Riverside Park 125-155

As luck or geography would have it, the low lying area of 125th St. is the perfect border for neighboring redtails. I often see Cathedral Pair patrolling up to the Grant Apts over on Amsterdam before slicing South towards Wadleigh or even Mt. Sinai. Much less is known about the pair to the North, which I have been calling the CCNY pair. Sometimes I catch glimpses of the female over St. Nicholas Park and then North to 155th. Recently I had a chance to observe an adult male hunting over their territory, with him diving just past my building. By the time I had a shot he'd made his way over to PS 157 on 126th.

Numerous gulls made close passes to the hawk.

Suddenly it flew West down on some unseen birds. I lost track of the bird after then...super stealth hawk! Prey birds returned and I knew the hawk had left the area.

Next up was some mangu y cafe at Floridita's for the frigid trek to the Harlem Piers. Adverse conditions be damned, its an amazing experience to be out in the middle of the ice flows! I was looking for eagles, but instead found these great black backed gulls squabbling over a submerged fish carcass.


Juvenile

Adult

There was also the female peregrine over at Riverside Church (she can be just made out on the middle left on the scaffolding).

Making my way north I ended up at Riverbank State Park, where I happened upon this handsome quartet!

They would all dive down...


and then come up with the tough little crabs. Then would then vigourously shake them till they fell apart!

Lots of Canada Geese also. Here they are side by side for some scale.

Since the "Miracle on the Hudson" I have been paying close attention to the movements of Canada Geese. Looking over my pix from Jones Beach, Inwood, Riverside Park, Central Park and Highbridge Park, its clear the area has a ton of over-wintering geese. Its not hard to understand why. They eat grass, everything north of here is frozen and iced over, so they come to where there's an abundant supply. Until the powers that be figure out how to limit their food supply, there will always be lots of these large birds in our area.




All I can tell you is that when this adult RThawk showed up, the geese skadaddled in a hurry!

Later I watched it kiting on the wind, diving down into the Park, and juuust missing this pigeon!