Kettle Five

For the past few weeks, strange hawks have been spotted in the north part of Central Park, in particular, over the ballfields/Mt. Sinai area. From my obervations, there seems to be a family of 5...two adults and three juveniles. Here they are kettling up!

They then formed up and flew southwest.

Kestrel Flight Shots

Got a sequence from this female downtown.

Kestrel vs. Crow

In what has become a fairly regular occurance, young crows spar with young kestrels. There seems to be a high intensity to these contests, each matching its new found abilities against the other. On the one hand, the crow has size and power. In level flight, a crow can run down a kestrel. But the manuverability and turn radius of the kestrel are second to none.


The kestrel dives at the crow!

The crow picks up the chase...


Here the kestrel turns the tails on the crow. It appears that the kestrel could do the crow some damage here if it really wanted to.

They dip behind the rooftops!

And re-emerge again!

After running the crows off,

The kestrel took up aa favored position.

Quiet Corner

I sat down in a quiet corner of the park. After about 20 minutes, I realized I had been sharing the spot with a shy but industrious ruby throated hummingbird. She was nice enough to let me get some great pix and a vid!

The Lord of Kingsbridge

The north tip of Manhattan, which flows into the Bronx, is the convergence of many geographical features. The upper part of Manhattan is know as Inwood Hill, from there, Broadway crosses the aptly named Broadway Bridge ( a structured truss draw bridge that also hosts the 1 train) and into Kingsbridge. Kingsbridge is divided into Spuyten Dyvil, Marble Hill and then Kingsbridge proper. All of these geographical prominences as well as vast stocks of pidgeons, starlings and sparrows can only spell one thing: peregrine falcons. In the vast bridgeworks of the south tower, I heard a juvenile loudly calling.

One of the parents showed up...


All the nearby pidgeons scrambled for cover.

And the falcon alit on a truss.

Its body language showed it was intently scanning the sky for movement.

Backyard Wildlife

After a few months of training, the young male kestrel is truly independent. After watching a number of unsuccessful attempts, the tercel snagged a sparrow right in front of my window!



This bluejay showed up to see what the ruckus was about.

but dove off when he realized!

While another hunter went about her work.

Fire Island

Here's a sampling of the flora and fauna!
American Copper

American Fishing Boat on the rough surf!

Tern


The remains of the herring gulls lunch on the dock.

Notice the discoloration in the shell. The shell was fragile in that area, indicating some type of defect.

Gray Hairstreak

Buckeye

Monarch

Thistle

Unknown flower

Sunken Beach

Keeping Time