiple, but not very many)
-
Tennessee Warbler (at least several, esp. at Great Hill, a.m.)
Nashville Warbler (multiple, but not many)
Northern Parula (multiple)
Yellow Warbler (multiple, but not many)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (multiple, but not that many)
Magnolia Warbler (multiple)
Cape May Warbler (multiple!)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple)
Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (still uncommon here, but an uptick came in)
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler (multiple, but not that many)
Prairie Warbler (at least several)
Palm Warbler (multiple, but not that many; both forms, most are eastern still)
Bay-breasted Warbler (multiple! - more than 3)
Blackpoll Warbler (multiple, but not that many)
CERULEAN Warbler (male, perhaps / prob. same individual seen previously)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart (multiple, but far fewer than in previous weeks)
Worm-eating Warbler (at least 2, n. end & Strawberry Fields area)
Ovenbird (multiple, but not that many)
Northern Waterthrush (few)
Common Yellowthroat (fairly common)
Wilson's Warbler (several)
Canada Warbler (1, n. end)
-
Northern Cardinal (residents)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (fairly common)
Indigo Bunting (at least several)
Bobolink (at least 2 fly-overs, seen & heard calling, early a.m.)
Red-winged Blackbird (not many)
Common Grackle (not that many)
Brown-headed Cowbird (several)
Baltimore Oriole (few, compared with previous weeks)
Purple Finch (multiple calling fly-thru, a few or more feeding in various areas)
House Finch (residents)
American Goldfinch (scarce so far)
House Sparrow (ubiquitous)
A modest number of Monarch butterflies also on the move, thru much of the day.
"Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good? - Rachel Carson (1907-1964; marine biologist, conservationist, author whose books include Silent Spring. Sir David Attenborough has remarked that that book may have had an effect on science second only to Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species.)
Date: 9/23/18 3:57 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC 9/22
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City -
Saturday, 22 September, 2018 (last day of summer)
A (confirmed with photos) CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW in the Ramble was the top highlight, in a quite bird-filled day. At least 24 American Warbler species were found, a male Cerulean by far the least-expected (for fall, especially) here. There was a modest (but fairly good for Central Park) raptor flight, and a very strong Blue Jay migration all thru the day - these flights also seen from a variety of viewpoints around Manhattan. The numbers of Yellow-billed Cuckoo were higher than a typical fall day, & Black-billed Cuckoo were also found in the multiple, if just somewhat fewer than the former species. Typical of this part of the month of September, a few species not so expected by now were seen, as well as the start of later-fall migrants.
Common Loon (several high fly-overs)
Double-crested Cormorant (many fly-overs)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret (few)
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Canada Goose
Wood Duck (continuing)
Gadwall (continuing)
American Black Duck
Mallard (common)
Osprey (many fly-overs, all thru the day)
Bald Eagle (multiple fly-overs, various ages)
Northern Harrier (at least 2, a.m. fly-overs)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (multiple fly-overs)
Cooper's Hawk (at least several fly-overs)
Broad-winged Hawk (40+, but some observers may have seen more - an excellent near-coastal flight of this species in SE NY state & the vicinity is reported from multiple hawk-watch sites)
Red-tailed Hawk (residents)
Ring-billed Gull (fair numbers moving)
[American] Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
['feral'] Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Kestrel (migrants as well as local birds)
Merlin (at least several fly-overs)
Peregrine Falcon (residents, and poss. a few migrants in the day's flights)
Black-billed Cuckoo (minimum of 4, park-wide)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (minimum of 8, park-wide)
Common Nighthawk (early a.m. - but not recorded by me in the eve.)
Chuck-will's-widow (as noted, 1 in the Ramble, seen by many with some photos taken in difficult light)
Chimney Swift (multiple fly-overs)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (multiple migrants, and at least a few feeding in the park’s flowered areas)
Belted Kingfisher (at least 2)
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (1 continued at north end)
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted Flicker (multiple, but no strong flight noted in a.m.)
Eastern Wood-Pewee (fewer)
Empidonax [genus] Flycatcher (at least several, poss. of several species, including Least)
Eastern Phoebe (multiple)
Great Crested Flycatcher (at least 2)
Blue-headed Vireo (multiple)
Warbling Vireo (becoming scarcer)
Red-eyed Vireo (still fairly common)
Blue Jay (total for day, in diurnal flight, easily 3,000+ - many seen still moving at 4-5 p.m. & later)
American Crow (some apparent movement)
Tree Swallow (a few small flocks, early a.m., & high, as is rather typical in Central, when seen in the fall)
Black-capped Chickadee (very few)
Tufted Titmouse (very few)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (good influx, perhaps 40+ in all of the park; also a couple noted in greenspaces)
White-breasted Nuthatch (present, & poss. a few also on the move)
Carolina Wren (few)
House Wren (multiple, but not that many)
Winter Wren (several; & still slightly early)
Marsh Wren (several; still on the early side)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (few)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (at least 1, Ramble)
Veery (multiple, but far fewer now)
Gray-cheeked / Bicknell’s Thrush (a few of this type, calls not heard nor closely-studied for plumage detail)
Swainson's Thrush (many)
Hermit Thrush (1 definitive, still quite early; giving a diagnostic call as well as typical tail-raising behavior)
Wood Thrush (multiple, but not that many)
American Robin (not especially numerous)
Gray Catbird (still common)
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher (fair numbers, some in small groups in early a.m.)
