Verrazano Peregrine Falcon Couple Adopts Two: - www.rockawave.com - Wave of Long Island

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Two peregrine falcon chicks found in an unsuitable nesting place in Queens were relocated to the top of the Brooklyn tower of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge where they were welcomed into the nest by a mother falcon already caring for three new chicks of her own.

“The mother took in the adopted chicks without question and has been feeding them and watching over them as if they were always part of her brood,” said Verrazano Narrows General Manager Daniel DeCrescenzo. “It’s truly nature at its best.”

Chris Nadareski, a wildlife biologist with the city Department of Environmental Protection, who coordinates the city peregrine falcon program in cooperation with the State Department of Environmental Conservation, said the relocation was necessary because the chicks would have had trouble safely leaving the nest area while learning how to fly.

The two adopted chicks were moved on May 28, and a few days later, the two male and three female chicks were one big happy family.

This means that MTA Bridges and Tunnels, in addition to the Verrazano’s two male and three female chicks, is home to a total of 11 new peregrine falcons this year.

Four females hatched at Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge in Queens and two more, a boy and a girl, hatched atop the Bronx tower at the Throgs Neck Bridge.

The Verrazano chicks have the most sweeping view of New York Bay from their perch 693 feet above the water at the Brooklyn tower.

The Throgs Neck birds are 360 feet up on the Bronx tower, and the new falcons at the Marine Parkway Bridge have the most unusual nest; inside an old World War II gun turret 215 feet above the water on the Rockaway side of the bridge.

They’re Bridge Chicks, and 5 Join the Falcon Flock by Sewell Chan - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

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Five peregrine falcon chicks have been hatched in recent weeks in nests atop the towers of the Verrazano-Narrows, Throgs Neck and Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridges, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced on Thursday.

Photo caption: Three chicks — two female and a male — were born at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

The Verrazano-Narrows falcons were two females and a male, while the Throgs Neck and Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges each had a male. The Throgs Neck chick hatched four weeks ago, and the other four hatched three weeks ago.

This week, a state volunteer wildlife expert placed metal bands around the chicks’ feet, with numbers to identify and track the birds as they grow and reproduce. Peregrine falcons are still on the state endangered species list, although they are no longer on the federal list.

Urban falcons typically nest atop bridges, church steeples and high-rise buildings, because the high locations enable them to hunt prey, including pigeons and small birds. In 2008, the State Department of Environmental Conservation documented 67 pairs of peregrine falcons living in New York City.

M.T.A. Bridges and Tunnels has taken steps to accommodate the birds. At the Throgs Neck, the peregrine nesting box was moved from the 360-foot Queens tower to the Bronx tower during a 2007 painting project. “We have a good relationship with the falcons because we’re like absentee landlords,” said Ray Higgins, the maintenance superintendent at the bridge, said in a statement. “We set them up with a nice place to live and then try not to bother them.”

Photo caption: A male chick was born atop the Throgs Neck Bridge four weeks ago.

William McCann, a maintenance superintendent whom M.T.A. Bridges and Tunnels called “the keeper of the nest at the Verrazano,” said in a statement, “The falcons have been on this bridge longer than I have, and I’ve been here 28 years.”

Mr. McCann’s main role, when it comes to the birds, is simply to keep bridge maintenance activities and make sure the birds are left alone.

The falcons’ original box nest was underneath the lower-level roadway until 2000, when a painting project began and containment shrouds were put up. Workers responded by installing two boxes — one atop the Brooklyn tower, the other atop the Brooklyn pedestal. The falcons chose the former, and have returned each mating season.

Photo caption: A male chick was born at the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.

At the Marine Parkway bridge, the nesting box is located 215-feet above the water, on the Rockaway side of the bridge, inside a World War II-era gun turret.

“Next year they’ll get an upgrade because the wood inside the original box is badly split and it is dangerous for the chicks,” said Carlton Cyrus, the maintenance superintendent for the span.

The birds grow quickly. They are expected to start flying from atop the bridge towers in the next two weeks, “and by July will leave for unknown destinations,” the authority said.

Coast Guard Comes to Rescue of Whale Underneath the Verrazano Bridge by Christina Boyle and Rich Schapiro - NY Daily News

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The Coast Guard came to the rescue of a whale spotted swimming underneath the Verrazano Bridge. Sabo/News

After wandering into a busy channel near the Verrazano Bridge, a wayward humpback whale was headed south Thursday toward the open sea.

The healthy but homesick whale was last spotted gliding smoothly through the chilly waters a couple of miles south of Coney Island about 2:30 p.m., officials said.

Hours earlier, the NYPD and Coast Guard boats helped guide the 30-foot-long mammal out of a shipping channel several miles north.

"It's headed in the right direction and we hope it keeps going," said Teri Frady, spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fishery service in the northeast.

Frady said the massive marine creature appeared to be in good health, though the dark-colored beast could use a hearty meal.

"It wasn't having any trouble swimming, diving or breathing," Frady said. "It did appear to be a little underweight."

The whale is believed to be the same mammal that nearly beached itself on Rockaway Beach in Queens Wednesday.

Thursday, the whale was first spotted about 8 a.m. swimming south of the Verrazano Bridge and 14 miles from where it was last seen Wednesday evening.

Fearing a boat might strike the disoriented whale, the Coast Guard set up a safety area to protect it from passing vessels.

"We've set up a safety zone because it is in the commercial shipping lane and we don't want anybody to hit it," said Barbara Patton, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard.

Adult humpback whales range in length from 40 to 50 feet and weigh approximately 80,000 pounds.

Rob DiGiovanni, director of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research, said the whale showed no sign it was in distress when it reached deeper waters.

"It was diving for a longer period of time and behaving how you would expect a normal whale to behave when it got into deeper water," DiGiovanni said.

Experts say it's not unusual for whales to be in the area at this time of year, but they're usually not close to shore.

rschapiro@nydailynews.com