Observations by nycbirder

Spotted a few blocks south from the north end of Thomas Jefferson Park. Looked like a falcon but couldn't say if it was a kestrel or a peregrine so I walked/jogged to East 116th Street to confirm with bins that this was a Merlin.

It was perched on the water tower on 421 East 116th Street between Pleasant Avenue and 1st Avenue.

This poor image was taken when the female American Kestrel perched briefly on 2002 5th Avenue after I watched it for several minutes on the top of a water tower west of this perch along West 124th Street.

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk feeding on a freshly caught pigeon. All the images were with the head in motion as it was actively feeding. The hawk eventually had the meal taken by a local Red-tailed Hawk when the Cooper's Hawk tried moving the prey to a new location.

Adult Peregrine Falcon on the easternmost of the four tall poles on the Hammer Heath Sciences Building north of Haven Avenue along Fort Washington Avenue north and east of the overlook west of 165th Street and Riverside Drive.

The perch was roughly 970 feet away. Longer than three football (U.S.) fields.

Adult on the tree just south of the Fort Washington Avenue entrance facing the west side. This was about 10 minutes after sunset.

Shortly after taking the photo it headed straightaway to an air conditioning unit on the upper floor of one of the Tudor Style apartments on Pinehurst Avenue.

Click on the Audio link and the YouTube Video URL to ID.

This is the discovery video of this roost from 23 July 2022 in Washington Heights, Manhattan.

The 2nd image is a video capture is from the 10-second mark when a swift exited the chimney. The roost is used for migration and possibly for nesting.

The 33-second video was converted to an audio file and posted where the swifts are easily heard.

Here's a link to the video on YouTube shot on an iPhone 14 Pro: https://youtu.be/V7J0FJrlQWU

Taking with an iPhone 14 Pro (ProRaw - Telephoto Camera 77 mm / f2.8). Original dimensions.

Photo #1 & #2 were edited in Lightroom Mobile to bring out the shadows and details on the hawk and to tone down the redness of the brick building.

Adult facing uptown along Fort Washington Avenue south of the park entrance.

An adult Cooper's Hawk was spotted at 10:29a on the antenna west of the apartment facing due south or downtown and towards the east side. It flipped 180º at 11:11a and back to facing south at 11:14a. Shortly after at ~11:25a it attempted to rest on its right leg but the winds were too strong throwing the hawk off balance.

At 12:12p, shortly after all the pigeons left the building just uptown from the hawk, it flew towards York Avenue. It landed on the top fire escape of 433 East 74th Street facing the east side. Shortly after dropping mutes it left the perch at 12:15p and wasn't relocated.

On the top portion of the antenna just west of the apartment. Heard first at 11:19a. Spotted it holding a male House Sparrow. It waited a while to start working on the prey. At ~11:25a it started working on the head pulling at it for ~3 minutes until the head dropped. It stopped working on the HOSP and left to the west side / downtown at 11:29a.

"White linear stripe from the wrist and shoulder area to the elbow along the inner edge of the patagial region" showing well. Quote from Raptors of Eastern North America by Brian K. Wheeler.

Feeding on the metal structure surrounding a water tower south of the twin red tiled roof building (140 Riverside Drive between 86th-87th Street). Still there at 1849. Up by 1850 and tracked through 1900. Headed south along Manhattan shoreline to south of Pier i then west over the Hudson River. Then south over the river. It then headed WNW (perpendicular to the shoreline) over the river and below the level of the palisades. Lost the raptor against the trees and buildings below the level of the palisades on the New Jersey side.

Found out this building the Osprey was feeding on is 110-118 Riverside Driver between 83rd and 84th Street.

Spotted from Pier i in Riverside Park South. This is one of the pair of Red-tailed Hawks on the peaked western facade building at 22 Riverside Drive South on the SW corner of 74th and RDS. Digiscoped with a Sony DSC-HX90V and a 14mm eyepiece (37X).

Green Heron flushed from the summit of Discovery Hill. I caught a glimpse of the small heron heading towards Outlook Hill then spotted it perched on the north side of Discovery Hill east of the summit. Thought this personal first for the island got away.