Category Archives: birding

Winter 2016 Review

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December 2015 was unusually mild, and unseasonably warm conditions continued to prevail over Winter 2016, allowing some species that are usually gone by January to linger throughout part or all of the season. At the same time these conditions discouraged a number of species that usually visit Manhattan in the winter from moving south.

The overall effect was an excellent winter species total for me of 86 through March 21, just one bird off my best (in 2013). By contrast my lowest post-2011 total was 78 last year (2015). But Winter 2015 was better than my species total for it suggests, just as Winter 2016 was not as good.

The problem is that my Winter 2016 total is padded with lingering species that I would be certain to get later in the year, and it is missing many that will be very difficult to get.

These common species that lingered include Cedar Waxwing, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Gray Catbird, Swamp Sparrow, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Northern Flicker, and two warblers: Wilson’s and Black-and-white. Yes, I generally do have a few of these birds (not the warblers) during the winter, but not all of them.

I missed Lesser Scaup, which in other years was an easy winter bird, and one that is very hard to get later in the year. I also missed Horned Lark, American Pipit, both loons, Long-eared Owl, Red-necked Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, and American Tree Sparrow. Most of these species were not reported by anyone. There was a single report of Red-necked Grebe on the Hudson in Chelsea, but travel time would have made the chase odds not so good. Common Loon is still very likely to show up on the Reservoir this spring (and on the East River), but there is less-than-even chance for Red-throated Loon.

As I said in my first post of 2016, I am not planning another big year. Still, I like winter birding. Very few birders go out in the winter. Aside from the feeder area, I mostly have Central Park to myself.

Highlights

I had two life birds this winter — Lapland Longspur on January 31 and Glaucous Gull on March 6 — which is outstanding. Last winter I did not have any.

I did not write up my chase of the Glaucous Gull on the Reservoir, which was well-reported but which lingered for roughly only a half-hour after the initial report. I was particularly glad to get this species because an unexpected event forced me to cancel a visit to Governors Island in March 2015 where a Glaucous Gull ended up being observed.

I also had these very good birds: Great Horned Owl, Pine Siskin, Orange-crowned Warbler, Ring-necked Duck, Snow Goose, Common Merganser, Common Goldeneye, Canvasback, Horned Grebe, Merlin, American Woodcock, and Common Raven.

[Follow-up: The last ten days of the March were very productive for finding new species for the year. I added these:

87 Golden-crowned Kinglet Central Park–The Ramble 23-Mar
88 Pine Warbler Central Park–The Ramble 23-Mar
89 Fish Crow Central Park–North End 25-Mar
90 Eastern Bluebird Central Park–North End 26-Mar
91 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Central Park–Great Hill 27-Mar
92 Osprey Riverside Park–79th St. Boat Basin 30-Mar
93 Great Egret Central Park–Turtle Pond 31-Mar
94 Palm Warbler Central Park–North End 31-Mar
95 Chipping Sparrow Central Park–North End 31-Mar

95 species is my highest-ever total through March 31.]

Lapland Longspur, Randall’s Island

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Just as I was about to head to the gym at 1:58 p.m. I received a text alert of an NYSBirds posting: Tom Fiore had learned of a Lapland Longspur on the northeast shore of Randall’s Island from another birder and had seen it for himself. The gym would have to wait.

The last eBird record of Lapland Longspur in Manhattan on land is from 1956 — a retroactively-entered historical record from Central Park. Andrew Farnsworth observed a pair via overnight flight call recording in 2010. For Manhattan it is thus an extreme rarity. Nevertheless, it has been on my short list of species I expect to get for some time. One reason is that it keeps showing up nearby every year. There was a 2013 observation in Van Cortlandt Park just to the north in the Bronx. There are annual observations of it at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.

Another reason is that Manhattan has suitable habitat for it. Lapland Longspurs like to winter on open grasslands and tilled fields, and they seem to travel near the water when they pass through the New York City area. So Randall’s Island and Governor’s Island are great for it, and the fields of Inwood Hill Park also offer possibilities — a stopover point for those moving along the Hudson.