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing (multiple, but no big flights noticed)
Scarlet Tanager (multiple)
Eastern Towhee (few, and still rather early)
Chipping Sparrow (very few noted)
Song Sparrow (few)
Lincoln's Sparrow (1, Great Hill, w. edge)
Swamp Sparrow (at least 2)
White-throated Sparrow (multiple, but not very many)
-
Tennessee Warbler (at least several, esp. at Great Hill, a.m.)
Nashville Warbler (multiple, but not many)
Northern Parula (multiple)
Yellow Warbler (multiple, but not many)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (multiple, but not that many)
Magnolia Warbler (multiple)
Cape May Warbler (multiple!)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (multiple)
Yellow-rumped [Myrtle] Warbler (still uncommon here, but an uptick came in)
Black-throated Green Warbler
Pine Warbler (multiple, but not that many)
Prairie Warbler (at least several)
Palm Warbler (multiple, but not that many; both forms, most are “eastern” still)
Bay-breasted Warbler (multiple! - more than 3)
Blackpoll Warbler (multiple, but not that many)
CERULEAN Warbler (male, perhaps / prob. same individual seen previously)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart (multiple, but far fewer than in previous weeks)
Worm-eating Warbler (at least 2, n. end & Strawberry Fields area)
Ovenbird (multiple, but not that many)
Northern Waterthrush (few)
Common Yellowthroat (fairly common)
Wilson's Warbler (several)
Canada Warbler (1, n. end)
-
Northern Cardinal (residents)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (fairly common)
Indigo Bunting (at least several)
Bobolink (at least 2 fly-overs, seen & heard calling, early a.m.)
Red-winged Blackbird (not many)
Common Grackle (not that many)
Brown-headed Cowbird (several)
Baltimore Oriole (few, compared with previous weeks)
Purple Finch (multiple calling fly-thru, a few or more feeding in various areas)
House Finch (residents)
American Goldfinch (scarce so far)
House Sparrow (ubiquitous)
A modest number of Monarch butterflies also on the move, thru much of the day.
— — —
"Have we fallen into a mesmerized state that makes us accept as inevitable that which is inferior or detrimental, as though having lost the will or the vision to demand that which is good?” - Rachel Carson (1907-1964; marine biologist, conservationist, author whose books include ‘Silent Spring’. Sir David Attenborough has remarked that that book may have had an effect on science second only to Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”.)
Date: 9/22/18 4:21 pm From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Central Park, NYC - putative C.-w.-widow ++, 9/22
Central Park, Manhattan, N.Y. City - Saturday, 22 Sept., ‘18
On this final day of summer, 2018, a nightjar thought to be a Chuck-will’s-widow was found near the source of the Gill (just east) in the Ramble - this is also immediately east of the Azalea Pond. With some decent photos, a definitive identification might be coming. Many observers up to the 5 pm hour.
Also notable today, a (probably-continuing) male Cerulean Warbler, to the west of the Great Lawn & immediately north of the Delacorte Theater. As well as a wide variety of more-expected end-of-summer & start-of-fall migrants. Amonst these, a fairly high count of 2 Cuckoo species, with Yellow-billed outnumbering Black-billed, and seen in varioius sections of Central Park.
Date: 9/22/18 2:43 pm From: matthieu.benoit76 <matthieu.benoit76...> Subject: Re: [nysbirds-l] Black legged kittiwake, Fort tilden
For those who asked, the group with the kittiwake is now just in front of the driveway on the eastmost side of fort tilden, slowly moving east.
Matthieu
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
-------- Original message --------From: "matthieu.benoit76" <matthieu.benoit76...> Date: 9/22/18 5:06 PM (GMT-05:00) To: nys birds <NYSbirds-L...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Black legged kittiwake, Fort tilden
1 juv now feeding very close to shore with the group of gulls and terns feeding over the dolphin group. Just at the end of trail that go from battery harris to the beach.
I had a golden plover flyover at the battery 1 hour ago. Multiple whimbrels in that area too.
Matthieu
Date: 9/22/18 2:07 pm From: matthieu.benoit76 <matthieu.benoit76...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Black legged kittiwake, Fort tilden
1 juv now feeding very close to shore with the group of gulls and terns feeding over the dolphin group. Just at the end of trail that go from battery harris to the beach.
I had a golden plover flyover at the battery 1 hour ago. Multiple whimbrels in that area too.
