If you told me before I started bird watching in Central Park that it was easy to have a three raptor day, I would have called you a liar. But in the winter it’s fairly easy. On Thursday, I had a Cooper’s Hawk eating a house sparrow, a Red-tailed Hawk eating a Rock Pigeon and a Peregrine Falcon. All within a block of the tennis courts.
New York, New York, what a wonderful place to live and bird.
For the last few days, a Bald Eagle has been seen in Riverside Park. It was reported again today around 116th Street. I went up to have a look and at first didn’t see it, but it flew over me at around 114th Street before perching near a Red-tailed Hawk at 108th Street. The Red-tailed Hawk left it alone for awhile but then took a pass at the Bald Eagle, coming within a foot of the eagle. The Red-tailed Hawk landed nearby but then flew up to a branch a few feet higher than the eagle. They then had a standoff for at least an hour.
The Red-tailed Hawk eventually left and the Bald Eagle flew down to 95th and the Hudson River’s edge. It stayed for about half an hour before flying back north.
Eagles nest all up and down the Hudson River Valley. In the winter, when the river freezes, they end up as a large group around Croton-On-Hudson, New York, where the tides break up the ice making it easy to catch fish. It is not uncommon to see over 80 Eagles in the Croton area in the winter. When there is ice on the river, the eagles ride the tidal ice flows from Croton to Manhattan.
So, while we don’t see eagles much in Manhattan, this is the perfect time to be on the lookout for them. The colder it gets, the better chance you’ll have to see one!
I saw the Peregrine Falcon, while up watching the two Snow Geese on the Reservoir. The falcon was in one of its favorite trees for at least an hour. It got harassed by six American Crows. I left to go look for a Wood Duck on The Pool before returning to look for the Peregrine Falcon on the El Dorado. I stayed late to see if it would roost on the south face of the south tower, but it took off after sunset going south southwest and was quickly out of view. This falcon is going to be hard to figure out!
I went looking for the Peregrine Falcon today, and saw it leave the “picnic table perch” on the north tower of the El Dorado and fly to the south tower. On the south face, near the top it perched for over an hour in the warmth of the setting afternoon sun.
On the north tower of the El Dorado Apartments (300 Central Park West), there is an air conditioner in the left/right center of the tower about a quarter of the way down. The Peregrine Falcon which likes to hang out by the reservoir, uses this AC unit as picnic table. In the photographs, you can see the remains of a Rock Pigeon. So, if you’re looking for the Peregrine Falcon and don’t see it in the trees by the Gothic Bridge, take a look up at the El Dorado.
I finally caught up with the Peregrine Falcon that likes to sun on the north edge of the Reservoir in Central Park for the first time this winter. We had a pair in the same tree last year, and a single Peregrine the year before. This one was very vocal. I couldn’t see what it was concerned about, but if it was like last year, it was most likely a Red-tailed Hawk.
It’s nice to have the Peregrine back. The low tree branch the bird perches in gives great looks at the bird.
