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.

Nest Number 8!

Man, this has been the year for new Red-tailed Hawk nests. There's really a triple irony behind this one. First irony: this is a first year nest, that has popped up on a structure that I have fotographed hawks on numerous time in the past. Additionally this structure and nest would have been visible from an apartment that I had on 145th St...from my living room couch no less. Second irony: this is yet another nest that was first discovered by a dog walker. Ironic because many times the agenda of dog walkers has conflicted with bird watchers. The third and final irony: I had been at this site two weeks prior, fotographed a hawk right near the nest, but failed to recognize it. Sometimes it takes the observations of others to tell us what is directly under our noses.
*Just found out that this the person who reported this nest is not a dog walker. So we holding then at 2 ironies, down from 3. Im sure there will be more irony to report as time goes on.
I found the nest on the east side, overlooking Hamilton Heights.

The bird made some adjustments to the new nest and then sat up tall. It was eyeing something in the distance. After some time, it rocketed out of the nest and dove on some starlings in the park.


It leveled out empty taloned and then landed in the park.



And flew back to the nest on what was a perfect example of dynamic soaring.

More shots of the nest. Not sure what the gargoyle is, but looks like a knave.


Thanks to Bruce for passing on another nest tip--again, from a dog walker.

Uptown Raptors (Bonus Spring Edition)

On Sunday I counted 12 Redtail Hawks (8 Adults, 4 juveniles), 4 Peregrine Falcons, 2 kestrels, 1 Sharpie and 1 Cooper's. Oh, and an to ESO!
My coverage area spanned 110th St., to 215th St. River to River.
Here's what I found!

Beginning early, I spied the Cathedral female fly onto the nest from afar.



I hiked up to the Cathedral to get a closer look.

I found them both, flying in tight circles above the still bare trees. The male had a dead baby bird and was calling to the female. She then flew into the nest! The male then followed.






Here it is in flv!

She then exited,


and landed on St. Luke's, where she made her mating call and assumed the position.




The male flew off though, and the female flitted about, then landed in the Park to eat the squab.

The male patiently waited, then flew in!

The new male, heir apparent!

Moving on, I stopped in on the Peregrines at Riverside Church. After a while of searching the scaffolding, I found them on the east side. For an hour not much happened. The female made the territorial "e-chuck" once, probably at a hawk by Morningside. She also made a lap around the top and called to the male, but no copulation was observed.

It was too windy there, so I moved on after listening to the carrillion chime for the hour! Very beautiful. While waiting for the train at 125th, I saw a juvy rth on Amsterdam Ave., pursued by a crow.

Next, I went here

to try to locate a nest that we know is in the area. I found a new pair!

The male is missing a tail feather.

and what could be a nest.

From there I hopped over to Highbridge to check on George and Martha. On my way past those huge towers on 181st., I saw still huge numbers of pigeons!

And kiting on the stiff breeze was this tattered juvy.

I found the nest, but no signs of activity.


Over Auduobon Ave., I discovered the female



she then flew out and joined up with the male. I lost them as the dove past George Washington HS. At that point I got a call from Bruce who wanted to meet up at Inwood Hill. While exiting the train in Marble Hill, I witnessed both hawks fly out and attack a juvy rth! Not the best pix, I was totally out of position when it happened.

I think i know why his feathers are damaged!


The hawk quickly made off to Kingsbridge, and the peregrine returned to the Bridge!

I then got another call from Bruce, who had the hawk on some spotlights over Baker Field.

We then moved on to Inwood Hill, where a ranger told us about a new nest. Winding through the trail, we first visited the old nest, where it seemed in disrepair.

While exiting the park, a huge female suddenly flew in above us.
She then lit off nearby.

This female sports a tag. (Accoring to Bruce, she is probably the one that was released after taking ill two years ago).

The male then flew in with prey, calling to her! He then flew into the new nest!

By now it was getting dark, and we exited the Park, headed, for once, downtown!

All in all it was an amazing and exhausting day. If anyone has info of nesting raptors in NYC, please contact me. I will release a master list in July if anyone is interested. Sorry for the long post.

This is the pic I took of the park on two Friday nights ago. I just like the way the snow looked in the light...

Fly on intrepid hawk, fly on!