Raptor Wednesday

A rumor of an American Kestrel being heard and seen on Montague Street had my falcon-senses tingling Saturday. Exploring one of the alleys south of Montague, I faintly heard one of the birds, almost subliminally, just enough to make me look up: the little jet sliced the sky in half. Around the corner — voilà! — this female Falco sparverius was perched atop St. Borromeo. This is a fine falcon perch; the accretion of droppings up there suggest other birds like this venue, too.

This was one of three Kestrels sightings I had in the last week. (This could be the same bird I saw in Brooklyn Bridge Park.) Another female was in Green-Wood. News this morning of a pair in Red Hook suggests this, the most common of city raptor species, are getting busy.