And Another Thing

It’s good to be the tallest thing in the neighborhood. Everybody wants to be king of the spire.

If you’ve been following the blog, you’ll know the cross atop St. Michael’s at 4th and 42nd is a regular perch for Peregrine falcon(s). My latest sighting was the tail end of a drama: a Peregrine taking off from the cross with its prey and flying north.

This however, is a smaller falcon. It was getting near dark, and of course the two long block distance from here to there doesn’t help, but I believe it was a Merlin. The bird looked darker than a Kestrel would. It made two sorties from up there, which confirmed the Falco part anyway: the little boomerang-shape is distinctive. And Merlins like to hunt from a perch they will sit atop for long periods. It’s not the first Merlin in the ‘hood. Another or the same has been seen perched on a large antenna one block closer to me.

I’m sure if I watched the whole day, as opposed to glancing out the window now and then when I’m home, I’d be seeing much more.