Why I love Science.

The natural world always holds a deeper mystery. Just when you think you know the deal, something else takes place that radically changes your understanding. The best tool for this discovery is science, based on observation, rather than heresay. As Darwin himself says, "To kill an error is as good a service as, and sometimes even better than, the establishing of a new truth or fact." For this I submit the case of the Morningside Kestrels!
The male still bringing food to the female.


Flying to the scrape after transferring the prey in Morningside Park.


I didnt hear chicks responding to his entry, so its hard to say where they are in the nesting period...but as I watched the female in Morningside, I noticed a dark shape dart towards a tv aerial on Manhattan Ave. As I spun around, I was incredulous to see a female kestrel dive into a hole! Amazed I checked back towards the female in Morningside Park, and she was still there. Incredibly, another male kestrel showed up and then promptly flew into the nest hole too!


At once I accepted the inevitable conclusion, there must be two independent kestrel nests, within 1 block of each other! Totally unprecedented. To seal the deal, I waited out the cavity in the late evening, to find the female heading home!



Here are the approximate locations of the scrapes.

Good luck to both nesters!