Thursday, December 19, 2013

How to find the Varied Thrush



If you want to see New York's latest unusual visitor, here are clear directions via Tom Fiore:


Varied Thrush -- [imm, female, male] picture courtesy of Birds.Audubon.com





Manhattan, east side east of First Ave.,  below 20th Street; Wed., 18 Dec., 2013
Of the adult male Varied Thrush seen today (esp. well before a Sharp-shinned Hawk put in an appearance directly above the thrush's favored feeding areas, and then in nearby trees on the inner oval - where the large Christmas tree, as well as prominent menorah both near a small guard-booth, & quite close by the "Study", a book-filled library space, are all good visual cues to the spots the thrush may like, it's also adjacent to bldg. No. 11 on the west side of the oval) - it may also be added that the proper street to walk in, headed to the east from First Ave. is: 18th St. - that will lead one in to the oval, and almost anyone in the grounds can likely direct a visitor to the oval & holiday tree & menorah area, as well as the library. There is also a small cafe within the oval circle perimeter that is not more than 100 yards to the south. Please use discretion in observing, & be polite to all others - this is a residential area off of the main streets of Manhattan. There is also security in the vicinity.

I'd assume this thrush will be in the general area (of Stuyvesant town) for the duration, until & unless a series of negative (non) sightings comes in lasting multiple days. The thrush is naturally shy and may take a while to show. I'd also ask that anyone who hears it call or sing add that to their report[s] & it ought to be obvious, please-please-please do NOT play a recording to a bird that is already well out of range - let it do what it will here - may it have a fair chance in N.Y. City.


good birding,


Tom Fiore

Manhattan

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

114th Annual Christmas Bird Count results


Susan Elbin of the New York City Audubon just sent in a report of the species tallied at the 12/15/13 Christmas Bird Count:
Hooded Merganser - Central Park -- 12/12/07
Photo by LLOYD SPITALNIK - http://www.lloydspitalnikphots.com

The 114th Annual Christmas Bird Count was held in Central Park on 15 December 2013. The day started with a snow storm and ice, but by the time the count began, the skies were merely overcast. Temperatures were just below freezing at 8 am but rose to 36 degrees by mid-day. We were 75 birders on slush and ice. Many of us discovered our waterproof boots weren't all that! 

We are still checking some flock numbers and count week birds with other teams, and this is not the full count circle (NJLH), but here is the tally so far. We saw 5,414 birds representing 62 species. There was one each of Snow Goose, Green-winged Teal, and Bald Eagle at the Reservoir; a Baltimore Oriole in the Ramble; and an American Woodcock in the Northwest section. Noticeable by their absence were Black-capped Chickadees (n=1) and Tufted Titmouse (n=1)!
There was a large flock of Canada Geese flying over Manhattan on Sunday. 

The tally so far:
Species
Total
Snow Goose
1
Canada Goose
455
Wood Duck
10
Gadwall
3
Black Duck
5
Mallard
497
Northern Shoveler
143
Green-winged Teal
1
Lesser Scaup
4
Bufflehead
14
Common Merganser
7
Hooded Merganser
17
Ruddy Duck
25
Pied-billed Grebe
3
Double-crested Cormorant
2
Great Blue Heron
3
Cooper's Hawk
4
Red-shouldered Hawk
1
Red-tailed Hawk
7
Bald Eagle
1
American Kestrel
4
American Coot
19
American Woodcock
1
Ring-billed Gull
181
Herring Gull
28
Great Black-backed Gull
3
Rock Pigeon
459
Mourning Dove
93
Red-bellied Woodpecker
37
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
19
Downy Woodpecker
34
Hairy Woodpecker
2
Northern Flicker
7
Blue Jay
165
American Crow
17
Black-capped Chickadee
1
Tufted Titmouse
1
White-breasted Nuthatch
1
Brown Creeper
9
Carolina Wren
8
Winter Wren
1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
4
Hermit Thrush
5
American Robin
45
Gray Catbird
1
Northern Mockingbird
6
Brown Thrasher
4
European Starling
263
Eastern Towhee
4
Chipping Sparrow
3
Fox Sparrow
8
Song Sparrow
26
White-throated Sparrow
526
Dark-eyed Junco
73
Northern Cardinal
78
Red-winged Blackbird
7
Common Grackle
978
Brown-headed Cowbird
12
Baltimore Oriole
1
House Finch
74
American Goldfinch
10
House Sparrow
993

Good Birding in the New Year!

