Category: 927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

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

Five Red-tailed Hawk Saturday

On Saturday, I had a slow start.  I started in the Ramble trying to chase down the White-crowned Sparrow without much luck.  I then walked to Turtle Pond and found a cute group of Buffleheads among some Mallards and Northern Shovelers. 

Then I saw a hawk flying south of the Beresford.  It was Lola, the Fifth Avenue female.
She landed on a water tower on south side of West 77th Street.  The building is just west of the New York Historical Society.  After about 15 minutes, she flew due east.
I thought she had gone to the Model Boat Pond, so I walked there.  When I arrived I saw that Pale Male was on a building two blocks south of the nest location.  (Lola may have stopped in the Ramble for a late lunch.)
Pale Male posed for pictures and then flew off towards the Met.
It was such a nice day, I thought I would look to see what the Central Park South hawks were up to.  Charlotte was on the Essex House sign.
The nest still looks to be in good shape.
The Essex House boiler could use an overhaul.
Soon Charlotte went NW and circled around and then above the Trump International Hotel and Tower.
Then she landed on the top of a construction crane on a new building being built on Central Park West between 61st and 62nd.
Junior soon joined her.  If I got it right, she’s on the top and he’s below her.
Charlotte
Junior
Having seen four of the six building-breeding Manhattan Red-tailed Hawks, I went up to the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.  My luck ran out, as I was only able to see the male of the Cathedral pair.  However, five out of six isn’t that bad!
The Cathedral nest looked to be in good condition as well.
927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds

Friday in the Park

I made it to the park on Friday!  Finally, a sunny day where I didn’t have to work. I spent a few hours trying to photograph a White-crowned Sparrow without success.  I did see it a few times, but just as I tried to take a picture it would be scared off by a passing tourist.

Lola spent at least an hour in the afternoon on the NE tower of the Beresford.
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Mute swans arrived on The Lake a few weeks ago.  They are very good at getting food from tourists.  I wonder if they spend the summer on an urban lake in Canada?
927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Red-tailed Hawks

Marathon Sunday

On Marathon Sunday, I came into a park full of runners.  The marathon route goes right through Pale Male and Lola’s territory.

I walked around the Great Lawn and saw a hawk skim just above ground level from the center of the lawn to the eastern edge.  The hawk grabbed a small bird and then jumped into a low branch of a small tree between two baseball diamonds.  The bird was the immature hawk that Lola has been tolerating and to some observers, has even been playing with.

The immature Red-tailed Hawk just after catching a bird on the east side of the Great Lawn.
Note the immature’s stripped tail rather than a mature’s solid red tail.
The immature also has a very light eye color, which will darken over time.
Just after the immature Red-tailed Hawk finished eating, Pale Male came in to chase it away.
Pale Male landed in a tree on the west side of the Great Lawn and the immature hawk went northwest out of sight.
Pale Male preens his feathers.
The fluffed up look of a cold day.
After looking for the immature hawks perch without success, I returned to the Great Lawn to discover Pale Male had moved to the East Pinetum.
Were he settled into a tree that was to be his roost for the evening.
927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds

Late Saturday Afternoon with Pale Male and Lola

There’s no doubt fall has arrived in New York.  It was in the low 40’s, the leaves have turned to wonderful fall colors.  Another sign of fall has arrived is the return of Buffleheads to the Reservoir.

Male Bufflehead
Female Bufflehead
After visiting the Reservoir, I walked south and ran into Pale Male on the Northwest corner of the Met.  Is he trying to avoid being seem on the surveillance cameras?
After about twenty minutes he moved about 20 feet, so he would have a good view of an area alongside the transverse, where there are rodents.  The cold weather had him fluffed up to stay warm.
After about twenty minutes, he flew off the Met and caught a mouse.  He flew 200 feet to catch his prey.  He must have incredible vision.
After eating, he went back to the Met.
Lola went up 5th Avenue…
…landing on a building around 88th Street and 5th Avenue.
Pale Male left the Met and looked to settling in for the night.
Lola moved to a building two blocks south of where she was…
…and then she flew east.
Pale Male followed.  We lost her, but found his roost for the evening in the East Pinetum.
As I let the park, there was a full moon in a clear, crisp fall sky.
927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Lola and Pale Male on Sunday

Lola and Pale Male were both in a tree on the east side of the Great Lawn when I arrived in the afternoon.

Lola
Lola
Pale Male then flew to a tree on the west side of the Great Lawn, leaving a small snack for Lola.  Soon she flew over to join him.  They stayed in the tree for about an hour.
Near dusk they both flew north.  Pale Male stopped in a tree in the west Pinetum.
He was harassed by a number of birds and moved to another tree…
…with a view of the Reservoir and the Police Station.