There was a Cooper’s Hawk in the Ramble of Central Park today. It was one of our first really crisp fall days, and we should have Cooper’s Hawks in the park from now until Spring. It was one of my first surprises, when I started bird watching in the park, that Central Park is the winter home of many birds.
In the early evening, Pale Male was in a tree in the Great Lawn. He flew off after something, and both birds touched in flight. I couldn’t identify the species of bird Pale Male got into a tussle with, but if I had to make an educated guess, based on its square striped tail and size relative to Pale Male, I would choose Sharp-shinned Hawk. Afterward, Pale Male was found in one of his favorite roost trees. I didn’t have a chance to see if he stayed in the tree for the evening.
Down the road from our vacation house was a nature walk in a state park. This Osprey flew in, landed and then left after about twenty minutes.
While in California, I saw my first White-tailed Kite. I had difficulty taking photographs, but it was a life bird for me none the less. The bird had great hovering abilities and stayed north of the Peregrines territory.
Two young Peregrine Falcons were spending time on the cliff below the house we rented on the Pacific coast. The larger of the two was always crying, while the smaller was quiet as can be. It was just amazing to wake up to the sound of a Peregrine in the morning.
The Broadway Bridge Peregrine Falcon family can be difficult to watch, since the bridge has two towers. This makes it difficult to see everyone at once and figure out how many there are.
Luckily, after a rainstorm early Saturday evening all five could easily be counted and identified. While I was there one of the parents feed one of the youngsters. The parents don’t bring the fledglings their food, but instead make them chase them and make them catch the food in mid-flight. It’s amazing to watch. (The 1 train prevented me from taking photographs of the feeding unfortunately.)
