The Riverside Church Peregrine Falcons don’t seem to have fledged yet. Word is that there are four young Falcon’s this year. I was able to see at least two of the youngsters and both parents on a visit to the church Saturday evening.
A lot happened in Manhattan this past week:
Broadway Bridge Peregrines: Bonnie Talluto confirms the two eyasses are now fledglings.
Inwood Hill Park: Diane Schenker reports the nest has hatched. She can see at least one eyass, but can’t get a good count yet.
Highbridge Park: Mitchell Nusbaum reports the nest has fledged.
St. John the Divine: The surviving nestling fledged on Friday.
Riverside Park: The pair is sitting on their second clutch.
55 Water Street Peregrines: They’ve all fledged.
I visited the scrape on Saturday afternoon. The eyasses have matured a great deal since I last saw them. They look like they should be ready to fledge by next weekend.
I’ve included some photographs of the bridge and the Harlem River. I realized in my excitement over finding this year’s scrape, I forgot to document the area. Below the bridge are the Metro North Hudson River Line tracks and the Harlem River. The bridge has two levels, an upper deck for the 1 subway train, and a lower deck for car traffic.
I’ve become fascinated with the Broadway Bridge scrape. It’s the first time I’ve been able to watch young Peregrine Falcons in person. It’s a lot different than watching the 55 Water Street video feed.
Tonight there was a feeding by one of the parents, although it looks like the eyasses can pick at food by themselves. I’m looking forward to watching this pair grow up and fledge.
New York City has a large population of Peregrine Falcons. My favorite pair has a scrape on Broadway Bridge, easily accessible by the 1 subway train. It’s the Marble Hill-225th Street stop. The bridge is a drawbridge over the Harlem River and allows you some of the closest views of Peregrine Falcons in the city. This year, their scrape is situated so that you can see the eyasses being fed.
While searching for a possible Red-tailed Hawk nest, I saw this American Kestrel at 133rd and Broadway. It was a fun find, because I was able to I.D. it without binoculars based on its tail pump and silhouette. As you have more experience as a birder, lots of little clues just start to click in automatically.
Now if I could only understand shorebirds…
