A young hawk has been hanging around Madison Square Park since early October. I’ve heard reports and been sent a few pictures, but today was the first time I saw the youngster in person.
(I only had a point and shoot camera with me, so the pictures aren’t that great.) It’s most likely a migrant from further north and not a hawk from Manhattan, but you never know!
I’m on vacation in San Francisco. My hotel is on Nob Hill. In the mid-afternoon I saw some pigeons in flight out my window and wondered if there was a hawk nearby. It turns out there were two Red-tailed Hawks, an adult and an immature bird.
There was a young Red-tailed Hawk flying between 100th and 111th Street along Fifth Avenue this afternoon. It was impossible to tell if it was a migrant or a hawk that was born on a nearby nest this spring.
Late on Friday, I saw two hawks in the Locust Grove just west of the Great Lawn, an adult peering down on a juvenile on the ground. The juvenile had a squirrel and waited until the adult left to begin eating it.
Later, just before sunset, an adult hawk came down from a Fifth Avenue perch, to harass a juvenile eating a bird on Pilgrim Hill. They both paid no attention to the numerous sledders on the hill.
The adult actually took some of the prey away from the juvenile. I lost track of the juvenile but was able to track the adult as it went from tree to tree before settling on a tree just south of 72nd Street, due south from the Pilgrim statue.
The adult hawk from Pilgrim Hill may be the new mate of Pale Male. Lola hasn’t been seen since mid-December and is unfortunately presumed dead.
The annual Central Park Christmas Bird Count was on Sunday. It’s a great event that brings together the Urban Park Rangers, the Parks Department, Audubon NYC and lots of amateur birders to take a census of the birds wintering in the park.
After a series of bad weather counts with snow, rain or bitterly cold temperatures, this count had enjoyable, if chilly weather.
The day before, I looked for the two unusual birds that have been around, the Varied Thrush and a young Red-Headed Woodpecker (which at this age, has yet to get a red head.) Along the way I had nice looks at a Cooper’s hawk.
On Sunday, I joined the Northeast team. Highlights for me were a Carolina Wren and young Red-tailed Hawk at Mount Sinai Hospital. After our counting was done, our team saw a Merlin in the Northwest team’s area, I saw a young Red-tail being harrased by Pale Male at 63rd and Fifth, and at dusk I watched the park’s surviving Eastern Screech-Owl’s fly out.
The count had 62 species of birds, including birds from the count week. There are lots of birds in Central Park, even in the winter! The count had 11 Red-tailed Hawks, 9 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Merlins, 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 1 Peregrine Falcon, and 1 Eastern Screech-Owl.
This youngster was in the Loch on Sunday. This is a tough period for many young hawks. They’re on their own for the first time, and those that haven’t mastered hunting are in a real battle for their lives. After nest and fledging accidents, this is a peak time for rehabbers, who get lots of undernourished youngsters in the Fall.
