There were many crows hanging out in the city today. I saw a couple of different flocks while I traveled to Washington Square Park this morning.
One crow was yelling as it dove past me:
I got to the park a few minutes later and a crow flew past Juno, over Bobst Library (location of the Hawk nest), then continued eastward.
Juno was perched on the cross at the time (the red building on the left is the library):
He flew off after 3 minutes. He landed on the corner of NYU’s Kimmel Center building (a couple of doors east of the cross):
Juno spent 2 minutes on the building then flew diagonally over the park and landed on the Hawks’ favorite northwest building:
Juno settled down and relaxed. The sky was mostly overcast but there were times when the sun would peek through the cloud cover and allow for him to have a sun bath.
A Peregrine Falcon flew past him then circled near the park arch pigeon flock:
The pigeons freaked out and flew off, then back on, the arch a few times.
The falcon continued north in a steep dive.
Juno paying attention to the pigeons:
Juno perked up so I rushed across the lawn to get a good shot of him fly off his building. I was nearly in place when he charged off his perch (the shot was missed).
Juno flew right toward the pigeons:
Juno had perched on that building for nearly 40 minutes. He circled above the pigeons a couple of times before disappearing eastward:
The park was pretty empty and there wasn’t much traffic around thanks to people still being out of town for the holidays. Chatty Blue Jays were noticeably easier to hear clear across the park. I didn’t see what they were fussing over but it was pretty neat to be able to hear them so well over that distance without the usual distractions.
Living in a congested city ,even in the outer limits w/ homes only, I do not see any cavorting crows,
I do see crows flying and calling out, but no dynamic flights w/ one dive bombing as your first picture shows…
that’s something…I would have thought it was a hawk.
How old do you guesstimate Juno to be at present?
In his pictures , to me , not a hawker, he appears as if an early adult?
Hope your Holidays continue to be good to you , Roger_Paw…you have created such a wonderful place to come to at days end to see the lively adventures of our dear, precious hawks…Thank you.
Many times I’ve seen crows perch together on the tallest building around before swooping to their destination. They are pretty great to hear out of nowhere.
It’s impossible to know for sure but I agree with you that Juno seems like a young adult.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Jeanne!
Happy New Year to my bird-loving friends! Reading “Where the Crawdad Sings” and learned fun fact that hummingbird breast feathers have microscopic kaleidoscopes creating wonderful shimmering effects. Best wishes, Mimi
Happy New Year! Indeed, the hummingbirds’ prismy feather features are amazing. You inspired me to look up this feature and I found this great quote:
“In many species, the coloring does not come from pigmentation in the feather structure, but instead from prism-like cells within the top layers of the feathers. When light hits these cells, it is split into wavelengths that reflect to the observer in varying degrees of intensity. The Hummingbird feather structure acts as a diffraction grating. The result is that, merely by shifting position, a muted-looking bird will suddenly become fiery red or vivid green.
However, not all hummingbird colors are due to the prism feather structure. The rusty browns of Allen’s and Rufous Hummingbirds come from pigmentation. Iridescent hummingbird colors actually result from a combination of refraction and pigmentation, since the diffraction structures themselves are made of melanin, a pigment.”
https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/japan-reveals-hummingbird-wing-secret/
Thank you, Mimi!