Red-tailed Hawk landing on nest, Bobst Library, NYU, New York City

Governors Island bird sights – September 14th, 2013

I took the free ferry to Governors Island on Saturday. I’ve lived in the city for decades but had never visited there before now. It’s a must-see for anyone who has a day to kill since there is a lot of ground to cover and fascinating buildings to explore. But you must go soon because the island is closed to visitors after September 29th this year. It will reopen on Memorial Day next year.

Because there are lots more ‘touristy’ photos of the island to be found online, this post is going to focus on some of the birds I happened to see during our visit.

Gull greeting our ferry to the island:

There was a cheeky Double-crested Cormorant eyeing the gull and its companion:

It bullied the Gull off its perch:

Victory hop?

Lower Manhattan as seen from Governors Island:

The Staten Island ferry terminal on the left, Governors Island ferry terminal on the right. It’s literally a two minute trip from Manhattan Island across the East River to Governors Island.

Canada Geese:

At one point the geese hovered in mid-air before getting into formation again and continuing their flight:

Ellis Island Immigration Museum building on the left, Staten Island ferry on the right:

Bees in the Harbor School garden:

One of a couple of American Redstartsflitting about one of the old buildings (adult female below):

There were a couple of Black-throated Blue Warblers nearby:

Cormorant:


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