Southern Central Park Raptors

I spent the weekend trying to figure out what was happening with our three pairs of hawks in Central Park. 

  • The Sheep Meadow pair continue to be seen in the SE corner of the park, but don’t seem to have settled on a nesting location just yet.
  • The pair that tried to nest on the Beresford last year, are bringing twigs to the Beresford and San Remo this year.
  • Pale Male and Octavia are doing just fine.  Pale Male gave Octavia a long break on Sunday afternoon.
  • A Merlin was a nice extra bonus near the band shell.
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An Exchange On Fifth Avenue

When hawk watchers talk of an exchange, they’re talking about the process where the male gives the female a break.  When these start, it’s usually safe to assume at least the first egg has been laid.  Today, I was fortunate to see Pale Male give Octavia a break of about twenty minutes.

(The exchange was a little odd, in that Pale Male left the nest unattended for about four minutes.  He may have been helping Octavia with a territorial dispute out of my view.)

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After The Snow

Central Park was full of people today.  It seemed that everyone who stayed inside on Saturday was in the park on Sunday.  Pale Male had just finished eating a bird in the Ramble when I arrived. 

The Great Horned Owl, that no on saw for two weeks but was rediscovered a few days ago, was out in the open in the bright sunlight.  She did her best to sleep but helicopters, a drone, a Gray Squirrel, a Tufted Titmouse, Pale Male and a Cooper’s Hawk did there best to keep her awake.

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