Central Park South:
Peregrine Falcons During a Deluge
At the office I took a look at the weather radar & noticed a storm approaching Manhattan. I did the only reasonable thing & headed to the park to see how the falcons would behave during this storm.
When I arrived the rain had not started yet & I spotted a falcon on the G.M. Building's north face. A few minutes later the rain started & the falcon stayed put. When the storm was in full force I watched the falcon move a short distance along the face of the GM twice. Both times were during the heaviest period of the downpour.
It was a ‘short’ night. I didn't stay until after Civil Twilight. I thought it was best to keep dry in order not to get ill. So far so good!
|
Highlights: watched a falcon during a downpour & watched one nest exchange before leaving the site earlier than usual.
• The rain started around 5:45p.• By 5:40p, before entering the park, I spotted a Peregrine on a fence on the GM's N face, right section, 3 in from the W. By 5:45p it wasn't visible from my position at the far S end of the park.
• When I arrived at the Gapstow Bridge site further N at 5:50p I could see the Peregrine tucked in deeply on the same perch. This is why it wasn't visible previously. This was also when the rain started to come down in buckets.
• By 5:52p it was on on another fence on the N face of the GM's center section, 1 in from the W. It stayed there until 5:59p when I saw it fly back to the previous perch. The rain was still coming down hard. By 6:30p it left this perch and I wasn't able to determine its gender & the rain had stopped by this point.
• By 6:44p a female Peregrine flew in from the S along the W edge of the GM landing on a fence on the N face of the GM, right section, 4 in from the W. This was the same falcon that I had watched perched during the storm. Three crows flew from the E towards the W & the female didn't bother escorting them off the territory.
• By ~6:54p the male appeared to fly to a perch on a fence on the GM from out of nowhere. I might have missed the male exiting the nest before flying to this perch. Otherwise the nest would've been unoccupied for at least an hour & twenty minutes. He landed on a fence on the N face, right section, 6 in from the W.
• By 6:56p both falcons were in the air. The female headed to the fence above the nest & the male flew to the roof on the GM's NE corner.
• I left the park around 7:40p with the male stilled perched in the same place.
Related items:
• Peregrine Falcon updates — 2006: 13-Apr, 21-Apr, 24-Apr, 26-Apr, 28-Apr, 30-Apr, 4-May, 5-May, 6-May, 7-May, 9-May, 11-May, 12-May, 13-May, 14-May, 16-May, 17-May, 18-May, 19-May, 21-May, 22-May, 23-May, 31-May
• Earliest Peregrine Falcon Nest in N.Y.C.?
• Behavior of Peregrine Falcons in the N.Y.C. Region
by Richard A. Herbert & Kathleen Green Skelton Herbert
• Obs. of Duck Hawks Nesting on Man-made Structures
by Horace Groskin
0 Comments:
Post a Comment