Backyard and Beyond

Coopers. Avian excretion explained.

The view from the Brooklyn Raptor Observatory yesterday as a fire in a police warehouse in Red Hook billowed up into an airborne toxic event. The evil-smelling smoke and big pieces of ash flitting through the air did not deter four raptors. 1) a passing Coopers Hawk raised up all the pigeons. 2) A Red-tailed Hawk on the smokestack on the distant right. 3) A female American Kestrel, quite the regular hereabouts, on the chimney pot on the building in the middle of the photo and then later on the white bulkhead structure on the left. The second time, she was briefly in the air with another small falcon (4), probably another American Kestrel, maybe a male.