Falcon!
We just had a falcon at our bird feeder. Granted he was eating another bird (sparrow) - but c'mon thats cool!!! He flew away before I got my camera.
We're fairly certain that it was an "american kestrel" - its a small falcon 10" or so.
EDIT: this is an example pic I cant take credit for.
We're fairly certain that it was an "american kestrel" - its a small falcon 10" or so.
EDIT: this is an example pic I cant take credit for.
Comments
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Very cool indeed!
We were strolling along the Hudson yesterday near Nyack and got a great look at a low flying bald eagle. -
Subject: Re: Falcon!
Mr. Tips wrote: We just had a falcon at our bird feeder. Granted he was eating another bird (sparrow) - but c'mon thats cool!!! He flew away before I got my camera.
Wow! do you live near the park?
We're fairly certain that it was an "american kestrel" - its a small falcon 10" or so.
EDIT: this is an example pic I cant take credit for. -
Subject: Re: Falcon!
Kevin_on_Putnam wrote: [quote=Mr. Tips]We just had a falcon at our bird feeder. Granted he was eating another bird (sparrow) - but c'mon thats cool!!! He flew away before I got my camera.
Wow! do you live near the park?
We're fairly certain that it was an "american kestrel" - its a small falcon 10" or so.
EDIT: this is an example pic I cant take credit for.
Yeah, pretty close...< 1 mile, definitly. -
That is so cool. And it's more ammo for my conversations with my bird-watching father about how there is too wildlife in big cities.
I saw two of these once in inner-city Chicago ghetto, FAR from any park but close enough to some yummy little birds and whatever else was hanging out in the vacant lots.
My father's theory is that we should try to introduce peregrin falcons into cities to help with pigeon overpopulation. I'm all for it. (A friend did once watch a red tailed hawk in Chicago take out a pigeon. Apparently is was quick, messy, and amazing.) -
a woman i know is a falconer and works seasonally for JFK Airport. she and a crew of falconers take their birds out and send them around the airport to chase pigeons and other 'pest' birds. not sure how many they actually catch, but it does result in most birds avoiding the airport, which helps prevent "birdstrike" (when birds get sucked into jet engines or ram into the planes). so i suppose if you hang out down near the airport, you might get to see the Food Chain at work!
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jimmylegs, thank you. my father will think that is the COOLEST thing EVAH! in fact, he may refuse to leave the airport next time he visits....
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last week i saw a red-tailed hawk snag a pigeon in front of the library, on the eastern parkway side. it swooped up into a tree, where it began to pluck the still-live pigeon, then flew off toward the park, pigeon clutched in its talons.
wildlife in the neighborhood all right, in all its bloody, darwinian glory. -
My blue jays come ever morning, between 10:30 and 11:30. I swear to god they look at me sitting here at my desk.
A few summers ago I heard all the birds in Mt. Prospect Park make an alarm sound, looked up, sure enough there was a big brownish-red hawk circling. So cool.
Oh, and two or three weeks ago, when there was still serious ice on the small pond along the long meadow in the park, the dog and I ran into some sort of egret-looking creature, standing there on one leg, eyeing us warily. -
There's always a cormorant at the pond in the Japanese garden at the BBG... I think that those are the most reptilian-looking birds that I've ever seen. I'm kinda in awe and disgusted by them at the same time.
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yeah, that red, scaley neck is pretty bizarre. often a couple of them around the big lake at the park, too.
did anyone see the kinglets that descended on the bbg in fall? about the size of golfballs, hopping all over the lawn like maniacs, and about as approachable at an average cat. i swear i could have had one in my hand if i'd had some gnats to tempt them....
then again, maybe i should just be glad my hands don't attract gnats. -
Subject: what's with all the pigeon haters?
what's with all the pigeon haters?
they are not 'pests' and they are actually quite interesting birds if people get past their stereotypes. ! -
Subject: Re: what's with all the pigeon haters?
cat wrote: what's with all the pigeon haters?
They're rats with wings.
they are not 'pests' and they are actually quite interesting birds if people get past their stereotypes. !
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There was a downy woodpecker outside my window the other day. There are a ton of tufted titmice and black capped chickadees in the Vale of Cashmere this week, too.
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Subject: Re: what's with all the pigeon haters?
what's wrong with rats?
i think we have to put aside our seemingly 'human' tendencies to decide cardinals = good and pigeons or whatever = bad. we all share the
same space.Mr. Tips wrote: [quote=cat]what's with all the pigeon haters?
They're rats with wings.
they are not 'pests' and they are actually quite interesting birds if people get past their stereotypes. ! -
I think we hate pigeons and rats because they're too much like us -- too adaptable, too able to thrive in cities, too happy to live on/in buildings, too much the messy survivors. Kind of a "this town's not big enough for the both of us" thing.
That said, I don't really hate pigeons, I just think there's too dang many of them and that natural predation seems less horrible than poisoning or spraying with soap or whatever else gets tried.
