The Celery Farm & Beyond

Oh, no, not another Redtail shot (or two)....!

 
   The shot above was taken on Thanskgiving at Phair's Pond.

   Click "Continue reading..." below for a shot of Red-tailed in flight yesterday.

Great Horned Owl

   I went on a hike at High Mountain Park Preserve in Wayne with the New Jersey chapter of The Nature Conservancy on Saturday, and saw this guy. A Red-tailed Hawk was not happy to share the forest with the GHO, but the owl didn't seem fazed in the least.

Report from Mount Peter: 'Broadwings are on the Move'

    Ace hawk counter Judy Cinquina reports that the Broadwings are starting move past the Mount Peter Hawk Watch in Warwick, N.Y.

   Here is an earlier post about the Hawk Watch.

   Click "Continue reading...." for Sunday's totals from Mount Peter.

So that's why they named it a ...

 
    ... Red-shouldered Hawk. Saw this one near the Celery Farm last week.
   I have started a new category for the blog on raptors, and have started categorizing previous raptor posts. Link is here.
   Not sure what took so long, but now if you want to loo up previous posts on Great Horned Owls, Cooper's, Redtails, Red-shouldereds, etc., you have one-stop shopping, sort of.

Eagle Cam

  This from JerseyBirds:

   "If anyone is interested and was not aware, there is a Bald Eagle nestcam at Duke Farms, and the eggs are scheduled to hatch sometime in the next few days." 

    Duke Farms has streaming video of the nest, with three eggs. "Both adults are banded (the male is a 'jersey boy'), and that they seem to really like fish," says Duke Farms.
   The link is here.

Monday Morning Mystery 031609

   There I was, sitting in my living room, minding my own bidness, when this raptor comes zipping down the trail. I grabbed my camera and zipped down my driveway.
   My first instinct was Sharpie, not to be confused with this similar species.
   Perched raptors can be tough to ID. What do you think?
     Click here for more memorable Monday Morning Mysteries.

REDTAIL!

   Hawk-eyed photographer Barbara Dilger took this arty RT shot recently at the CF.
   Thanks for sharing!
   Click here to see another eye-popping photo of Barbara's (not for squeamish).

MOUNT PETER HAWK WATCH

    Saturday was a great day for a field trip to the Mount Peter Hawk Watch on Bellvale Mountain in Warwick, N.Y.
    The temperature was moderate, the sun was warm, and raptor watchers tallied more than 300 broadwings and a bald eagle.
     Click "Continue reading..." for the day's count and several shots of Fyke Nature Association members.

    If you cannot identify any of these rare birds (certainly not odd ducks), consider them "Tuesday Morning Mysteries."
   A special Thank You to Judy Cinquina for managing this great hawk lookout for so many years.

BIRDS: Great Horned Owl

   Every once in a while, you get to see an amazing show in the Celery Farm -- you just never know what the show is going to be until you are there.
    I happened upon this guy the other morning, and he was fairly easy to find because a red-shouldered hawk was screaming furiously at him -- along with assorted jays and dickie birds.
   Although this Great Horned Owl looks pretty close, I caught him with a long lens. He was near the treetop.   
    He did not pay much attention to me, what with all the birds screaming at him.
    More on Great Horned owls here.

RED-SHOULDERED HAWK: Update

   Some sad news on the red-shouldered hawks that have been nesting in a sideyard near the Allendale-Ramsey border.
  They are the pair that formed after the first female was injured (and rehabbed).
  Marsh Warden Stiles Thomas found a dead two-week-old hawk chick on the ground about five yards beyond the nest.
  It is unclear if there are other chicks remaining, but these hawks have had a low percentage of success.
  I don't like to post bad news on this blog, but this does serve as a reminder of how tough it is for wild critters -- especially threatened species like red-shouldered hawks.