Sunset Park

Sharpie! The little Accipiter, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Accipiter striatus.This was the bird who did not like our male American Kestrel back in the middle of February.But it wasn’t all sortie after sortie.This is a juvenile female. The males are substantially smaller: on average just a midge smaller than an American Kestrel, in fact. The one time…

The American Kestrels were extremely busy yesterday morning. During Wednesday’s storm, I saw neither skin nor feather of them, as expected. But the male was out bright and early in the rich tones of dawn on Thursday. He soon flew over to the chimney, and several minutes later the female landed on the nearby roof…

Sunrise on the American Kestrel male this morning, a few minutes before he and the female mated on their favorite roof-top pipe.

A male American Kestrel in the rain.This London Plane tree across the street has been the scene of near daily Kestrel action. It’s definitely one of the bird’s perching spots. This is where the great battle with the Sharp-shinned Hawk took place, too.Two days later, in the sun. Same tree. This time the bird was…

This is a Peregrine on St. Michael’s at 42nd & 4th Avenue.And this is a near approximation of what the church looks like from my apartment. See the Kestrel up there?I’m physically closer to the church for this one because I hurried down the two avenue blocks to confirm the sighting. I hadn’t seen Kestrels…

This was the first sign of a female Kestrel in the neighborhood. I first saw her January 13th. I’d been seeing males in Green-Wood, on Sunset Park High School, and on the 40th Street antenna, an elaborate, two-pronged structure used by a car service, since December.This is the second of three sightings of a male…

Headless Kestrel on Rooftop Bar! They absolutely love old school TV antennas, which still litter the rooftops of Brooklyn, thank goodness. And strange pipes shooting up from rooftops. This is a rare neighborhood appearance by a female. There is no slate blue on her wings and she has more subdued head-patterning. She also doesn’t have…

By the power invested in me by myself and the internet, I declare this week to be American Kestrel Week here in Brooklyn! Here’s a male Falco sparverius perched in a London Plane in the ‘hood. Right next to my apartment building, as a matter of fact. Often called North America’s smallest raptor, this colorful…