Raptor Wednesday

December 15th. Every bird is unique, but we rarely have the opportunity to study them that closely. But this yearling Red-tailed Hawk has quite a lot of scapular markings, the wide white on the wings. This is broader than general for our local Red-tails (the species is found across North America with lots of variety). So I think I’ve spotted this one in Green-Wood a trio of times.January 7th.

There’s no picture for January 8th when the bird whirled overhead and then perched in a distant tree. Another characteristic: the bird is wary. Some of our urban Red-tailed Hawks couldn’t care less about you. For example, I’ve walked underneath Red-tails on low tree limbs. But this one keeps a good distance.

Daily Raptor stands at an insane 62 sightings so far this month in Brooklyn. No pictures, alas, of at least two Northern Harriers at Floyd Bennett Field, one, a female, being harried by two crows. In the last two days, both a male and female Kestrel have been spotted on the local antenna at the same time; yesterday they mated! One or two Peregrines are on the smokestack almost every day. And Red-tails, Red-tails, Red-tails. The last one I saw was circling over the traffic on Atlantic Avenue/Flatbush/Fort Green Place Monday, between a mall and stadium named after a crooked bank. The bird wheeled through cloud of pigeons and starlings.