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!

The King is Dead, Long Live the King! (Part 2)

The goings on at the Cathedral have been a dramatic and fascinating education. On the one hand is the passing of a great and noble creature. While the other reveals the resiliency and preseverance of nature. Rob had spotted another adult hawk on the Cathedral yesterday, so I have made observations to determine its identity. Early in the am I watched Isolde perch on the trumpet of Gabriel and then fly out high, high up and to the northeast. I lost her somewhere above 119th and 2nd Ave.

Later that evening I returned to the Park and again could find no trace of Tristan in the now bare and soggy ground. I caught up with Rob at the Cathedral and we witnessed the Cathedral female fly out from somewhere. She perched on St. Luke's

She almost reminded me of Lola on Linda 5. But she seemed to be looking intently out over Morningside. I pivoted around, but could not see what it was. After a few minutes, Rob again yelled hawk!

Soon after I saw it, I knew this was not Tristan. This was a much darker hawk!


At first she raised her hackles, but they settled into a silent tolerance of each other and watched the reflected sunset.

The male then flew over to an air conditioner, then to the stone urn that Tristan often used, then out eventually north over Morningside. I caught brief glimpse of it leaving down and to the north, out over Harlem proper. On the way back, I thought of the amazing resilience of nature while still silently mourning Tristan. That new hawk seemed to come from the Northeast and was much darker. I then began to think of the male hawk from 145th that I've photographed on CCNY for some time. I will begin a photographic analysis to see if I can make an ID.

Under Pressure

As nesting season fast approaches, resident raptors have begun to cement their territory and begin work on their nests. Unfortunately, the two great area Churches (The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Riverside Church), that have hosted both numerous successful nests throughout the years, are themselves are undergoing extensive renovations. Apparently the Churches suffer from numerous leaks and intrusive scaffolding now covers their exterior. In both cases, the repairs come very close to what are now active nests.



I watched both the male and female make sorties into the park, snipping off branches with their powerful beaks.

To date, I have not witnessed any copulation, and last years eggs were laid around March 14th. That still gives us a few weeks of time for the Cathedral to make their repairs. If anyone has a contact at the Cathedral, maybe we can petition for them to begin the work on that part of the Chapel.
Up on Riverside, the same problem exists.


Both species show a lot of tolerance for human activity, but we've seen it before in numerous cases, notably the 5th Ave. red-tailed hawks--Pale Male and Lola--but also in others, where human presence can disrupt nests. The GM peregrines are another notable situation where the installation of the spotlights for the new Apple Store disrupted the nesting peregines. All in all, New York City has many successfully nesting raptors that all have to contend with human interference at one time or another. Hopefully we can find a balance between the needs of our institutions and places of business and the rhythms of the natural world.

Metro Birds

Its been a few weeks since I had some good looks at kestrels. Im not sure if the increased presence of hawks in general, but Cooper's and Sharpies that have kept them low and secretive. I had occasionally spied them swooping off antenna, with little or no interaction between them and the many red-tails that criss cross their turf daily. It seems that might be changing now as mating season approaches. On 110th, the resident kestrels and RTH's ignore each other for now.





While on 102nd St., the kestrels intermittenly harrassed a juvy RTH.



This airplane didnt seem to harrass her too much!

Also seen...


This RTH at the Greenwich, CT Metro North Station.

New Year

Seems like a return to the starting point. The last of the fledglings of spring are totally independent by now. Resident raptors settle into their territories as they start to spar and court on the wind. Who knows what this year will bring, but its going to be a tall order to match the unbelievable production from around the city. Here's a few highlights from upper Manhattan over the past week.
A flyby by one of the Cathedral hawks,

Hedda Gobbler

Up in Inwood, those redtails are also highly visible over their turf.

The Broadway Bridge Peregrines also take notice.
While I was walking to the train, I saw a large flock of pigeons flyout from the El.
Right behind them was a young RTH, who must've flushed them from the structure.

Immediately the tercel flew out and stooped on the hawk, narrowly missing it, before pulling out right over head!

It then flew off towards Marble Hill, where I found it with its mate, who had already made a kill!


The female then flew off, with prey in tow, and landed right on the Bridge!


The male then flew out and attacked one of the Inwood Hill adults,

Heading home, I spotted the Cathedral male, atop the Horn of Gabriel!

I walked around to get a better view.

I also saw a big juvy Cooper's in a tree only about 30' from Bway Bridge. It saw me before I saw it and it was out of sight by the time I brought up my camera.
There were also these guys (and gal)!




Happy New Beginnings to us all!