When I lived in Chicago, I had a small porch. I went out of town for a few weeks, and when I came back, I had to scrape 2-3 inches (not an exaggeration) of solid pigeon guano off of it. It was beyond revolting. I've never had to scrape cardinal guano off of anything. Or falcon shit, for that matter. (But I did get just as mad when the resident starlings ate all my baby plants.) -
I don't hate pigeons. I don't find them especially interesting, beyond their ability to thrive in the urban environment. But anything to stop yet another monoculture from destorying an abundant variety of life...
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english sparrows are the real bourgeois gentrifiers. with their tiny briefcases and their strollers and their middle class morality....
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And those European Starlings. The real gentrifiers. They actually destroy the nests of other birds and take all their food.
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fine stripes AND spots on shiny black? hipsters for sure.
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Isa wrote: And those European Starlings. The real gentrifiers. They actually destroy the nests of other birds and take all their food.
That's terrible. They're incredible to listen to though! We have them outside our windows every spring, building a nest. I never hear the same call twice. I get pissed at the people below on their nextels but it ends up being these mimicking birds. Darwin at his best.
Though I get excited by a squarrell coming into my roof garden just for the wildlife... though he tears through my tomatoes :roll: But I'll take what I can get. -
The thief in our merry band of d+d adventurers has a hawk. Maybe it was his, or it might have been the dragon-familiar of the magic user.
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Subject: i admit i like them.
interesting observation. thanks for sharing that.
The pigeons so don't bother me and I find the more, the merrier. I like watching them fly in formation in the air. I think they have beautiful coloring and yeah they are just trying to get by, like us.sweet tea wrote: I think we hate pigeons and rats because they're too much like us -- too adaptable, too able to thrive in cities, too happy to live on/in buildings, too much the messy survivors. Kind of a "this town's not big enough for the both of us" thing.
That said, I don't really hate pigeons, I just think there's too dang many of them and that natural predation seems less horrible than poisoning or spraying with soap or whatever else gets tried.
When I lived in Chicago, I had a small porch. I went out of town for a few weeks, and when I came back, I had to scrape 2-3 inches (not an exaggeration) of solid pigeon guano off of it. It was beyond revolting. I've never had to scrape cardinal guano off of anything. Or falcon shit, for that matter. (But I did get just as mad when the resident starlings ate all my baby plants.) -
Subject: squirrels are fun.
there was an article in the ny times recently about a woman who rescued a baby starling and the incredible experience it was taking care of the bird. it was neat. i haven't had too many experiences with them. i'll have to look out for their call.
i love the squirrels. i agree if i had a garden i would not mind terribly if they ate the food although there are ways to get around that, but i can't remember them now.. another thing you could do is feed them. they are always so hungry and love walnuts and almonds! the way they prance around and sit up on their hind legs and chase after each other. i can watch them endlessly and find it amusing. what can i say?!
amyskittysitting wrote: [quote=Isa]And those European Starlings. The real gentrifiers. They actually destroy the nests of other birds and take all their food.
That's terrible. They're incredible to listen to though! We have them outside our windows every spring, building a nest. I never hear the same call twice. I get pissed at the people below on their nextels but it ends up being these mimicking birds. Darwin at his best.
Though I get excited by a squarrell coming into my roof garden just for the wildlife... though he tears through my tomatoes :roll: But I'll take what I can get.t -
sweet tea wrote: yeah, that red, scaley neck is pretty bizarre. often a couple of them around the big lake at the park, too.
we totally saw the ruby and golden crown!!!
did anyone see the kinglets that descended on the bbg in fall? about the size of golfballs, hopping all over the lawn like maniacs, and about as approachable at an average cat. i swear i could have had one in my hand if i'd had some gnats to tempt them....
then again, maybe i should just be glad my hands don't attract gnats. -
Subject: Re: squirrels are fun.
cat wrote: there was an article in the ny times recently about a woman who rescued a baby starling and the incredible experience it was taking care of the bird. it was neat. i haven't had too many experiences with them. i'll have to look out for their call.
That's terrible. They're incredible to listen to though! We have them outside our windows every spring, building a nest. I never hear the same call twice. I get pissed at the people below on their nextels but it ends up being these mimicking birds. Darwin at his best.
i love the squirrels. i agree if i had a garden i would not mind terribly if they ate the food although there are ways to get around that, but i can't remember them now.. another thing you could do is feed them. they are always so hungry and love walnuts and almonds! the way they prance around and sit up on their hind legs and chase after each other. i can watch them endlessly and find it amusing. what can i say?!
[quote=amyskittysitting][quote=Isa]And those European Starlings. The real gentrifiers. They actually destroy the nests of other birds and take all their food.
Though I get excited by a squarrell coming into my roof garden just for the wildlife... though he tears through my tomatoes :roll: But I'll take what I can get.t
That's the thing about their "call." They definitely have a specific song but all the other calls that they pick up become everyday easy listening.
My neighbor doesn't think much of the wild life I've fostered on the roof but maybe I can start sneaking in some nibbles for them. We can hear their little nails against our skylight in the bathroom.... ah city living
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