I printed out the directions to the bird, dressed appropriately (galoshes because Randall’s Island fields tend to flood when snow melts), and ran for the subway, catching the express to 125th Street. From there I ran across the RFK Bridge and onto the island’s northeast fields. I saw no other birders. I also saw no bird. Then it popped up out of the grass right next to the shore, just south of the sign for ball field #31. It was ten yards away, and my presence did not seem to bother it. I observed it for a few minutes and issued a #birdcp Twitter alert at 2:48 p.m. Then I left the area — I did not want to risk spooking the bird and making it harder for others to observe. Andrew Farnsworth found it in the same place 90 minutes later.

A Big Week, But Not a Big Year

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In the first eight days of 2016 I had 62 bird species in Manhattan, my strongest-ever start to a year. My list is notable for the many fall birds that remained during the unusually warm December: Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Black-and-White Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, Hermit Thrush, Eastern Towhee, Cedar Waxwing, and Northern Flicker.

It is also notable for the absence of many species, mostly waterfowl, that I usually have in January. I had no unusual ducks, geese, or gulls, just Brant and Red-breasted Merganser. No loons.

Even so, I definitely will not be doing another big year in 2016. I have done four of those, the first of which — in 2012 — was the subject of my book.

Big-year birding requires a great deal of time and effort spread throughout the year. In 2016 I want to focus on some other challenges. I’ll still bird when I want to, perhaps even quite a bit at times. But I don’t want to put much effort into chasing or searching for species that I regularly have — and there are a lot of those.

Exactly how many? I did some list comparison to find out. I had 191 birds appear on both of my 2015 and 2014 year-lists. Of these, 179 also were on my 2013 list. A few, like Long-eared Owl and Chuck-will’s-widow, are rarities that could not be expected to show up most years. Still, this leaves roughly 175 birds that form the core of an annual Manhattan list. Only five Manhattan eBirders reported even this many species in 2015.

I will continue commenting here on both my own birding and Manhattan birding in general. To all my readers, best wishes for a great 2016!

Franklin’s Gull, Riverside Park

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The Franklin’s Gull looks very similar to the Laughing Gull. Both are common throughout their ranges, with the former occurring in the central swath of North America and the latter along the East Coast. I see Laughing Gulls frequently during summer and fall, mostly on Randall’s Island and in New York Harbor, but occasionally even on the Reservoir. I had never seen a Franklin’s Gull.

In fact, prior to this year there had been only one eBird record of Franklin’s Gull in New York City, and only a few in the entire metropolitan area.

But a powerful storm in the midwest coupled with sustained, strong westerly wind flows extending to the East Coast set in motion an epic Franklin’s Gull flight last week that brought large numbers of the species to New Jersey, New York, and adjoining states.

The morning of Friday, October 13 is when the first observations arrived, from Staten Island and Long Island. I had seen the wind map and was thinking about the possibility of vagrants. I intended to search the North End of Central Park midday for land birds, but Andrew Farnsworth suggested visiting the Hudson River to try for the Franklin’s Gulls. Given how far away the reports were, I thought the chance for success was very low, but then more reports came in and it was apparent that a large flight was taking place. I needed to visit the places where gulls congregate, as this is where the Franklin’s Gulls were likely to go.

My plan was to check out the Reservoir first since it was nearby and it always has a large gathering of gulls. Then I would zip down on the subway to Battery Park — the closest accessible point in Manhattan to where the Franklin’s Gulls were being seen — and watch the harbor and the Hudson.

Shortly after I had run to the Reservoir, at 1 p.m., an alert arrived from Jacob Drucker: he had seen two Franklin’s Gulls moving south on the Hudson River from the 70th Street Pier at 11 a.m. (A dead cell phone battery had prevented an immediate report.) Now it made no sense to waste time going to Battery Park — I needed to run for the Hudson, which I could do in under 2o minutes.

