Urban Hawks

June 2, 2022June 6, 202386th and WEA Peregrine Falcons, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Peregrines Are Growing Up

The Peregrine Falcon eyasses at 86th and West End are starting to look better each day. They’ve lost almost all of their downy feathers and they are starting to look like they will be ready to fledge soon. I think the tails seem a bit short but other than that they look good.

A few of them also stated to perch rather than sit, and have begun to exercise their wings. I’m amazed at how fast they can flap their wings. It seems about twice as fast as a Red-tailed Hawk eyass.

June 1, 2022June 9, 2022St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Columbia Nest

I visited the nest this morning and the eyasses looked like they were ready to fledge. They were also doing a good job at hiding from the web camera by standing directly under it!

June 1, 2022June 1, 2022Riverside Park Red-tailed Hawks

West 72nd and West End Avenue Fledges

I got an email that the eyasses of 310 West 72nd Street were exploring the roof garden of the building two days ago, but when I went by yesterday I couldn’t see any sign of them. I went by around noon today, and one was exploring the wall above the nest and the other was safely across the street on 263 West End Avenue. Both were being watch from a parent at the top of 263 West End Avenue.

June 1, 2022June 6, 202386th and WEA Peregrine Falcons, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Not Early Enough

I got up early to see if I could catch a feeding of the youngsters, but they had already been fed when I arrived. I think I have to get there before dawn to catch it.

I did get to watch a parent eat a pigeon and see a few of the eyasses however. They’ve lost most of their downy feathers and are looking a lot less awkward.

May 31, 2022June 9, 2022St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

John Jay Residence Hall

In the center of the Columbia University campus, there is a Red-tailed Hawk nest on John Jay Residence Hall. It is unclear if the parents had been the St. John pair, or if they are a new pair.

The university has installed a camera and is streaming it to Youtube. Every week or so the URL has been changing due to technical glitches. Today’s URL is here.

They’ve now zoomed out the camera, but for a long while it was tightly focused on the nest, leaving the impression the eyasses had left the nest. But they’re just exploring the full length of the balcony.

They’re starting to explore the railings of the balcony and should be fledging soon.

May 30, 2022June 6, 202386th and WEA Peregrine Falcons, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Quiet Visit To 86th and West End

While I got to see the whole family today, when I was at the nest things were quiet. There were no visits from the parents and the eyasses were fairly mellow. I guess I had beginner’s luck yesterday when I caught all four eyasses together and a feeding.