Palisades Park, NJ 3/19/21

The wind blew from the northwest intensely at the Dyckman Street Pier. The sun illuminated the cliffs on the western shore before raising high enough to reach down onto the Hudson River surface. Gulls flew into the wind just over the pier, frantically hovering in place. The wind pushed the iron gate over the latch and I had to bend it back through to get off the pier. I walked around the norther tip of the park and ran into Danny near the marsh regeneration area. We saw a Merlin fly across the northern edge of The Clove. After work I picked up some fig bags, a Snickers and vegan jerky at CTown. I laid on the couch and looked at the map of the Palisade Park. Around 3:00pm I got on my bike and road the Greenway South to 170-something Street. The nest between the Ft Washington Greenway and the main Greenway appeared to have new sticks on it. The wind blew very hard across the bridge. Around 4:30pm I took my first break from pedaling, north on Hudson Drive in the Palisades. A high pitched chipping sounded from somewhere east of the road. A Brown Creeper appeared on tree trunk. A little further up something zipped north along the cliff face that looked like a small falcon. About five minutes later a two Peregrine Falcons circled over the road, swinging at each other and then flying off in separate directions. High up the slope under the canopy along the cliff base a Red-Tail perched with it's very bright buffy chest standing out against the diabase backdrop. The woods were quiet except for about eight Juncos and the occasional American Robin. A man passed me on an electrically powered bicycle and then doubled back to ask about hawks he had seen from his apartment on Cabrini Street in Manhattan. He told me he had an owl perch once on his fire-escape and that also he let his cat outside to eat birds. His cat eats just the heads off the birds. Then he said he had seen a coyote on Hudson Drive a few days ago. The wild animal was walking down the road in front of his bike and then veered off into the forest after about a minute. To end the conversation I said, "Alright, I'd like to get to this eagle's nest before dark." He replied, "Ah, yes. You and Hitler both. Eiglar Hitler." Then he sped off to the north. I stopped at the Eagle nest and took some photos, ate some snacks and then spotted some Wild Turkeys perched in a tree to the west of the road. A brief squeal came from the Eagle nest and I went back to see the male had arrived at the nest. He arranged some nest material and snacked on a fish that was draped over the side of the nest. I continued on to the Alpine Marina, scanning the river edge and the cliff faces from below. A Great Blue Heron flew up over the cliffs. The bathrooms at the marina were open. I stood inside to warm up for a few minutes. Darkness fell on the woods below the cliffs. I walked up the hill from the marina and caught some faint hoots of a Great Horned Owl. I was able to hear the call three more times, very faintly. I think there may be a nest in this area. While I was waiting to hear more calls or get a sense of the direction they came from I heard some light steps hitting the leaves in the woods. Then I heard some yelping and tussling sounds come from the woods above the road. As I scanned the woods I heard two quick barks from the road. When I shined my headlamp down the road I hit two eyes low to the ground reflecting back at me. I skipped a rock off the ground in the direction of the eyes. The animal, likely a coyote, climbed up into the woods. I biked south back down Hudson Drive towards Englewood Cliffs Marina, careful not to hit a rock or anything. Around the EC Marina I heard an Eastern Screech Owl calling from the trees just over the road. I made it home after 9pm.