Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey Archives - Page 39 of 43

October 14, 2007December 25, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, Other Red-tailed Hawks

Pelham Bay Park Landfill

Sunday, I spent mid-day in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. It’s at the end of the 6 Subway Line, which is an easy but long ride from Manhattan. Long Island Sound basically ends at the park, which makes it a perfect magnet for birds migrating from New England.

Once a year, the Urban Park Rangers lead a hawk watching tour of the landfill which is normally closed to visitors. This year’s tour ended up being a perfect day for hawk watching. The weather was nice, and the wind was steady and from a northwesterly direction. We ended up having hawks in view the entire time we were on the landfill, which is highly unusual. Needless to say, I had a great time.

The landfill is a large hill. It is the highest point in the area giving us a great view, plus it creates updrafts for the hawks and falcons.

We ended up seeing many Red-tailed Hawks (seven were in the air at once), American Kestrels (at least four), Northern Harriers (at least two), Osprey (two, not photographed) and one possible Sharp-shinned hawk.

There were at least two American Kestrel pairs on the landfill. Two were seen on the barb-wire cages that surround the methane gas vents. Needless to say the fences have large signs saying “No Smoking”.

My guess is that this is an accipiter. Based on the size, it is was likely to be a Sharp-shinned Hawk but this is only a guess.

Reverse view of the same unidentified hawk.

As we were leaving the landfill I commented how nice it would be if a hawk landed on the Bronx Victory Memorial. A few minutes later my wish came true!

As we returned to the Ranger Station, a juvenile Red-tailed hawk landed on a tree 15 feet from the station.

I was able to follow it for about an hour. It hunted along the edge of the highway, in a playground, and on top of a stadium light. The hunting attempts weren’t successful, but I think the young hawk was practicing rather than giving it the full effort.

It moved from tree to tree making a hunting attempt each time.

Here it is in a bush after trying for a mouse in a playground.

It then went after the Monk Parakeets of Pelham Bay Park, which use the stadium lights of the running track.

The Monk Parakeets were safely one stadium light tower away from the hawk. But they sure made a racket.

The hawk takes a few looks, moves around a bit and then flies away.

I returned to Manhattan with a detour into Central Park, where I found…

…and Pale Male was in a new spot near his regular roosting tree.

September 18, 2007December 23, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds

New Birds and Old

This weekend, I got to see some new species and some old favorites.

Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk, a new bird for my Central Park list.

Philadelphia Vireo, another new bird for my Central Park list.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a favorite species.

August 26, 2007December 25, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds

2nd Annual Shorebird Festival at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

On Saturday, the 2nd Annual Shorebird Festival at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge was held. It was a joint presentation of NYC Audubon and the American Littoral Society. About 80 birders were in attendance.

Kevin Karlson led the walk and gave a lecture in the afternoon. His latest book is about birding by impression – size, and shape rather than field marks. It is a good method, but I’ll need to buy his book to get the hang of it.

Here he talked about using body size to differentiate between a Greater and Lesser Yellow Legs.

I’m too new to get my shorebird I.D.s correct but here are some pictures to enjoy.

August 11, 2007December 28, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

High Above Opposite Ends Of The Park

I birded both ends of Central Park on Saturday. Up north, there were Snowy Egrets flying south. The fall migration has started and the species list on NYC Bird Report has warblers, ducks and other birds that haven’t been seen since the spring.

Down at the southern end of the park one of the 888 Seventh Avenue Red-tailed Hawk parents was on the upper right hand corner of the Essex House sign.

An American Kestrel came by to give the Red-tailed Hawk a hard time, but didn’t actually come too close before…

August 4, 2007December 25, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

On Saturday, I took a NYC Audbon trip to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. The trip was led by Don Riepe, who did a wonderful job. Audubon provided a bus, so the trip was easy. After leaving the Manhattan Audubon office, our first stop was the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge’s West Pond, followed by the East Pond and then a visit to Fort Tilden before returning to Manhattan.

An easy walk from the visitor’s center is an Osprey nest on the West Pond. The 2007 kids had already left. These are the adults.

This is a second nest on the other side of the West Pond.

A tree filled with both Snowy and Great Egrets.

We then visited the East Pond, stopping first at a blind. There we saw a Black-crowned Night-Heron and…

Then it was off to the East Pond. Here’s a Gull. (Still learning how to I.D. them.)

Great Blue Heron (left) and Black-crowned Night-Heron (right)

Immature Peregrine Falcon. This is the first time I’ve seen one on the ground!

A bridge near Fort Tilden, where the center gun turret was converted into a Peregrine Falcon nest site. It might have been the birthplace of the Peregrine Falcon seen on the East Pond.

It was a fun day. The trip had a full range of birders, from the beginner to the advanced. Don Riepe, did a great job of keeping everyone interested and kept us out of the Poison Ivy too! NYC Audubon has a full calender of events throughout the year. The current schedule can be found on their website, www.nycaudubon.org.

July 19, 2007December 15, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Peregrine Falcons At My Office

At lunch time, I got a call from my company’s Chief Operating Officer. Two Peregrine Falcons had joined our COO for lunch. They were both on a 20th Floor window ledge of the Flatiron Building. I only had my iPhone camera but the pictures came out fine.

There were two birds. One bird was banded (a standard silver band on the right leg and green bands on the left) and the other bird wasn’t. Both looked to be juvenile birds. It seemed strange that two juvenile birds wouldn’t both be banded if they were together, so I’m a little puzzled.