Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey Archives - Page 39 of 44

January 15, 2008December 23, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Extralimital

Florida Trip – Ospreys

More images taken while attending a late December Florida photography workshop.

December 9, 2007December 23, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

A belated post of photographs from Sunday of a Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk. In the field, we thought this was a Sharp-shinned Hawk. But looking closely at the breast pattern and plain white belly, made me revise the I.D. Accipiters are really tough to tell apart.

December 2, 2007December 23, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, Other Red-tailed Hawks

Sunday Around The Great Lawn

Lola was on the Beresford when I looked for her early on Sunday afternoon.

She was looking down at something, so I went to look for it. I was hoping for a Long-Eared Owl, but found this…

I then saw Pale Male at the bottom of the Great Lawn. He switched trees a few times.

Here he’s taking off to fly to another tree.

We had a number of “intruders”, including a Cooper’s Hawk, American Kestrel and this Turkey Vulture.

Pale Male on one of the baseball backstops.

Pale Male was found to be on his favorite MET security camera. He soon flew off, towards Turtle Pond.

While watching for owls, the first year hawk came by.

It ended up in a tree for the night in what I call the DMZ. The zone between the Central Park South hawks and Pale Male and Lola.

Enjoy the winter in Central Park, but remember you’re going to be kicked out come spring by the old folks!

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.