 |
| Soon-to-be fledgling Red-tailed Hawk |
For me, the star of the day was the young Red-tailed Hawk flapping up onto the railing above the fire escape nest and testing its wings, getting ready to fledge.
Just before that the mother had brought some food for them to share.
 |
| Mother Red-tailed Hawk brought something furry for snack |
Loyan Beausoleil was leading the walk for the newly named NYC Bird Alliance (formerly NYC Audubon), which sponsors these walks on Governors Islands every Saturday at 2pm.
She showed us where there was a robin’s nest hidden in the corner of one of the abandoned buildings. I wouldn’t have noticed it, as it was deep in the shadows. But then the mother robin showed up and there was a brief flurry of activity back there.
 |
| Robins' nest |
Loyan also spotted a Warbling Vireo sitting up in a tree, doing some warbling. It was not a colorful bird, but sweet to see. A new one for me. Probably just stopping briefly on its migration.
 |
| Warbling Vireo |
In the same area, near the hammocks, we saw a Magnolia Warbler, with a bright yellow chest and side stripes. Also just passing through.
 |
| Magnolia Warbler |
There was also a male Red-winged Blackbird in a tree calling out loudly to protect his territory - and maybe a nest hidden down in the tall grass.
 |
| Male Red-winged Blackbird |
And over near the Urban Farm fence I spotted a Northern Flicker and saw it disappear into a tree hole. I have seen them before nesting in holes like that. This was a male (with a mustache) and possibly he was checking out the real estate situation. He quickly came out again, though, and flew off.
 |
| Male Northern Flicker |
Further west, over by the glamping area the Killdeers definitely had some nests they were protecting. There were two flying around in different spots, calling out loudly. Then they started doing their ‘I have a broken wing’ behavior designed to lead predators away, so I moved along. Time to catch the ferry.
 |
| Killdeer |
No comments:
Post a Comment