Matthieu
Date: 9/22/18 12:17 pm From: Richard Veit <rrveit23...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Northern raven seen
While driving at 1.8 mph on the Buckner expressway near exit 47 at 6 pm Friday afternoon . Bird was calling from atop a wooden water tank on a self storage building. Don’t ask what I was doing there at that time
Date: 9/22/18 5:33 am From: Gail Benson <gbensonny...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] NYC Area RBA: 21 September 2018
-RBA
* New York
* New York City, Long Island, Westchester County
* Sept. 21, 2018
* NYNY1809.21
- Birds Mentioned
WHITE IBIS+
MISSISSIPPI KITE+
(+ Details requested by NYSARC)
Cory’s Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Broad-winged Hawk
Virginia Rail
Sora
American Golden-Plover
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
MARBLED GODWIT
BAIRD’S SANDPIPER
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER
Long-billed Dowitcher
Parasitic Jaeger
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Royal Tern
Red-headed Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
WESTERN KINGBIRD
Blue-headed Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Purple Finch
Worm-eating Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
CONNECTICUT WARBLER
CERULEAN WARBLER
Yellow-breasted Chat
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW
LARK SPARROW
BLUE GROSBEAK
DICKCISSEL
Greetings! This is the New York Rare Bird Alert for Friday, September 21,
2018 at 11 pm. The highlights of today's tape are WHITE IBIS, MISSISSIPPI
KITE, MARBLED and HUDSONIAN GODWITS, BUFF-BREASTED and BAIRD’S SANDPIPERS,
CONNECTICUT and CERULEAN WARLERS, LARK and CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS, BLUE
GROSBEAK, DICKCISSEL and more.
This week’s two most unusual reports both involve rather brief sightings,
first an adult WHITE IBIS flying north over JFK Bird Sanctuary at Tobay
late Sunday morning and then an adult MISSISSIPPI KITE moving south over
Clove Lakes Park on Staten Island Monday morning – neither have been
reported since.
A WESTERN KINGBIRD found Saturday at the Alley Pond Environmental Center
did stick around for the day, unlike the one only seen in flight at Jones
Beach West End Wednesday morning.
Single MARBLED GODWITS last Sunday out in Jamaica Bay and at Cupsogue
County Park in Westhampton Dunes were followed by five together on the bar
east of the Jones Beach West End Coast Guard Station on Thursday afternoon.
HUDSONIAN GODWITS included one on the sod fields off Route 51 in Centerport
Sunday increasing to two by Thursday, these fields just east of Route 111,
another HUDSONIAN at Mecox Inlet Wednesday and Thursday, and one in
Eastport today.
A BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER at Heckscher State Park Saturday was followed
Sunday by two on the Route 51 sod fields and another briefly at Cupsogue,
and a BAIRD’S SANDPIPER was spotted out at Breezy Point this morning.
Four WHIMBRELS were out on the Jamaica Bay islands last Sunday, two again
today.
Two AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERS were at Mecox Wednesday and Thursday, with two
more at Heckscher Thursday, and six LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS were among the
Santapogue Creek shorebirds present off Venetian Boulevard in West Babylon
last Sunday.
Last Saturday at Mecox there were six CASPIAN, fourteen ROYAL and four
BLACK TERNS, with six more ROYAL TERNS at Brooklyn’s Plumb Beach, and today
two CASPIAN TERNS visited Playland Park in Rye.
A MANX SHEARWATER was in Long Island Sound just west of Montauk Point last
Monday, with a few CORY’S SHEARWATERS also noted there, and two CORY’S off
Mecox yesterday were joined by three PARASITIC JAEGERS.
Two SORAS were at the south end of the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife
Refuge last Sunday, and a VIRGINIA RAIL visited Prospect Park Wednesday.
Among the birds noted during a morning flight on Wednesday at Robert Moses
State Park were an UPLAND SANDPIPER and three DICKCISSELS.
Several reports of PHILADELPHIA VIREOS this week included singles last
Saturday at Coney Island Creek, Jones Beach West End and Southards Pond in
Babylon, with birds also in Central and Prospect Parks this week.
A BLUE GROSBEAK stayed at Jones Beach West End from Saturday to at least
Thursday.
A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was found at Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery on
Wednesday, and single LARK SPARROWS were noted in Brooklyn at Calvert Vaux
Park last Saturday and at Owls Head Park yesterday.
An adult male CERULEAN WARBLER was a surprise in Central Park Thursday, and
CONNECTICUT WARBLERS this week were reported at Heckscher State Park
Saturday and Floyd Bennet Field Sunday, while the good variety of
additional WARBLERS also included WORM-EATING and ORANGE-CROWNED among the
more expected species.
A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was seen in Central Park last Saturday as well as
yesterday and today at the north end.
Besides at Connetquot River State Park, single RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were
noted on Wednesday at Fort Tilden and Croton Point Park. Other notable
migrants this week featured YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER, BLUE-HEADED VIREO,
more PURPLE FINCHES, and a good variety of HAWKS including some
BROAD-WINGEDS, with the bulk of these moving well inland this year.
To phone in reports, on Long Island call Tony Lauro at (631) 734 4126 or
call Tom Burke at (914) 967-4922 and leave a message.
This service is sponsored by the Linnaean Society of New York and the
National Audubon Society. Thank you for calling.
