Raptor Wednesday

Female American Kestrel on the car service antenna. I’ve now seen Starlings enter the cornice hole I’d seen her fly into twice, so that doesn’t look like the nest site after all. Yet she’s still here in the neighborhood.

Male American Kestrel by the Monk Parakeet nest at Green-Wood’s main entrance. I’ve now seen these small falcons fly into the nest twice. It’s a thing for them to roost in such colonial nests. The inhabitants make a lot of noise about it, but that doesn’t seem to stop the Ks.

On Saturday, while racking up species observations for #CityNatureChallenge, I saw some distant raptors passing over Green-Wood. Earlier I’d seen a trio of Red-tailed Hawks together. Figured this would be more of the same or the same over-again. But upon examination of the photos, I had some migration birds. Broad-winged and Red-shouldered by my reading of the evidence.

Passing Osprey.

Perching Red-tail.