Category: 927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds, Other Red-tailed Hawks, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks, St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Saturday Marathon

I ran all around New York City on Sunday.  Although spring hasn’t officially arrived, the city’s hawks are quite busy.

First stop was 888 Seventh Avenue.  I saw both CPS Red-tailed hawks flying around 888 Seventh, but they both went past it.  I found them on 1740 Broadway.  It’s great to see them being so urban, but watching them this season is going to be tough.

Then it was off to the Cathedral Church of St. John to see how the Red-tailed Hawk pair was doing up north.  The female of the pair was checking out the nest, which looks nicely refurbished.

I went back to the nest later in the afternoon and saw the male of the pair soaring over Morningside Park.

The female Red-tail left the nest and went in the direction of the projects at 103rd, so I walked down to see if she was on the Fredrick Douglas Houses.  No luck finder her, but since the Monk Parakeets were in the neighborhood, I walked west. 

The Monk Parakeet pair was busy ripping the nest apart.  James O’Brien, who had joined me for part of the afternoon, thought it was spring cleaning, since many of the sticks lying on 103rd were full of feathers and poop.  I got a note from Rebekah Creshkoff who reports seeing a third Parakeet near the nest an hour earlier.  So, it might be possible that a second couple is moving in.  Another early spring mystery.

After lunch, I went to see the Red-headed Woodpecker at Morningside Drive and 92nd Street.  While I was there, two Red-tailed Hawks flew overhead.

Pale Male was on a 5th Avenue railing,  He made a swift dive after a pigeon, failed to catch it, and went over to his favorite security camera on the Met.

She flew off to the weather station on the American Muesum of Natural History, before flying southeast.
Pale Male appeared on the Beresford.

Next I went to see our 86th Street winter guest, who will either leave soon or stake out this area of the park for the summer.

I was going to leave the park, but Jean Dean ran into me and encouraged me to stay and watch the lunar eclipse.

The timing of the moonrise meant that we saw only about half of the eclipse.  We saw the pale red moon in full eclipse, and then saw it slowly return to full brightness.
I left before it was fully over.  I had dressed for the warm day and not the chilly night!

927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Saturday Hawks

On Saturday, I started out at the bottom of the park.

Junior was on the CNN sign and then…
…moved north.  He must have a perch around 65th and Central Park West, but I can’t figure out where.
Heading north, Pale Male was on a streetlight above the east drive, around Cleopatra’s Needle.  He quickly took off after a Cooper’s Hawk.
When we caught up to him, he had prey.  Did he snatch if from the Cooper’s Hawk?  It all happened quickly and just out of view.
After calling for Lola, who didn’t arrive to share the leftovers, Pale Male landed on a 5th Avenue window.
After about fifteen minutes, he landed in a tree that would be his roost for the night.
Good night Pale Male.
927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds

Cooper’s Hawk, Red-Tailed Hawk and American Woodcock

I started my Saturday afternoon in Central Park in the SE corner.

I walked north and found this juvenile Cooper’s Hawk among a group of crows below the Zoo.  I ended up being able to follow the juvenile, as it traveled north all the way up to the Oven, where I lost track of the hawk.
When I got to the Model Boat Pond, I could see Lola enjoying the warmth from the vent of a chimney on a building at 79th and Fifth Avenue.
The Cooper’s hawk landed in a tree directly above the hawk bench.
Cold? Just fluff up your down coat.
The Cooper’s Hawk led me to the oven, where there were two American Woodcocks along the small stream that flows into the Lake.  It was one of the few areas in the park that had some unfrozen ground.
In the fall, it’s rare to see an American Woodcock moving about.  You usually see them sitting still or flying when flushed by dogs.  In the cold weather and the snow, we had an unusual treat of seeing them feeding.  They stick their long beaks into the mud looking for food.
Lola was still on the vent, as I left the park.  The Boathouse cafe is closed for remodeling, so there was no hot chocolate to extend my stay!