927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks Archives - Page 38 of 90

August 24, 2014December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds

Red and Green

It’s ironic, given that I’m Red/Green Colorblind, that my two good birds of the day on Saturday were a Red-tailed Hawk and Green Heron.

The Red-tailed Hawk was the same bird I saw Friday. It was again perched on a window railing of 2 East 70th Street.

The Green Heron was in a shallow area of the The Pond north of Gapstow bridge. These mudflat areas are import to wading birds, but they’re constantly being removed by the Central Park Conservancy. The original landscaping of the park had water bodies with clean sculpted edges, which removed the transitional areas of marsh and mud needed by many birds. Luckily, natural erosion does a great job of bringing these mudflats back!

At about 6:56 on the video is a great shot of the Green Heron “licking its lips”.

August 23, 2014December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Two East 70th Street

I’ve been corrected by a number of fellow hawk watchers, who identified this hawk as Pale Male’s mate, Octavia. Wow! I didn’t expect her this far south.

Given the mess at the bottom of the window frame, this is a popular spot!

August 10, 2014December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Where Are You?

Starting in late July, hawk watching in New York City becomes much harder. Fledglings, who had been yelling for food, are now quiet having learned to hunt. Warm weather has the hawks relaxing and staying put, making them harder to spot. And everyone, young and old have dispersed to wider and wider areas. Gone are those nice spots the families came to for meals together at regular hours!

So on Saturday, I had my first hawk free day of the summer. I didn’t pick up a single hawk on a trip through Central Park.

This Sunday, I did find two hawks however. Pale Male up at 86th and Fifth Avenue, and one of the Sheep Meadow fledglings at The Mall.

July 26, 2014December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Fifth Avenue Mystery

I got to see one of the fledglings for over two hours around the Obelisk (sometimes referred to Cleopatra’s Needle), west of the Met. This was fun since there were lots of good looks at the bird.

However, the mystery of the day was a large adult Red-tailed Hawk, who wasn’t Pale Male or Ocativa, who showed up nearby. This coupled with the rescue of a young hawk around the tennis courts at 96th Street last week had hawk watchers wondering.

Could the young hawk could have been from an unknown nest of the pair that tired to nest along CPW these last two years? And could the adult hawk we saw be the parent of this youngster, investigating the cries from Pale Male and Ocatavia’s children, in case they were the parent’s missing fledgling?

I don’t think we’ll ever know but it makes a great story!

Update: It looks like the youngster that was picked up at the tennis courts is most likely one of the Cathedral fledglings, which makes sense given their exposure to Frounce. So, this extra adult’s appearance may have not explanation.

July 6, 2014December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Fifth Avenue Fledglings On Sunday

I got to see all of the Fifth Avenue fledglings on Sunday. One was west of the Met, and two were around the Cedar Hill area.

The two near Cedar Hill had a little tussle over some food with both of them ending up on a lawn.

All of the hawks looked well feed and the one who had been closing its right eye frequently yesterday was back to normal. All of them also seem to have mastered flying and soaring. They aren’t hunters yet, but they’re no longer newbies either.

July 5, 2014December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

FIfth Avenue Fledglings

After visiting the Sheep Meadow fledglings, it was off to see the Fifth Avenue fledglings. They were around Cedar Hill and nearby locations. Pale Male and Octavia flew overhead, but I ran into Pale Male much further north near the South Gate House of the Reservoir and the Met roof.

I saw all of the fledglings. One fledgling was closing its right eye a great deal. It was hard to tell if this was normal/minor or if something more serious was going on. I’m sure the hawk watchers at Fifth Avenue will be keeping track of this fledgling, just in case.