Peregrine Falcon Update: 30-April-2006

Central Park South: Peregrine Falcons

Male on G.M. Building photo by B. Cacace 35mm film equiv.: 2,600mm | ISO: 80 | Shutter: 1/50 | Aperture: f/4

Female on G.M. Building photo by D. Bruce Yolton 35mm film equiv.: 1,600mm | ISO: 400 | Shutter: 1/320 | Aperture: f/8

Thanks to Bruce Yolton for permission to use the photo of the female Peregrine Falcon above.

Each evening there is generally some activity when visiting the park to view these Peregrine Falcons. Tonight when I arrived both falcons were on the north face of the G.M. Building.

At one point the female appeared agitated in the telescope and soon after lifted & chased another large Peregrine off the territory towards the west. This is the second time I've seen another female Peregrine being chased from the area this year.

Another highlight was seeing the female exchange positions with the male falcon at 5:53p.

I'm convinced that these Peregrines are incubating eggs. Their behavior is consistent. The male has been exiting from below the same fence each time the female has dropped from the fence above.

Click below for a more detailed timeline.

Central Park's Gapstow Bridge 4:50p — 8:10p

• by 4:50p male & female were perched on the N face of the GM Building. Male was near potential nest site. Female was 2 fences to the E.
• while trying to take photos the female moved to a fence 4 in from W edge by 5:15p.
• by 5:37p female looked agitated. She then pursued another female Peregrine W of GM.
• by 5:43p female returned to a fence 6 in from W edge of GM.
• Nest exchange: by 5:53p female drops down to floor of fenced area. Within a minute the male falcon appears at the base of a fence 5 in from the W edge of GM and then flies to a fence 5 in from E edge of GM.
• at 6:46p male Peregrine leaves area heading SE or ‘Manhattan E’.
• I left Gapstow Bridge around 8:10p. Neither falcon reappeared.

Peregrine Falcon Update: 28-April-2006

Central Park South: Peregrine Falcons

Tonight was a rewarding one watching the Peregrine Falcons on the G.M. Building. Donna Browne showed up with a spotting scope. I brought along a 3" refracting telescope. We observed the Peregrines for nearly 2.5 hours. It was good to have so much activity from the Peregrines while Donna was there to observe.

Watching the ‘nest’ exchange at 7:45p was just one of many highlights.

A silver band was easly seen on the female's right leg in the scopes. The photo on the right shows the band — dimly.

Highlights:

• female perched/preening from 6:00p-7:40p on the GM.
• female flew to the fence just above the probable nest site.
• female dropped to flooring below perch at 7:44p.
• male exits from below same fence at 7:45p.
• male perches on fence below GM's roof until well after the end of Civil Twilight. This is when it becomes too dark to see any details at high power. In binoculars the image of the perched Peregrine becomes too indistinct to rely on.

Click below for a more detailed timeline.

Central Park's Gapstow Bridge 6:00p — 8:30p

• spotted a Peregrine on GM at 5:42p before entering park.
• took photos with falcon perched on fence below roof of GM's north face, 3 fences in from west edge.
• arrived at Gapstow Bridge by 6:00p — falcon still perched.
• at 6:52p it took a short flight to the NE corner of GM's roof where it remained until 7:02p.
• from 7:02-7:04p it took off N for a more extended flight returning to NW corner of GM's roof. It was clear this was the female in flight by its size & the molt of its primaries.
• at 7:37p female flew just E of GM then back to a fence 5 in from the W edge of the building.
• at 7:44p female flew to flooring just below fence. Within a minute the male exited from below the same fence the female was perched on. This is a probable nest exchange.
• At 7:45p male flew to a fence below GM's roof 4 in from E edge of building.
• Donna and I remained watching the male perched, facing in, until 10 minutes after Civil Twilight ended. We left the park at 8:30p feeling fairly confident it would stay the night.

Peregrine Falcon Update: 26-April-2006

Digiscoped Image of Peregrine

This image was shot with the same camera as the side-by-side thumbnails below — the ones that look like oil painting details. The difference is this was taken through a telescope that increases the effective focal length by 6.4 times. The camera's 420mm lens is converted to a 2,688mm lens.

