Jungle Gyms!

As the newest crop of babies takes to the air, an interesting paradox has emerged. The scaffolding that had jeopardized the nesting phase of their life has now become a playground that aids the youngsters as they learn to fly. At the Cathedral, the previous years fledges had already moved into the Park by this time. But these guys use the various nooks, crannies and ledges to linger near their nest.

At times they seem to return to the nest, but are frequently lured away by the parents. Who says you can never go back?
I wanted to see if the Riverside Church peregrine family was experiencing a similar situation with the scaffolding over there. On the way over, I encountered these two raucous juvenile downy woodpeckers, flitting over Broadway!


On arrival in Riverside Park, I noticed a family of crows keeping low in the park, feeding on mullberries.

Meanwhile over at the scrape, I discovered this juvy getting ready to fledge!



I also discovered these two eyass that already had!


They definitely showed the same affinity for the scaffolding, with the juvys flying to and fro through the structure. While there, I met a woman who has been watching them for about 10 years. She relayed alot of good information on their history. One interesting tidbit was that they young fledge every year on the summer solstice. This makes alot of sense in that it would give the young diurnal raptors the best opportunity to perfect their skills. But how do the parents time such an event? Only Nature knows!
Last but not least, these new crop of pigeons growing fast outside my window!

Inwood Hill

Following up on reports that the Inwood Hill redtails have begun to fledge, myself and Adam headed over there after visiting Broadway Bridge to see if we could find any signs. As we came up to the Park, there was tons of activity both human and avian. Approaching Smuggler's Cove, I scanned for any waterbirds and was shocked to see one of the eyass huddled beneath the landing dock.

It was standing on a small log, half submerged! Needless to say, we were very concerned, so we located one of the rangers who assured us that the young bird could fly fairly well and would be ok. In addition, we learned that there was also a second fledge somewhere else in the Park. We decided to stay with this guy even though a huge thunderstorm had begun to move through.

There were all kinds of birds on the dock harassing the hawk. It was really a democracy of anger...with grackles, robins and even barn swallows joining in the harassment!

Here he gets buzzed by one of the swallows!

Eventually, the hawk lit off and landed in a tree overlooking the meadow.


Where it bounded around from tree to tree as even more bird came to mob. At one point a mocker, catbird, grackle and robin were all taking turns!



We then ran for cover as the lightning became more intense. After about 20 minutes, someone came to the ranger station saying that one of the young had landed in the street. We emerged to find it in a tree over the water. Again, there was a mob of about 20 birds harassing the poor guy.
There was this first year adult male oriole...

there was this adult male orchard oriole...

then there was all three!

Here's a composite of the orchard oriole taking a few swipes!

Later on, I did locate the oriole nest.