After the skies cleared, and a rainbow appeared over the North Meadow, I found Flaco at the Construction site once again. He flew to numerous perches, picked at some entrails and hooted. He was unfazed by the night watchman.
I came into the park after fly out and after some searching found Flaco at the construction site by the Harlem Meer. He moved around a few times and then ended up on a railing where he hooted. I haven’t hear him hoot from within the construction site since the spring, so this was a nice surprise.
Four dirt bikes drove along the West Drive and he moved to a tree near Nutter’s Battery and continued hooting. By the time I got to the Battery, he had stopped hooting. I made my way to the Compost Heap, and he wasn’t there. I was ready to pack it in for the evening. But then out of nowhere, he flew to one of his favorite perches.
He briefly went to a high pile of dirt, before returning to his tree. Two police cars were at the Compost Heap and as they left for their shift change, they stopped to look at Flaco. One officer asked me if their patrol cars bothered Flaco, and I explained not usually, except when they were rushing to respond to a call. It was nice to know the park police are interested in Flaco’s welfare. I told them what had spooked him this evening was four dirt bikes and the officer’s reaction was to apologize. He expressed his frustration that the dirt bikes where outsmarting them, because chasing after them could lead to injuries of the public or the riders, there wasn’t much they could do safely.
When the police left Flaco went to a Black Locust and hooted for over an hour. Those of us who are watching him are trying to figure out what’s triggering the resumption of hooting. Is he defending his territory during migration? Does he think there might be a female Eurasian Eagle-Owl moving through? Or are the shorter days having an effect? We can only wonder what the cause is at this point.
He was also sneezing. Something I don’t remember seeing or hearing before. It was hard to record, but a delightful sound to hear.
After fly out, Flaco explored Baseball and Soccer fields for a few hours before he gave us the slip. The theme for the evening was backstops and soccer goals.
Wednesday night was interesting. Flaco quickly went east and then north. He looked to be going far north, but stopped in a brightly lit tree near the drive. He made a pass at something and ended up on a backstop before returning to the tree.
He then went north to a favorite Black Locust tree and hooted. Then he flew south between 5th Avenue and the East Drive and we lost him. But about an hour later he was back in the tree near the drive. After about twenty minutes he then went east across the drive and made his way to the East Meadow, where I lost track of him. This is the first time I’ve seen him at the East Meadow, so this was a fun discovery.
On Tuesday night, I arrived late after watching Chimney Swifts to find that Flaco had gone directly to the construction site for the new rink/pool. He didn’t do much. He perched on Caterpillar machine and then a tree.
The North Meadow is switching from Baseball to Soccer and after fly out Flaco was reported to be exploring the new goals. I arrived afterwards, although I had seen him briefly in the afternoon. While I was with him, he calmly stayed on a backstop, with the Tribute in Lights shining behind him. Later he finally took off and I found him on a streetlight over the West Drive.