Unfortunately the focus not quite right. Practice should help.

This Peregrine Falcon was perched on the north-west corner of the G.M. Building. The photo was taken from Gapstow Bridge just south of Wollman Skating Rink. The approximate distance to the falcon was 1,200 feet or 0.23 miles.

Click below for a timeline.

Central Park's Gapstow Bridge 12:25p — 1:05p

Highlight: apparent nest exchange at 1:04pm.

• Scanned buildings on SE corner of park from 1225p. At 1232 a PF appeared on NW corner of GM's roof.
• At 1240 it made a single move to 6 in (right section) & perched on fence until 1251.
• At 1251 it took off east, then back tracked then proceeded east again. Lost it behind Pierre Hotel.
• Back on NW corner of GM's roof at 1257.
• By 1259 to 1 in (center section) then to 3 in (right section) then to 6 in (right section) by 100. All perches on fencing below GM's roof.
• At 102 launched & circled back to 6 in (right section).
• At 103 lost it while writing.
• At 104 a PF exited from bottom of 6 in (right section) & headed east. Lost it low behind Pierre Hotel.

Central Park's Gapstow Bridge 5:25p — 8:00p

Highlight: male Peregrine chasing a female Peregrine off territory at 5:40pm.

• Arrived at 526p. Saw PF on NW corner of GM's roof before entering park at 520.
• Around 540 male chased larger PF towards the east. Female turned to defend with talons up. Male back to NW corner of GM's roof.
• By 550 off perch, didn't spot it flying away.
• At 554 male flew around GM & disappeared behind GM heading south.
• By 615 back to NW corner of GM's roof.
• By 628 crow cawing over Pond heading north. Then circled south to perch on a building west of Plaza Hotel. Seemingly no reaction from perched PF.
• At 653 back to NW corner of GM's roof.
• By 711 off NW corner to west edge of center section (roof level) then flew due south-east (Manhattan east).
• At 723 PF returned to NW corner of GM's roof. Arrived from the north. Perched facing south as at all other times on this spot.
• At 741 still on NW corner. 749 still perched. By 800 left perch without seeing it fly away.

Earliest Peregrine Falcon Nest in N.Y.C.?

Image above taken on 24-Apr-2006 — Peregrine Falcon perched near possible nest site on G.M. Building's north face.

The following article on Peregrine Falcons points out that the "first known nesting in New York City occurred in 1943 when a pair successfully hatched three young on a coping of the St. Regis Hotel".

Below is an image I took tonight of the site mentioned in the article. The St. Regis Hotel is on 5th Avenue and 55th St. on Manhattan.

Click image for view of the hotel.

‘Behavior of Peregrine Falcons in the New York City Region’ by Richard A. Herbert & Kathleen Green Skelton Herbert The Auk, volume 82 — Jan/1965, pp. 62-94

Peregrine Falcon Update: 24-April-2006

Central Park South: Peregrine Falcon

Taking pictures of distant hawks & falcons with the Lumix FZ30 is like throwing an eight million pixel net their way.

Each of the above images are 36 pixels wide by 47 pixels tall. They were ‘blown-up’ to 130 pixel wide to display them side-by-side. All images have a 35mm equivalent focal length of 420mm.

These were taken tonight while monitoring the activity around a possible nest site on the G.M. Building.

The left image is the furthest from the camera but appears larger than the other two. This is the female Peregrine Falcon.

The center & right images are of the same falcon in two different positions. Both appear similar in size & smaller than the one on the left. This is the male.

Tonight the Peregrines were seen separately between 5:55pm & 7:15pm. The female was perched on the north face of the G.M. as I entered the park. Before disappearing around 6:25pm she was perched just above the potential nest site.

After 6:25pm the male was seen flying from the ‘nest site’ to the fencing below the G.M.'s roof where he remained until 6:30pm when he flew to the north-west corner of the G.M.'s roof.

