Received a message in December that a peregrine falcon has been spending a lot of time around Open Square.
On a weekend morning in early January I took a spin through my old neighborhood on my way to run an errand. It didn’t take long to find the falcon, feasting on a pigeon on top of a building on Front Street.
I didn’t have my ideal photo equipment in my truck. But, I did have a camera body and a 200mm lens — with some significant cropping, that was good enough to document the sighting.
A walk through Pulask Park this afternoon turned up another spring and summer regular: American redstarts. There were a number of females today, flitting between low brush at the edge of the park and a maple tree along one of the walkways. The females were very vocal, but the only male I spotted was way at the back of the…
I headed out to the Forestdale Cemetery in Holyoke this afternoon to see if any owls are hanging around there this winter. The cemetery gates were already closed to vehicles when I arrived, so I parked on a nearby side street and planned to take a stroll around the grounds. I didn’t get very far. As I got out of…
A Peregrine Falcon over Hadley Mill Road in Holyoke, Oct. 25, 2015.
With no one home at the Red-tailed Hawk nest for several days, I went out Monday evening to see if I could find the fledgling somewhere in the neighborhood. To my relief, I eventually spotted it high atop a building on Suffolk Street. From there, it flew — in one continuous flight, more than a full city block — all…