The world is a mask that hides the real world.
Thatâs what everybody suspects, though the world we see wonât let us dwell on it long.
The world has ways - more masks - of getting our attention.
The suspicion sneaks in now and again, between the cracks of everyday existenceâ¦the bird song dips, rises, dips, trails off into blue sky silence before the note that would reveal the shape of a melody that, somehow, would tie everything together, on the verge of unmasking the hidden armature that frames this sky, this tree, this bird, this quivering green leaf, jewels in a crown.â¦
As the song dies, the secret withdraws.
The tree is a mask.
The sky is a mask.
The quivering green leaf is a mask.
The song is a mask.
The singing bird is a mask.
Friday, June 10, 2005
New York falcons
Falcon family adds two more
by Nick Buglione, 9 June 2005
by Nick Buglione, 9 June 2005
It's a good thing the two peregrine falcons living on a 17th-floor ledge at Nassau University Medical Center don't have to worry about putting their kids through college.
Since nesting at the hospital in 1996, they've given birth to 31 offspring, making them one of the more successful and productive pairs of these federally-protected birds in the metropolitan area.
Affectionately titled after the nearby parkway and NUMC's old name, Meadow and Brook recently welcomed the two newest additions to their family just over four weeks ago.
Wildlife specialists from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which have closely monitored the two falcons over the last several years, banded the feet of the newborns last Tuesday, so they can track them after they leave the nest.
Banding the birds allows the DEP to keep a long-term record of their life span and how they reproduce in the future.
"In the New York metropolitan area, we have falcons that have winded up as far west as Wisconsin, down the Atlantic coast in Virginia, and some have come back and settled right here," said Chris Nadareski, DEP supervisor of wildlife studies. "So we're doing quite well."
Nadareski returns every year to band the chicks, hoping that the fiercely territorial mother and father are away from the nest. But they were home May 24, and squawked loudly as he approached the nest. "I've been attacked many times [by peregrine falcons]," said Nadareski, who luckily wasn't this time. "I wear a hard hat just in case."
In nearby New York City, there are only 16 pairs of peregrine falcons and only eight were successful in mating this season, he said.
Meadow and Brook have mated successfully every year since 1997, when a nest box was placed on the ledge for them to live in. Although the pair was active in courtship the year before, they didn¹t have adequate nesting for their eggs. They've since given birth to as many as four young in a year.
"They've been extremely successful," Nadareski said. "It's an ideal structure for them to nest in. There's enough available food around, such as pigeons and song birds, and they prefer to hunt over open areas and there's plenty of that on Long Island."
The two new chicks, both females, appear to be in good health, Nadareski. Shelley Lotenberg, NUMC spokeswoman, named them Marissa and Samantha, after her nieces. "For us it's exciting every year to find out how many babies they had," Lotenberg said.
Over the next two and half weeks, Marissa and Samantha will learn to fly. Four to eight weeks after that, they'll learn to hunt and eventually leave the nest.
Peregrine falcons have a high mortality rate in their first year of life, so if one of the two chicks makes it to adulthood Nadareski would be happy, he said.
Breeding season for the peregrine falcon, which mates for life with the same partner, begins with courtship in February and March. Egg laying usually occurs as early as March, though it can be delayed as late as April. Incubation takes about 30 days.
Since they nest at high altitudes, the towering NUMC building on Hempstead Turnpike makes for the perfect home.
Demonstrating a strong fidelity to both their mates and nesting area, peregrine falcons in this region usually live no longer than 14 or 15 years.
Adult males measure 15 inches from head to tail, while the females stand about 18 inches tall, with a wingspan of 3 1/2 feet.
The falcons have the ability to dive at prey, which consists strictly of other birds such as pigeons, at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour.
DDT and the ingestion of other contaminants led to the sharp post-World War II decline of peregrine falcons in the eastern United States.