At 7:15pm the male flew east & then behind the G.M. & wasn't seen again.

Thanks Bruce for stopping by to observe the falcons.

Raptors At Sunset: 21-April-2006

The image above shows the adult male Red-tailed Hawk, from the Trump Parc nest, perching on the ‘X’ on the Essex House sign tonight (Fri., 21-Apr). When I arrived it was already perched. This was around 6:55pm.

Around 7:32pm I happened to be looking at the hawk in binoculars as it headed off to roost for the night. Sunset was at 7:41pm.

Before it disappeared from view it pulled off one of coolest moves I've seen in awhile. As it left its perch it dove, then rose a bit losing quite a bit of speed. I thought it was going to stall or veer off in another direction.

Instead, after it reached the top of the stall, it proceeded in the same direction and dove steeply. A few seconds into the drop it started to pull up again. This is when I lost it behind some trees.

This undulating flight is one of the more deliberate bits of ‘fun’ I've seen in quite some time. This was observed from Gapstow Bridge (south of Wollman Rink) while I was keeping one eye on a Peregrine Falcon and the other on this Red-tailed Hawk.

‘Birds of North America’ on-line refers to this as a ‘Sky-dance’ used in both agonistic behavior and courtship displays. Quite a versatile tool.

At Bruce Yolton's blog you can see a wonderful image of the male Red-tailed Hawk taken at around the same time. This hawk is referred to as ‘Junior’. The photo above was taken at 7:06pm. Check out the second image down in ‘Watching Paint Dry’.

The first raptor spotted from the park was this Peregrine Falcon perched on the G.M. Building's roof. It stood on the north-west corner of the building from at least 6:55pm.

There was little activity until the falcon flew to a fence on the north face below the building's roof. From here it took a flight close to a place where the pair might be nesting. I'm looking for a few more views to confirm this suspicion.

The reason I think this is a nest site is due to the falcon's disappearing to this spot only to emerge from the floor of this space. Very exciting to see after watching Peregrines in the area for 10 years and not knowing where the nest site might be.

From 7:48pm to 7:54pm the Peregrine perched on various fences below the G.M.'s roof. By 7:56pm I wasn't able to relocate it again. The end of Civil Twilight, when it becomes nearly impossible to spot the Peregrine's, was 8:10pm.

The images above were taken around 7:00pm.

American Kestrel: Upper East Side 15-Apr

This male American Kestrel was seen around 11:30am this morning hunting from an antennae near my apartment.

Kestrels have been seen in the area, including perched on this antennae, over the past few years.

Details:
• Exposure time: 1/400 sec
• Aperture: f/5.6
• Focal length (35mm equiv.): 420mm
• The photo was taken handheld with image stabilization

No additional text.

Central Park: Peregrine Falcons 13-Apr

ROBERT BATEMAN ‘Peregrine Falcon and White-Throated Swifts’ (paper, 26.25" x 20" — click image for catalog)

Thursday night was spent observing a pair of Peregrine Falcons that may actually be nesting this season. Their territory hugs the southeast corner of Central Park. The falcons are seen perching on buildings over Central Park South & along 5th Avenue. One of their favorite's is the General Motors Building. This cliff-like edifice has been the main focus for various Peregrine pairs that have been occupying this territory from as far back as 1996 when I first noticed them in the area.

In the past the main buildings used for perching were the Sherry-Netherland Hotel (S-N), General Motors Building (G.M.) & the Solow Building, AKA 9 West 57th St. (right photo):

Over the years I've been observing these Peregrines with the hope of discovering their nest site. This would be a new addition to the nesting Peregrine pairs on Manhattan. I've yet to see any juvenile falcons interacting with the resident adults. Maybe this season will be different.

Observation-wise, yesterday was one of the best days. The location of both falcons was noted from the time I arrived at 5:55pm EDT to shortly before I left at 7:20pm. This is unusual since the Peregrines can easily disappear from sight. Gapstow Bridge, just south of Wollman Skating Rink, is where I do most of my observing.

