Flaco was back to a normal routine on Sunday evening. He hooted before fly out, then went to three trees around the construction site and then spent 90 minutes in the construction site. He often was on the ground and spent a great deal of time on a small rock in what will be the channel for the restored stream. Later in the evening he flew to trees to the SE of the construction site.

Flaco is moving around the park like he did the first two weeks after his release. Slowly moving around but not too far each night. I was able to watch him for about 30 minutes on Friday evening. While I’ve been able to find him at night, I haven’t been able to figure out his new roosting location(s). It’s going to be a challenge to keep up with him as the trees leaf out.

I ended up having great timing to see Flaco this Thursday evening. Just as I arrived, I was able to see him fly in from the north, had him fly over me a few times, and then had him hooting for a few minutes in the same tree he used the night before.

But then there was no sign of him. We certainly were spoiled watching him up in the northern end of the park.

Tonight was a lucky evening. Flaco wasn’t in his normal roost and hadn’t been spotted during the day. We looked in his normal spots up north with any success after dusk.

One of the regular owl watchers, on her way home found Flaco hooting in the middle of the park. It wasn’t an expected location. She had gone on her bike, so I walked quickly to catch up and see him. But by the time I got there he was gone.

Luckily, after walking around for 45 minutes, I was able to hear him hooting and take some pictures of him. With the warm weather and the trees leafing out, I suspect he’ll be moving around the park and harder to find. We were lucky to have him perching in the same tree for weeks.

I arrived just before fly out to have Flaco spend the night doing his normal routine. A few hours in the construction site, before slowly moving southeast and hooting. But then he flew fairly far south of where he usually goes and it was unclear how far he went. He maybe increasing his nightly range.

His waddle at the construction site reminded me of the Snowy Owl on the East Meadow.

Flaco’s release by a vandal over two months ago was a surprise to everyone. Even more surprising was how well he did adjusting to living outside of his cage in an urban New York City park. To most New Yorker’s and the media, this was a wonderful tale of how a bird having lived in captivity could become “free” and thrive in the Big Apple.

Unfortunately, this over simplifies what has happened. I have a number of concerns that I wish would be discussed in the media and by the fans of Flaco.

My first concern is the normalization of discussing the whereabouts of a roosting owl and the anthrourophorizing of a feral bid. Flaco’s location is being publicized daily on Twitter. While you can make a case that “he is used to people” and that having crowds come see him doesn’t bother him, it seems hypocritical to celebrate that “he’s now a wild bird” but then treat his as though he’s still in a zoo.

It also is teaching new birders that it is fine to broadcast on social media where an owl is roosting or nesting. I know of now place other than Manhattan where this behavior is tolerated by the local birding community.

I also am concerned that the “groupthink” that he’s now happier prevents any scientific rather than emotional evaluation of what is best for Flaco and the other wildlife in his current territory.

Is Flaco actually better off being outside of the zoo? While he is eating on his own, and not at risk of starving, he’s not in a natural place for Eurasian Eagle-Owl. He’s hunting primarily in a construction site and at three dumpsters at a storage site for compost and building materials. He will also never have a chance to interact with another of his species. While Central Park isn’t a cage, it certainly isn’t a natural habitat. It is densely populated with traffic and has prey contaminated with rodenticides. While it might not be wise to return him to his cage at the Central Park Zoo, is there a sanctuary that would be a better place for him to live than in Central Park?

Over the last two weeks, Flaco has begun to chase and harass birds and bats flying during the night. Flaco is beginning to change the behavior of native birds in the Northeast corner of Central Park. While it’s nice to celebrate Flaco’s freedom from a small cage, is it fair to have him impact the native birds in a rich 20 acres ecosystem of the northeast section of the park?

The Wildlife Conservation Society, which oddly had a publicist on hand the night of his release, has simply abandoned Flaco. The decision seems to be driven by publicists and bureaucrats wanting to avoid negative press rather than a scientific choice by ornithologists. As much as I’m fascinated by Flaco’s behavior, there are times I want to yell, “Wildlife Conservation Society, please claim your lost property.” I’m surprised the NYC DEC hasn’t required the WCS to work harder to recover him.

I watched Flaco during the last afternoon and early evening on Friday and in the late evening on Saturday. Friday was a very normal flout and on Saturday, I caught up with him after he had been in the construction site. Other observers thought he had eaten there. When I arrived he hooted and then watched the rats near a set of dumpsters for over an hour before flying off out of sight.