NYC Nesting Raptors

Water St. Peregrines Grant's Tomb Hawks Riverside Church Peregrines St. John Hawks Good Luck to all the Nesters!

Kestrel Fledges

These guys are popping out all over the City right now. Most of the emails I get are of a "small hawk" under a car. Thankfully its usually gone by the time I get there, meaning the bird is healthy enough to strike out again on its own. Here's a gallery of some recent close encounters.

Trapped in a Basement

It's the same old story: Hawk chases starling. Starling goes into air vent. Hawk goes into air vent. Hawk tumbles down air vent into basement. Super opens door and hawk is in basement. What you wind up with is a very PO'ed adult red-tailed hawk in a confined basement that it has zero chance of escaping from. So Super calls 311. 311 puts them in touch with Animal Control. Animal Control puts them in touch with Audubon Society. Audubon Society sends out an email asking for volunteers to try to assist with the bird. Since its not on a Park, the Rangers or Park Police cant officially respond. Animal Control is not equipped to handle raptor rescues because the require a good deal of training and experience. Each rescue is different and they are all a unique combination of planning and improvisation. For example, I did this rescue in the dark to keep the bird from seeing my hands reach for it. I never tried this technique before but it worked perfectly. This is what that looked like. So after inspection I realize the bird is completely unharmed and had no signs of frounce or other parasites. Given its hungry and ferocious state, I decided it was best to go up to the roof and release this healthy bird. Before we released it, I scanned the area for how it could have ended up down in the basement. On the top of the roof, I found the answer. From the previous pic you can see he was waiting to foot me as I reached into the box. So instead, I gently turned the box over to slide him out. He got the message and bolted from the roof! As soon as he got near MSG, a peregrine falcon attacked! The bird easily defended itself and then carried on toward the South East. Special shout out to Tim the Super...without him the hawk would have met his fate with the other starlings in the basement.

Harlem Golden Eagle

For two consecutive years Ive seen a juvenile Golden Eagle fly past my roof in Harlem. In addition to that, the birds flew by on exactly the same date, one year apart. From my pictures that day last year, it is entirely possible this is the same bird. I guess if I am correct, then next year I should see the bird on the same day, but this time without the white patches on its wings.

Storm Birds

A juvy RTH hunting on Columbia Campus. Mr. Mocker buzzed by. The bros seeking shelter. The crows seeking food. Im always amazed how gulls can fly so effortlessly in the gale. Hope everyone is ok.

888 7th Ave.

Cutting through mid-town today, I happened by the 888 7th Ave. nest for a few minutes. I was lucky in catching the male come out of then nest


He then circled around and

Whoa nellie!

Hopefully their will be a Ziggy 2.0!

Male back to nest.

10,000 Visits

Blogging has been a very educational process. I've learned tons of development like html, css and php. But the most fascinating part has been learning about the web is how people find each other across the planet. There are about a dozen regular visitors to this site, the vast majority though, come through some type of string inputted into a search engine. Google, google images and yahoo are incredible links that produce mostly intentional, but many times random connections. Occasionally there will have been a visit from some cool country I've never been to like Japan or Australia, and I think about what the birds would be like there. Maybe after hitting the Powerball tomorrow, I'll try to find out. Till then, its more of the same great bird action brought to you live and direct from Nature!
The Cathedral female,

and this beat up juvenile!

Special shout out to all the blogs that link me. They are:
www.urbanhawks.blogs.com
www.bloomingdalevillage.blogspot.com
http://owlbox.blogspot.com
http://reidnr.blogspot.com
and to the ebirdsnyc yahoo list and Network 54, birds forum.
(they also have a specialty hummingbirds forum that is tres nice!

Still Chillin'

After Friday's ice storm, I have been reluctant to venture out to check out any bird action. I went out for a few hours yesterday and today, but the biting wind and sloshy conditions make for some discomfort. Here's a selection of some scenes from around the nabe.
The kestrels from my hood.


A Harlem Hawk



Two low Turkey Vultures.

The St. John the Divine female, sitting low in her nest!

And the city's park life coping just fine.

Must clean elbow!

Pigeons in snow.