Male Peregrine Falcons are considerably smaller than females. This female is separable from the male not only by size. There are two features that can help ID her in case the male isn't nearby for size comparison. The female is missing a tail feather near the right edge of her tail. This is best seen when she's soaring. She is also missing a primary near the outer edge of her left wing.

I witnessed the following making the evening more successful than usual:

• both male and female were flying together
• for the whole session the location the pair was known
• I noted the time & direction where the male went to roost
• the pair was seen mating on the Solow Building
• a possible location for the nest was noted
• there was a Peregrine &mdash pigeon encounter
• a Kestrel passed over the flying pair heading north
• a male Kestrel was hunting near Gapstow Bridge

JOE BLY
Gapstow Bridge In The Snow - 1985
(click image to view catalog)

Nesting Location

While observing the Peregrines there was a spot that was revisited by the pair that may turn out to be a nest site. In the past I've noticed places where the Peregrines would disappear to thinking I'd found where they were nesting but juveniles (a key sign to a successful nesting) were never seen.

A favorite perching spot over the years has unfortunately been inadvertantly roped off by management of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel. Management is aware of the Peregrine's preference for these niches. Luckily the falcons are not at a loss for places to perch.

Pleiades Occultation: Celaeno Graze 1-Apr

During the recent passage of the Moon through the Pleiades a remarkable event was visible within the borders of N.Y.C. — something I hadn't seen before.

A group of us, Charlie, Kin, Peter & myself, headed down to a spot near the Staten Island Ferry terminal, on the Staten Island side, to attempt a grazing occultation of the star Celaeno (16 Tauri).

At magnitude 5.45 this Pleiad is not usually bright enough to be seen naked eye from within the city. With optics this star is rather bright.

Charlie Ridgway found a place for us to observe along a favorable portion of the graze path on Staten Island. All it took was a subway, a ferry trip and a short walk to the ‘Staten Island September 11 Memorial’.

Unfortunately partly cloudy skies ruled the night. We we able to observe a few of the occulations between cloud breaks but the main event was the graze of Celaeno around 7:15pm EST.

The wind was rather strong with gusts recorded at 33 mph in Central Park with sustained winds close to 15 mph. [weather history]

Software and the Celaeno Graze

There is an excellent piece of software for predicting lunar occultations including the viewing of these spectacular grazes. The name of the program is ‘Occult for Windows’.

The image below shows the contour of the Moon's limb at the time of the Celaeno graze for Staten Island. The time frame shown is roughly 6 minutes along the horizontal line starting on the right at 3m and continuing to the left at -3m.

Charlie found a place that was approximately 0.75 miles off the center-line shown by the yellow line on the chart. Looking along this line there are two gaps between the time of immersion and emergence. These represent two reappearances of Celaeno.

It's remarkable how well amateurs have coordinated the observation of grazes in order to produce these accurate profiles of the Moon's limb. It's impressive how accurate the software can place an observer along a path for viewing a grazing occultation.

For this graze, at our location, the distance between an occultation of Celaeno by a single mountain peak (at the northern limit) and a total occultation (at the southern limit) is nearly 0.65 miles or 3,400 feet. An even narrower path for the double reappearance we witnessed (excluding final emergence) is only two tenths of a mile wide!

Equipment Purchases

I made a few recent purchases to test my skills at taking photos through the Televue-76. Recording a video of the event was a missed opportunity. It will take a lot of practice getting it right. I'm looking forward to nights where the Moon is up with a few stars nearby to test exposures for still photos and short movies.

Here are some recent purchases:

• William Optic DCL-52 75mm focal length eyepiece
• 2 Televue extension tubes - one 2" and one 3"
• adapter ring to step down from the 55mm thread

Here are some pending purchases:

• shutter release for the FZ-30
• extra battery
• extra 2 gigabyte memory card

Conclusion

It was great that all four of us were able to witness this graze of Celaeno. The anticipation of not knowing when it would start or how many events would happen increased the excitement.

If there is ever an opportunity for you to view a grazing occultation of a bright star I highly recommend the experience.