I haven’t been up to Riverside Park since last summer, so I decided to make a visit.  The female has a new mate to replace the one poisoned last year.  He’s banded and when possible, I’ll try and read the numbers.

The female was rebuilding the nest when I arrived.  She brought at least three branches to the nest before going off to join her mate on the Normandy building.

I was in Riverside Park tonight, not only to visit the hawks but to discuss outstanding hawk safety issues with John Herrold, Riverside Park’s Administrator.

John Herrold had news of the necropsy results and it looks as though the second generation poison brodifacoum was the cause of death, and not bromodiolone which was used near the Boat Basin Café.  This would point to buildings along Riverside Park which use brodifacoum rather than the park itself.  (Changing poisoning habits outside the park will be much more difficult than influencing park policy, I’m afraid.)

Mr. Herrold talked about how concerned and knowledgeable his staff was about the hawks. It was good to hear that Riverside Park had the hawks on their radar.

Mr. Herrold did a great job of listening.   We spoke of improving relations between Riverside Park Hawk watchers and the park, possibly having a meeting every March to allow hawk watchers to express concerns for the upcoming season and to meet his staff.  Knowing names and faces before a crisis goes a long way.

We also talked about the dumpsters and I learned that the inappropriate dumpster has been removed, dumpsters with lids brought in for the Boat Basin Café, and plans are underway to purchase a solar powered compactor for the marina.  So, this issue seems to be close to resolution.

We also talked about poisons in the park.  Here he feels, that except for poisons placed near the dumpsters, which believes was done in error, the park has been greatly improving its approach to rat management. He believes that over the last five years serious efforts have been made to reduce rodenticide use, by introducing traps, limit garbage, etc.

I asked if he could evaluate the period poisons prohibited around a nests to possibly have them start when nesting begins and also to evaluate the use of underground application of loose poisons rather than using bait boxes.  He said he would look into it.

So, it looks like a positive dialog has begun.

The fledglings looked great.  Both are being well feed by their mother and one even played on the ground today.  So far, so good.

The first eyass fledged on Wednesday according to veteran hawk watchers at Riverside Park.  The other eyass also appears to have fledged on Thursday.  Last year the parents, continued to feed the fledglings for a week on the nest, so the youngsters continued to sleep in the nest after they fledged.  This year, this no rush attitude continues.  Although both birds are reported to have fledged, one was hanging out in the nest on Friday.

While there is much joy over the fledging, there is still concern over the father’s poisoning by over application of poisons south of the Boat Basin earlier this year.  Although there have been positive discussions, I don’t think we’ve cracked the bureaucracy of the Parks Department yet.

Balancing hawk safety and rat control is difficult but three major areas of concern have yet to be addressed by park administrators.

1. Proper sanitation is the first priority in preventing rats.  If you don’t feed them, you won’t have them.  The dumpster at the Boat Basin is a breeding ground for rats.  It is a large dumpster designed for yard waste and not garbage and is sitting in a pile of mud most days.  The rats have a field day (or should we say field night) feasting on the garbage here.  The dumpster has a gate opening at the back with a two inch gap.  The rats just run in and out of the dumpster all night.
   While everyone acknowledges the problem and the need to build a proper waste transfer area with a compactor, the Park administrators are claiming a lack of funds.  There must be enough income from the café rent to siphon off a small portion to fix this deplorable situation.  If not, why isn’t this a priority for the Riverside Park Fund?
2. The current Parks Department policy is to restrict poisoning during the period of time starting from when eggs hatch until the fledglings disperse in the late summer.  I believe the experiences both at Riverside and in Astoria Park warrant a review of this policy and an extension of the restrictions to start a month earlier when the mother begins sitting on eggs.  We’ve had too many poisoning of nesting parents in city parks recently.
3. A commitment from Parks to evaluate and consider banning their practice of the underground baiting of rat borrows using second generation anticoagulant poisons.  I believe this practice is contrary the recommendations of the EPA, who advises the poisons always be placed within 50 feet of buildings, and in bait stations, unless used against gophers or voles in agricultural settings, where it may be used underground.
   Underground baiting allows rats to ingest extremely large doses of poisons before they get sick or die resulting extremely toxic rats. 
   There is no proof that using baiting stations properly deployed, which are much safer for non-targeted animals, children and pets, are any less effective than loose, underground applications of poisons.

Until we get a positive commitment from Parks to address theses three areas, I don’t think we should celebrate.  If you are interested in writing, here are some key contacts:

John Herrold, Park Administrator,  john.herrold@parks.nyc.gov
Robert Weigel, Chairman, Riverside Park Fund, rweigel@gibsondunn.com
William T. Castro, Manhattan Parks Commissioner, william.castro@parks.nyc.gov

The eyasses at Riverside Park are doing well and should be fledging soon.  Thanks to all of the people who supported the single mother.  Up to now things have been doing very well, considering the death of the father. 

The Riverside Park pair of Red-tailed Hawk eyasses is really close to fledgling.  I wouldn’t be surprised if one is off the nest by Memorial Day.  Today they did lots of wing flapping and branching.  Their tails look a little too short and some feathers haven’t grown in on their heads, but otherwise they look pretty close to being ready for their first flights.

The Urban Park rangers have been doing a great job of helping the single parent mother feed the eyasses, by putting out food.  I think this made a major difference for the outcome of this nest.  The Rangers have also put up posters with simple do’s and don’t about how to respect the hawks. The posters remind dog owners to keep their dogs on leash. 

There aren’t enough Urban Park Rangers or Parks Enforcement Police to enforce the leash laws in Riverside Park, so it is helpful if the hawk watching community talks to owners of dogs who have their dogs off leash.  This doesn’t have to be an adversarial discussion.  Last year, the mother would swoop over any loose dog that was chasing squirrels the week before they fledged.  So, the issue is not only a hawk safety issue but also a dog safety issue.