Cold westerly winds gusting over 30 mph hit me as soon as I arrived. I figured these would help to push birds over to the Manhattan side of the river, and indeed many waterfowl were taking shelter there in the marinas and coves. I wanted to check these calmer areas, so I walked south along the shore to just past 59th street. The Franklin’s Gulls were unlikely to be resting, but if they were then I would have no trouble identifying them at such close range.

I was disappointed to see a fairly steady stream of gulls moving south along the western side of the Hudson, nearly a mile away. The tall cliffs just beyond the New Jersey shore appeared to be sheltering these gulls from the wind somewhat. I had no chance of identifying Franklin’s Gulls at that distance (though I could just make out some Great Black-backeds), and it would not have helped me anyway — I needed Manhattan birds, meaning those no farther than the midpoint of the river.

At 2:51 p.m. I saw two very small gulls flying low to water, moving slowly, rising and falling. I was on the shore and they were just beyond and south of the 70th Street Pier.  At first I thought they might be Bonaparte’s Gulls, but then I saw their dark upper wings and partial hoods. They were Franklin’s Gulls!

I felt fortunate to have the observation and to be part of this historic day for East Coast birding. Andrew Farnsworth would get his on the East River just as the sun was setting. No other subsequent reports came from Manhattan.

Sora, Central Park Loch

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A substantial drop in temperature, into the low 50s, and moderate northwest winds the day and night before signaled that today could be a very good day for birding. I was expecting a strong raptor flight, which never developed. But other good things did.

I set out early to first check the Central Park Reservoir for new waterfowl and then head to the North End for sparrows and possibly Eastern Bluebird. But a text alert just before 8 a.m. of Nelson’s Sparrows on Randall’s Island’s northeast-shore saltmarsh made me reconsider. I had looked there for these ammodramus sparrows several times over the past week. And even though they generally linger for many days once they arrive, I did not want to pass up the chance to observe them when they were known to be present. I can reach Randall’s Island in twenty minutes from home, so I would still have plenty of time to chase any sightings in Central Park.

The skilled young birder who reported them on Twitter was still watching them when I arrived at 8:55. Though the Nelson’s Sparrows soon became much less active, I still saw them pop up in the low grass and reeds at least several times. We also heard an American Woodcock calling in the marsh. Further along the northeast shore we found a Lincoln’s Sparrow.

I ran back across the RFK Bridge and took the subway home. The plan was to eat, rest a bit, and then return to Central Park to watch the skies for raptors and waterfowl. Just as I was finishing eating, another text alert came in: a Sora was found in the Loch!

As I have mentioned before, Sora is a mega rarity for Manhattan. It is reported here perhaps only once every two or three years. The last one was in Bryant Park in October 2013.

I ran to the Loch, to an area between the two wooden bridges at the west end, and saw several birders observing the Sora. The bird was slowly moving along the Loch’s shore fifteen feet below in plain view, making for a very easy chase.

A Spate of Year Birds

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I have not posted in a few months because I was not observing any exceptional birds. The summer shorebird season was disappointing, with nothing new for me but the common and expected Semipalmated Sandpiper. There is still time for shorebirds, as two of the best from last year arrived in the late-September to early-November period.

Raptor movements have been sparse due to prevailing winds with easterly components. Still, I have managed to see the usual Osprey, Broad-winged Hawk, and Red-shouldered Hawk, the latter two only in very small numbers.

Then, in just the last eight days, I added five new birds to my year list.

  1. Many saw the two Connecticut Warblers that lingered at in the Trinity Church courtyard on September 21 and 22;
  2. An immature Red-Headed Woodpecker appeared in the Evodia area of Central Park on morning of the 24th;
  3. An Eastern Whip-poor-will was found roosting on a tree limb at the south end of the Loch early on the morning of the 26th. I raced out to see it, and it remained there the entire day;
  4. Later, on the afternoon of the 26th I had to run out to the North End again to chase a Grasshopper Sparrow on the Grassy Knoll. It appeared furtively a few times, sometimes in flight;
  5. Today, the 29th, a birder visiting from the West Coast reported on eBird seeing a Dickcissel in the Maintenance area of the Ramble sometime between 10:30 and noon. The description checked and the other birds on his list made sense, so I ran to Maintenance shortly after seeing the 12:23 eBird Rare Bird Alert.

