kestrels
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More of That Kestrel
This male was on a familiar kestrel-tree. From 2018. From 2017. Different tree, but same hunting grounds. This is a gentle slope leading to a corner of the cemetery fenced off from the streets. It’s filled with modest headstones. Trees along the edges provide great perches. This one perched in four different trees while I…
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Raptor Wednesday
Happy New Year! Ready… setgo!
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Raptor Wednesday Holiday Delay
An American Kestrel male in Green-Wood. Same American Kestrel and a Northern Mockingbird. .Aerial Boxing Day?
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Raptor Wednesday
A parade of Falco species! Last Thursday afternoon and then again Monday morning, a Peregrine (F. peregrinus) was atop St. Michael’s eating what looked like pigeon. (This butcher’s block, the highest perch for blocks, is two avenue blocks and one street block away from our apartment, approximately 500 meters/1640 feet, so these through-the-scope views leave…
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Raptor Wednesday
Merlins above Green-Wood. Two sightings on one day well separated in space: one or two birds? The lush meadow rising above the chapel has attracted sparrows and warblers, which means the bird-hunting falcons, too. Bother Merlins and American Kestrels having been perching on this scaffolding and on surrounding trees. Not at the same time: they…
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Raptor Wednesday
American Kestrel male with prey. Grasshopper, I think. American Kestrel female bossing a Red-tailed Hawk. It was a chilly morning. The small falcon’s cry pulled my eyes skyward. The big buteo was were actually being harried by two kestrels. This female was probably one of them. Several minutes later, I came across her hunting from…
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Raptor Wednesday
First off: we’ve had near daily American Kestrel sightings or hearings here at the H.Q. But today’s specimen sightings come from Green-Wood Cemetery. A female atop what may be the largest obelisk in a cemetery full of them. (Curious how Christians went in for this paganism in Victorian times.) Now here’s a male atop the…
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Raptor Wednesday
This is a young male American Kestrel. He brought some bird prey to this balustrade recently, and left it on the right hand corner. You can just see the lump. It was there for more than an hour as he flew here and here, perching here and there as well. Now, this building has been…
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Raptor Wednesday
The #BrooklynKestrels. Mother and daughters. The young ones tend to look plumper than she does, but I can’t see this in this particular picture. She’s still bringing them food — and this roof is still a larder. They fly down to it, out-of-sight, and come up with a pice of something. There have been some…
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Raptor Wednesday
Monday morning dawned and lo and behold there were two female American Kestrels on the Solar Building! The one on the left had the tell-tale head fuzz of a fledgling. Just like that, voila! So there was another Brooklyn Kestrel in the house!Was there only one? Within the hour that Monday morning: there were three…
Backyard and Beyond 