It’s the time of year the Peregrine Falcon eyasses become visible from the street at Riverside Church. Today, I saw three young falcons and their parents. A small bird was delivered by a parent, most likely a sparrow.
I was happy to see the pair perched near each other on the north tower on Thursday.
The single Peregrine Falcon that I saw for most of the winter has been seen with a mate for a few weeks. I’ve had two friends tell me the news, and I saw what was most likely this pair flying around the Annenburg Building of Mount Sinai but this was the first time I saw them perched.
One was at the base of the top most portion of the North Tower, and one was on the AC unit they like to use to eat.
Tonight the Barred Owl used the time after fly out to do a “neighborhood watch” and investigate two roosting raptors, a Cooper’s Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk. The juvenile Cooper’s Hawk decided to fly out of its Spruce tree roost, but the Red-tailed Hawk stayed put. After investigating the neighbors, the owl went back to its normal woods. Sadly, these encounters were impossible to photograph.
While I wasn’t able to film the encounters, I tonight was the first time I noticed the Barred Owl investigating roosting hawks. It stopped by a roosting Cooper’s Hawk, who I heard call. And then I saw it in the same tree of a Red-tailed Hawk who also called.
The evening was also the conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn, which I was able to watch from the top of the path near the Polish Statue around 80th Street.
I went out to see the Red-tailed Hawk family on Governors Island today, and got to see the parents and at least one fledgling. Folks have reported seeing two fledgling, but I haven’t seen them together yet. Hopefully, I’ll see both at the same time the next time I go out to the island.
One of the parents was hanging out near Fort Jay in various trees only about 15 feet high. It seemed unusual but might be a defense against the American Kestrels (one is in the video and the photographs below) and Fish Crows that hang out around Fort Jay.
The fledgling was all over the place, at the weathervane, on the communications tower (where the nest is located), flying around Fort Jay and even circling in the sky.
