Luck O'the Irish

The birds of fortune were with me today! Although the light wasnt great, the birds were there and I got to witness some great behaviors. Starting at the Cathedral, I caught Isolde going on a nest break. Next at Broadway Bridge the Peregrines were perched together near the scrape. I watched them hunt and defend their turf from all comers. Eventually one disappeared and I found it on the lights of Columbia Field. Looking at the pic I see this bird is unbanded. This shot from 2010 shows both adults were banded birds which leads to the inevitable conclusion that this is a new unbanded female. At Inwood Hill Park, we located the new Hawk nest and witnessed a nest exchange. The nest doesnt look super sturdy, but lets hope for the best. Finally back on my roof I noticed a small falcon a few blocks away. As I watched, a male kestrel showed up. I thought they might be a pair...nope. Turns out the kestrel was trying to shoe the merlin off. Running a few blocks the birds remained on their perch. The kestrel did puff himself up a few times, but never directly threatened the merlin. After a while it tore down the block and spun down on some starlings. It seems to be in the area still so hopefully I can relocate it. In addition there were about 6 common ravens flying over 125th Street, northward at noon.