I opted to take it easy on Sunday, especially afternoon a quick afternoon nap wasn't so quick. Word was that the red-headed woodpecker was still in Riverside Park, and after checking that out I figured if time permitted I'd walk north to the Riverside Church and see if there was any peregrine activity.
There was no immediate sign of the woodpecker, now reasonably well-known as Riverside Red, but after I'd been looking around for his territory for 10-15 minutes I had thought I'd seen him flick into a near-by treetop. A passing pedestrian (A binocular-less birdwatcher? Or a knowledgeable neighborhood resident? I didn't find out.) asked about then if I was looking for the woodpecker and suggested the same bird I was trying to track. Sure enough. A minute or two later, Red flitted over to a branch above the sidewalk and halfway cooperated for some photos.
But his best and closest poses were made in shady spots.
There was also a five-minute episode where Red seemed to be in a standoff with one or two blue jays. No outright squabbling, but a lot of staring going on.
Uh-oh. It's after 6:00 and I need to head toward my sister's for Sunday dinner. At least I can walk along Riverside Drive on the way there.
On reaching 103rd St. I was startled when a big black bird flopped into a nearby nest. Not big enough for a hawk, but it was sort of hawk-shaped. Ah, a real crow's nest.
A couple pedestrians exiting the park stopped to ask what I was watching, and a moment later said they'd seen "a hawk or a falcon" sitting in a tree further north watching the squirrels. Well, if it's watching squirrels, sounds like a hawk to me.
But there's enough tree cover in Riverside that even when the leaves aren't grown out, it would be tough to spot a hawk sitting in some nebulous area. I was almost to the point where I needed to turn and figured I wouldn't see it, when of course there she was in plain view close to 109th St., quietly doing the hawk thing and watching all the activity in the park.
A stripey tail, so just a juvenile. But she's a red-tail anyway, so that's two "Riverside reds" today.
Perhaps not too fond of photographers, either. I get a dirty look even though I'm the only person paying attention to her.
...before she returns to looking around.
A last look at her from profile reveals a full crop. So even though she's casing the park, the squirrels are temporarily safe.
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