Susan Elbin
compiler

Monday, December 16, 2013

Results of Brooklyn Christmas Count - Manhattan to come and FULL MOON


FULL MOON tonight [ actually, at 10:28 tomorrow morning...]
***************************************************************************
Brooklyn XMas Count Annual Report: 2013
Bold = All time high / low
Italic = 10-year high/low
Low count stats exclude miss years
Species
#
Snow Goose
130
Brant
15723
Cackling Goose
2
NEW FOR COUNT
Canada Goose
1607
Mute Swan
171
Wood Duck
10
IRR; ALL-TIME HIGH (by almost 4x)
Gadwall
126
American Wigeon
126
American Black Duck
732
Mallard
888
10-yr hi
Northern Shoveler
484
Northern Pintail
2
Green-winged Teal
98
Canvasback
2
All-time low (tie)
Greater Scaup
1778
Lesser Scaup
81
Surf Scoter
46
White-winged Scoter
19
Black Scoter
64
Scoter (sp.)
2
Long-tailed Duck
249
Bufflehead
621
Common Goldeneye
11
Hooded Merganser
109
All-time high
Red-breasted Merganser
571
Ruddy Duck
279
Ring-necked Pheasant
1
All-time low (tie)
Red-throated Loon
27
Common Loon
66
Pied-billed Grebe
5
Horned Grebe
99
Red-necked Grebe
1
Northern Gannet
208
Double-crested Cormorant
130
Great Cormorant
52
Great Blue Heron
12
10-year low
Northern Harrier
12
All-time low 
Sharp-shinned Hawk
5
Cooper's Hawk
9
10-year low
Red-tailed Hawk
13
10-year low
American Kestrel
1
10-year low
Merlin
1
10-year low
Peregrine Falcon
3
10-year low
Clapper Rail
3
IRR
American Coot
46
Black-bellied Plover
20
Semipalmated Plover
1
RARE
Killdeer
17
10-year high
Greater Yellowlegs
7
Ruddy Turnstone
3
IRR
Sanderling
401
Purple Sandpiper
23
Dunlin
38
Wilson's Snipe
1
RARE
American Woodcock
1
Bonaparte's Gull
242
Ring-billed Gull
6797
Herring Gull
1616
All-time low
Great Black-backed Gull
150
All-time low
Rock Pigeon
704
Mourning Dove
150
Monk Parakeet
10
10-year low
Snowy Owl
15
IRR; ALL-TIME HIGH (by c. 4x)
Belted Kingfisher
1
10-year low
Red-headed Woodpecker
1
RARE
Red-bellied Woodpecker
33
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
22
Downy Woodpecker
30
Northern Flicker
8
All-time low 
Blue Jay
62
American Crow
70
All-time low 
Horned Lark
50
Tree Swallow
4
IRR
Black-capped Chickadee
4
All-time low 
Tufted Titmouse
4
All-time low 
White-breasted Nuthatch
5
10-year low
Brown Creeper
1
10-year low
Carolina Wren
34
Winter Wren
2
Hermit Thrush
11
American Robin
33
10-year low
Gray Catbird
5
Northern Mockingbird
32
10-year low
European Starling
924
All-time low 
American Pipit
2
10-year low
Cedar Waxwing
3
10-year low
Orange-crowned Warbler
2
IRR
Nashville Warbler
1
RARE
Yellow-rumped Warbler
135
All-time low 
Palm Warbler
1
Eastern Towhee
2
10-year low
American Tree Sparrow
59
Chipping Sparrow
4
Field Sparrow
6
Savannah Sparrow
36
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
1
RARE
Sharp-tailed Sparrow (sp.)
1
RARE
Fox Sparrow
50
10-year high
Song Sparrow
247
Swamp Sparrow
86
10-year high
White-throated Sparrow
377
Dark-eyed Junco
207
Snow Bunting
251
10-year high
Northern Cardinal
153
Red-winged Blackbird
111
Eastern Meadowlark
1
10-year low
Rusty Blackbird
3
IRR
Common Grackle
2
Brown-headed Cowbird
356
House Finch
156
American Goldfinch
164
House Sparrow
418
Total:        110  species
             38,991  individuals