Category: Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

New York City Audubon Ecotour

New York City Audubon hosted an Ecotour of the East River on Tuesday.  Before the boat ride, I stopped by the Brooklyn Bridge.

On the bridge, you could hear chicks begging for food.  I waited for about twenty minutes and a parent poked its head out.
An Adult Peregrine Falcon.
The band reads 04, then 2 below.  I haven’t seen this type of band before.   Update: I received some emails about this band type.  It is used to supplement a Federal band, since it much easier to read. It is usually two digits and a letter, so it is most likely 04Z and not 042.
Then it was off on a NYC Water Taxi for a tour of the East River.
On a small island east of the U.N. is a Double-crested Cormorant nesting spot.
The Pepsi sign is in the background.
Peregrine Falcons also nest on New York Hospital.  The best view of them is from the river.  It was dark and I was on a moving boat, so the pictures aren’t the best.  Young ones are inside the nesting box.
Here you can see two on the left.  What I can’t make out is if there is a bird next to the nest box on the right.
A gull chick.
Brant, a small goose, which shouldn’t be hanging around New York in June.
Another Brant shot.
Below the gulls, is an American Oyster-Catcher.  A new bird for my life list.
One the way back, we made a detour to the Statue of Liberty.
Lower Manhattan.  Who would think there would be so much nature amid all your concrete and steel?
Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Riverside Church Peregrine Falcons 2007

I visited Riverside Church after work to see how their pair of Peregrine Falcons were doing.  Both were visible, one perched on the northwest corner, and one flying around the church tower when I arrived.  I hope this is a sign that their eggs have hatched, but we won’t know for a few weeks.

Update: Robert Schmunk saw two nestlings peaking out from the Falcon’s scrape on Sunday, June 3rd.  So, we’ll have fledglings within a few weeks.

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Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Park Avenue Peregrine Falcons, Part II

The Peregrine Falcon pair continue to perch on the buildings around the Waldorf-Astoria on Park Avenue.

On Friday, I saw both of them flying around the Mutual of America building, and saw one perch on the former GE building, which now belongs to Columbia University.  I was only able to get pictures of one of them on the top center of the Mutual of America building.

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On Saturday, I went looking for the Peregrines and didn’t find them.  Luckily, I ran into Ben Cacace, who showed me one in plain sight on the Mutual of America building.  Later that day, Ben found the pair copulating.  So, there may be little Peregrines on Park Avenue later this spring.

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Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Park Avenue Peregrine Falcons

Ben Cacace, who blogs at NYC Nova Hunter, has discovered a pair of Peregrine Falcons who hang around Park Avenue in the upper 40’s and lower 50’s.  Ben’s a fantastic birder and I’m so happy he found some Raptors close to my apartment!

A Peregrine Falcon on 299 Park Avenue, the UBS building, around 6:30 on Saturday evening.
I returned on Sunday afternoon to find the pair of falcons on 299 Park Avenue, one on the north face (on top of the light colored, vertical window washing rail at the top middle of the photograph), and one on the east face (lower right of the photograph.)
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At around 3:10 p.m. the Peregrine Falcon on the east face of 299 Park leaves and begins circling over Park Avenue.  The Peregrine circles to gain height.  It circles over the void created by Lever House’s lower section, then comes south down Park Avenue, reverses course and flies directly over the Seagram’s building.  I can’t be sure if it landed or went further, so I go to Lexington to investigate.   At 3:25 p.m. the Falcon appears from behind the Citicorp building on Lexington, circles the building twice and at 3:28 p.m. lands on the northern top edge of the Citicorp roof.

It begins to rain, so I go home.