The eBird report suggested to me that the bird had been on the small lawn directly east of the all-metal maintenance shed. It was said to associating, as Dickcissels often do, with a flock of House Sparrows. There was a such a House Sparrow flock there, occasionally drinking from the water that collected at the base of a public fountain. I stealthily watched the fountain area for fifteen minutes. No Dickcissel.

I also checked the perimeter of the area, which included the Maintenance Meadow proper. After forty minutes I still did not have the bird.

Then I decided to look into  the northeast corner of Maintenance, where I could see some House Sparrows feeding atop tall grasses and weeds and occasionally perching on the wire fence that encloses the entrance to the shed. Soon the Dickcissel appeared on the tall grass. Of the several Dickcissels I have seen in Manhattan, this one had the brightest yellow breast. It also had a very yellow supercilium.

Paul Sweet’s American Museum of Natural History midday walk was at Maintenance, so I told Paul about the bird and he brought the group over. After some minutes of searching he found the Dickcissel perching on the tree.

The Dickcissel lingered in the general area for the entire day and was seen by many.

Winter 2015 highlights

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From mid-January to late February I had to focus on a couple of issues that prevented me from devoting as much time as I usually do to birding. One of these was closing on my purchase of an Upper East Side co-op and then preparing for the two-block move out of the apartment where I had lived for over twenty years to the new one.

The winter was fairly forgiving in the sense that sought-after species generally appeared much more than once and did so at the locations where they were noted. A single Common Redpoll, for example, lingered at the Evodia feeders from January 23 until at least March 9. I observed this bird on several occasions. A drake Long-tailed Duck (a species that took me over three years of birding to see) continued underneath Broadway Bridge at the northern tip of Manhattan. I did not venture there to see this bird. Again, I am not doing another big year in 2015, though I may very well end up observing a lot of birds.

It was not a great winter for new life birds, however. The only bird anyone observed in New York County this winter that I did not already have is the Glaucous Gull that lingered from late January to early March in New York Harbor. I thought that this winter might have provided a Rough-legged Hawk — there certainly were many reports of the species in Brooklyn and the Meadowlands area of New Jersey — but no.

Aside from the birds I mentioned in previous blog posts (the Couch’s Kingbird and the Black-headed Gull) or above, these are my favorite birds of the winter — ones that I did observe:

  • American Tree Sparrow (both at the Central Park feeders and on Randall’s Island). In many years this can be a very tough sparrow to find.
  • Canvasback, nine of them, swimming in the Bronx Kill off Randall’s Island on February 22. An American Wigeon also showed up there that day;
  • Long-eared Owl in Shakespeare Garden on March 5. This or possibly another Long-eared Owl also roosted on the pines of Cherry Hill for at least several following days;
  • Common Goldeneye off Randall’s Island on March 6. This species did not show up as often as in previous years;
  • Common Merganser off Randall’s Island on March 8. This species also appeared under Broadway Bridge and, very briefly, on the Reservoir;
  • American Woodcock on the north shore of Randall’s Island on March 8. In my book I describe woodcock as very hard to find (which they were, in 2012), but in recent years they have been showing up in large numbers in Central Park. Some stay in place, visible but at least somewhat hidden, for the entire day;
  • Horned Grebe, a single bird swimming just south of the RFK bridge in the Harlem River on March 8;
  • Green-winged Teal on the Reservoir, March 16;
  • Red-necked Grebe, which I found swimming just offshore on the Hudson River near 65th Street on March 16, one of only two eBird reports of this species in Manhattan this winter;
  • Northern Pintail, three hens swimming off the northeast shore of Randall’s Island on March 17.