Aaaaaand we're back!

WTF?!? Ill tell you WTF...gmail and blogger got the ish hacked out of them. Someone or something broke into my gmail and emailed everyone in my address book potentially virus laden spam. As a result, blogger flagged my account as a spammer but within the span of a few hours viola, ish was back like nothing happened.
These are not the droids youre looking for...huzzzah?
So now that I've put the fear of the Chinese in you for ever trusting anything on the internets, here's some more pix from the wonderful world of birds. I give you:
Anatomy of a Peregrine Kill!

Pigeon flies into the hole.

Peregrine flies into hole.

Peregrine surprises pigeon and begins to kill it.
Pigeon cries bloody murder for about 90 seconds.

Peregrine feasts on bird for the next 20 minutes.

The culprit emerges, gore still on his talons!

Almost Fledging (Part 3)

Although not directly observable, the Riverside Peregrines are behaving as if they have young. Using the 55 Water St. peregrines as a guide, Id say they are about 1-2 weeks away from fledging. Here they are drying out on the scaffolding that still remains around the Church.



The male before stooping out on Morningside.

Talk about synchronicity!

Nesting Season '09

So far '09 is looking positive as all the familiar resident raptors claim their territory from over-wintering juveniles. A few early pairs are already sitting on the nest...here's some updates.
One of the Cathedral hawks over the Dwyer. They have both been making forays northward recently.

At 150th I saw an adult rth ward off this juvy.

As it passes the Polo Grounds.

I have seen the kestrels around here too, but none of them mating yet. I did catch this pair at 177th St. and Amsterdam Ave.



Nearby at Highbridge,

This pair understand that the key to a relationship is good communication!

A closeup of the female.


She sprang down from the branch, weaving through the woods, redtail bobbing!
I tracked her to the nest where she settled down. (Same location as 2 yrs ago).

Further north, the Broadway Peregrines are still doing their thing. I got shots of them mating again, but they were bad. Yes, it has come to this, Im censoring falcon porn.




Last but not least, I made out this curious sight in Highbridge, near the hawk nest.

Nice raccoon loft!

If anyone has any info on raptors sightings in Harlem, let me know. Good luck!

Bike Trip around Manhattan

Due to the warm weather, I decided to do a bike tour of all of Northern Manhattan. Starting at 125th St., over to the Harlem Piers, then North all the way to Inwood, around to Broadway Bridge, and then south via the Harlem River, I was able to make a pretty in-depth survey of over-wintering wildlife.

Here's a tally of what I found:
At the Harlem Piers, two canvasbacks continue,

while there were also these newcomers...

3 American Black Ducks!
I was also able to observe the Riverside Peregrines, and 1 adult

and 1 juvy RTH over this section of Riverside Park. Working North, the park was devoid of all waterfowl save for one or two mallards, scads of ringbilled gulls

and 1 small group of Canada Geese (much depreciated from their numbers even last week).
At the GWB, I saw no evidence of peregrines, eagles or any other raptor, but working just 5 blocks to the North, was a very shy and secretive Adult RTH moving down along the Henry Hudson Parkway. It was here that I almost died due to the icy/slush conditions! Regaining my composure, I passed Ft. Tryon and up into Inwood Hill. Songbird activity was hushed, no doubt due to the presence of hawks. At the Ranger Station, I observed 4 Redtailed Hawks--2 adults and 2 juvys--kettling up over the soccer fields.

They scattered in different directions, and I scanned the waterline for more ducks. Finally after scouring the nooks and crannies, I discovered a raft of 6 more Canvasbacks!!!

Including this shy female (a lifer).

Refueling at Indian Road Cafe, I then shot over to Broadway Bridge, where I encountered the 2 resident peregrines hunting along the towers as well as 2 more redtailed hawks way out over Kingsbridge.



Here's the remains of breakfast.

The light and relative warmth made for an enjoyable afternoon here. If I had more time, I would've stayed till night fly-in. But now to the South I traveled, hitting up Swindler's Cove on the Harlem River. I found many ring-billed gulls, mallards,

more black ducks and this gal, skulking in the trees!



I was not able to observe the Highbridge Pair of RTH's, but way out over 180th in the Bronx I did see 2 adult RTH's circling each other...perhaps the Fordham U. pair?
By now I was pretty beat, so I exited off the bike path onto 155th for my final surprise...

The overwintering Merlin, high on a Watertower.

Species totals:
4 peregrines, 2 riverside church, 2 broadway bridge.
10 rths, 1 125th st, 1 145th St. 1 185th St., 4 Inwood Hill, 2 180th over the BX and 1 over Highbridge and 155th.
2 Coopers: 1 Swindler's Cove, 1 Kingsbridge
10 canvasbacks: 2 harlem piers, 6 columbia boathouse, 2 Harlem River
10 black ducks, 3 harlem piers, 7 Swindler's Cove
near-death experiences: 2
surveying so much natural beauty in NYC: priceless!

Harlem Piers

Although to-date no Bald Eagles have been spotted off this pier, there still continues to be surprises. The Black-backed gulls, the hooded mergansers and even the occasional peregrine, this spot is always active. Its secret lies in its design: It serves as a natural windbreak and break water on the Hudson currents, enabling diving ducks to work the shoreline. Today was another level of awesomeness with what I found. Two adult male canvasbacks!

They allowed me to get fairly close,

as they engaged in diving, and all sorts of dramatic preening!



Magnificent Duck!

Here's some green thrown in as complimentary contrast.

Also seen nearby, the peregrine pair.


And this juvy RTH on 140th and FDB.