She kept circling, then flew east, only to quickly return to a spot almost directly over the nest site.
She was followed by a Peregrine falcon.
In a flash, she barreled vertically, talons-first, towards the invader.
Angry words were briefly exchanged before Dora chased the falcon down Avenue B.
Later the same day, more activity in the sky over the center of the park grabbed my attention. Pigeons scattered, at least one red-tailed hawk could be seen above the trees, and there were at least two additional raptors. At first, I thought the falcon had returned, but I believe the newcomers were sharp-shinned hawks:
I'm not 100% sure that's what they were as they flew around so fast and it was hard to see, so if anyone knows better, please comment.
It's hard to tell from this photo, but the head is reddish brown and the eyes are yellow, so it's not a Cooper's hawk (which I kind of expected as one was hanging around this same area two weeks ago).
Meanwhile, Christo kept busy cleaning up rats.
Why, yes, he is pulling the head off this one...
...and that is, indeed, a rat's head in his mouth...
After Christo had finished eating, this ballsy squirrel scampered right up to him.
But Christo wasn't in the mood.
At sunset, both Christo and Dora perched atop the cross at Most Holy Redeemer church on E 3rd Street, surveying their domain.
In other hawk news, check out this incredible post by Roger Paw who witnessed a juvenile red-tail in Washington Square snatch a pigeon right out of a man's hand!
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
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