Monday, December 29, 2008

Tip of Manhattan

Its no secret that I love traveling up to the tip of Manhattan to observe all the wonderful raptor action there. This go around was no different, with the resident peregrines of Broadway Bridge providing a thrilling spectacle of their amazing agility.
From their perch on the south tower, they steadily eyed the thousands of starlings that made their way to the Bridge to roost, snapping them up as they vectored in. Here's one unfortunate birdy!

The pigeons wisely stayed out of the fray!

Here's one of the many groups of starlings as they make their way to the North Tower.

I also spied a RTH hunting over Kingsbridge to the east.
Over at Inwood Hill, there was this juvy making his way through.

He/she allowed us to get quite close, without taking any notice. This leads me to believe that its one of this year's fledges from the Park. One of the adults that cut through the Park, also let be in peace. As we wound through the Park, there was very limited songbird activity. Over near a cluster of pines, I found copious amounts of owl slices...but no owls! A quick check of the ground did reveal these!

These tightly packed pellets were still wet...probably cast off from that nights feeding. They were comprised entirely of staring feathers, further demonstrating how the huge neighborhood flocks are providing much needed sustenance to a wide-range of Urban Raptors. Last but not least, the warm air mass provided great wind for hundreds of wandering gulls.

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