My visit to the Lower East Side started with a trip to Houston and Avenue D where I saw a Red-tailed Hawk fly off a nest under construction on a school air conditioner. This is the same site of a nest built in 2008. We’ll see what happens with this pair/nest.
Then it was off to Tompkins Square Park, where the activity was similar to yesterday’s.
The hawks in Tompkins Square Park are brooding. Today, I got to see a few nest exchanges, both hawks share a rodent, and see them copulate.
My visit to Tompkins Square Park started off slowly. The male arrived and quietly sat on a branch looking for prey. But soon we saw three hawks, the pair and an intruder flying over head. After the intruder was chased off the pair made a trip to the top of the Christodora Apartments. Then they went out of sight. This nest is usually a few days behind Washington Square Park, so expect eggs next week.
Tonight, I watched the female Dora for about half an hour, before Christo came with a small mouse and began calling. The two copulated and then Dora ate the rodent Christo brought. (For those interested in bird anatomy, Dora’s cloaca is clearly visible in one of the photographs.)
The Tompkins Square Park pair are getting serious about nesting. They’ve built a new nest close to Avenue A and 9th Street, and the male is busy courting the female. They copulated while I was there and he also caught a small rodent and went off to give it to his mate as a present. So, it looks like everything is in place for spring.
As the days grow longer, Red-tailed Hawk couples who in the fall may have spent much of their time apart, spend more and more time together. Today, the Tompkins Square Park spent much of the after noon close to each other. A sign nesting season is right around the corner.
One of the hawks caught a pigeon on Avenue B around 12th Street. I was surprised the kill was so far north. After eating much of the pigeon, it shared the leftovers with its mate.
