Almost There!

The male atop Gabriel.



The female fussing around in the nest alot today. Notice the little bloody article just under her feet.

Morningside

Frustrated at the over-management and over-crowding of Central Park, I have been frequenting some of the other green spaces uptown. One of my favs is Morningside Park. It is so low key yet chock full of great birds. Here's a sample of some of the flora and fauna found within!
Many crows pursuing Norman,


I caught up with him atop Gabriel!


During those long periods of quiet, I caught up with some of the other residents...




Great foliage too!

Love is a Dead Rat!

Nothing says devotion to a Red Tail hawk than a freshly caught Norwegian Brown Rat. The male brought it to the nest and the female here flies out with it. It took me two viewings to realize that when she exits the nest she actually transfers the rat from her beak to her talons in mid-flight!

Sunday Gale

A stiff breeze cleared out the last of the rain. By early morning, there was nothing but a clear, piercing clarity. I knew that hawks would use the favorable wind to make up for the hunting they missed over the last few days. Starting at the Cathedral, I saw first the female, then the male fly into the nest.







The female stayed on the nest for some time while the male circled the Cathedral, flushing pigeons and starlings. I decided to swing over to CCNY while the morning light was still favorable. I saw first one,

then another hawk fly out of the nest!







After a while, neither hawk returned. I caught glimpses of them over the Park, but they didnt return. From there I went to meet Bruce and Chris Lyons to see if we could discover if any redtailed hawks are nesting in Riverside Park near 165th St. To get there, I cut through Trinity Cemetery, where I discovered a nesting pair of crows. They really didnt like me looking, and crowed vigourously at me the whole time.


Over at Trinity Cemetery, no sign of a nest, but I saw 1 Cooper's and 1 jvy RTH.



In Riverside, I spotted two adult RTH's hawking over the trees and occasionally making descents. We were not able to discover the location, but the presence of 2 adults and a juvy do signal that further searches may be warranted.
One of the adults...

and this very lightly colored juvy.



Later, this ring billed

and this female kestrel hunting.

And the Cathedral pair, joining up to ward off a juvy.

I also saw two turkey vultures, and Chris had a juvy bald eagle on the River in the am.

Westwind

Finally the New York winter has shown its chapped head. Cold and wind make a dangerous climate for people, but its just fine for raptors. Some of the observations I have made involves seasonality of inter-special aggression. Its fascinating to me how some months out of the year, birds are more or less tolerant, while in others, totally committed to their annihilation. For example, during winter, the kestrels rarely harrass the resident RTHs, I often see the kestrel hunting pigeons in the shadow of a perched Red tailed Hawk. While in spring and fall they attack them whenever possible.

One relationship that does not change is the complete intolerance of peregrine falcons to RTH's. In particular, they are relentless in their attacking of juvenile RTHs. I think that some of the damage I see on young birds is from these resident RTHs.

I have recently been intrigued by the relationship between Cooper's hawks and Peregrines. At both Broadway Bridge and Riverside Church, I have found young Cooper's hunting in the shadow of perched Peregrines. The other day I think I had an event that might explain why. I was watching a peregrine circle the tower and make occasional stoops. As a result all of the pigeons had been driven down into the park. After a few minutes of punishing wind, I huge Cooper's dove down the avenue and glided, talons out, into the flock.



As the flock regrouped above the bird, the peregrine started off of the scaffolding.

I watched the Cooper's circle around the tower, as the peregrine hovered over the Church. The pigeons promptly flew off, leaving the falcon to return to its perch.



Riverside Church from my roof.


If you really look, there's the falcon on the scaffolding!
Here's a shot of the Cathedral male on a favored perch as well!



Fly on intrepid youngster!