NY / New York - Bridges - 2009-12

[Kinderchick]

Prescott-Ogdensburg Bridge
New York City, NY

Read this news on the CPF website ... Zanar from Ottawa 2004 has 4 eggs!

May 10th - 2012 - We have received some interesting news from Mary Beth in NY USA:

I have good news-Zanar has produced four eggs in the nest box and has a handsome new mate, who has not been banded. The box was relocated to the US side last fall because of the deck project. The crew also added two sheets of 8×4 plywood in front of the box to allow for more walking room. I hope it helps. The crew will be checking for chicks next week.
I’ll let you know what I find.

CPF note: Zanar had lost her mate earlier this year. We are thrilled to hear she has found a new mate and that they have laid eggs!

[Alison]

Three New York bridges produced five chicks this year. From an article:

Time for an awwww break! Five peregrine falcon chicks were born atop the towers of MTA bridges! The MTA says that three were born at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, while the Throgs Neck and Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridges each welcomed one chick. Some details about the fuzzy birds, which are 3-4 weeks old (their talons are already the size of an adult human hand!), from the MTA:

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge - falcons are two girls and one boy; the other Throgs Neck and Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges falcons are both boys. All chicks were banded by a state volunteer wildlife expert.  The falcons at the Verrazano nest at a tower that's 693 feet above the water and they have returned every mating season since the MTA Bridges and Tunnels team replaced the falcons' original nesting box on the lower roadway in 2000.[/b]

Throgs Neck Bridge - nest box used to be on the Queens tower, but was moved to the Bronx tower (360 feet above the water) in 2007, due to a painting project. Throgs Neck Maintenance Superintendent Ray Higgins explained, "We have a good relationship with the falcons because we’re like absentee landlords. We set them up with a nice place to live and then try not to bother them."

Marine Parkway Bridge - nest box is 215 feet above the water on the Rockaway side, "inside an old gun turret that was installed during World War II." The MTA plans some renovations for the nesting box, because the wood inside is split.

http://gothamist.com/2009/05/28/five_baby_falcons_born_at_three_cit.php

Photos courtesy of MTA Bridges and Tunnels.