Northwest Central Park Hawks

1st Fledge at 93rd and Central Park West

After missing the fledge, but seeing the first fledgling on Central Park South, I went up to the Wild West Playground nest to see how it was doing. When I arrived, the mother was just leaving the nest. The eyasses ate a bit, and then horsed around on the nest before branching high up into the tree, say 30 feet. I wasn’t expecting much to happen, so I started to pack up my equipment and head downtown.

But all of a sudden, one of the eyasses fledged around 7:10 pm to a tall tree to the north of the nest. The fledge itself was typical. Great flying but a poor landing. So, I unpacked my equipment and continued to photograph the hawks. Both parents eventually came in to keep watch, although neither visited the newly fledged hawk while I was there.

The fledgling
The fledgling
The adult male
The adult male
The adult female
The fledgling
The fledgling
The fledgling
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

1st Fledge at NYAC

The first fledge occurred at the New York Athletic Club on Tuesday morning. Reports are two of the eyasses were fighting over who would get to perch on the flag pole mount, and one end up fledging. It landed safely in a tree about 100 feet north of Central Park West.

When I arrived the mother had already visited and she made two more visits while I was there. The newly fledged birds didn’t do much other than learn to navigate the branches of the tree. It looked great.

The two eyasses still on the nest were very active, and look ready to follow their pioneering sibling. The mother made a good number of visits to the nest as well. I’m looking forward to the summer and watching these hawks grow up.

Northwest Central Park Hawks

93rd Street Update

My visit to the nest started slow. I could only see two eyasses at first and wondered if one had fledged, but finally saw the third one. With some light rain falling, the fledglings became more active and the third one appeared and started eating. They’ve started branching, which is a sign they will fledge soon.

Then I heard some angry Blue Jays and found a parent on a street light. It went south, continuing to be harassed by the jays, and reappeared on another street light with a Brown Rat in its talons. The jays then dived bombed and dive bombed. Eventually, the hawk went to a tree north of the nest and then a hawk delivered the rat. I think it as the male hunting and the female making the delivery, but I’m not 100% sure.

The delivery was quick. When the eyasses are close to fledging, it’s common for the parents to just make deliveries and then let the eyasses eat on their own. I’m going away for a long weekend starting Thursday, so unless they fledge Tuesday or Wednesday, I suspect they’ll be gone by the time I return.

Governors Island Red-tailed Hawks

Fledge at Governors Island

Sometime late last night or early this morning the surviving nestling fledged to the rear of the nearby St. Cornelius Chapel. It spent the afternoon in the gutters of the chapel. The mother visited twice while I was there, bring prey on the second trip. Both parent made flights by the church to check on the fledgling.

It was great to see that the fledgling had safely made it off the nest. Fledge days can be dangerous, and thankfully this one wasn’t. May this fledgling have a safe and uneventful time this summer on the island.

Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

NYAC on Saturday

I only had about an hour after dinner to watch the New York Athletic Club nest. The mother was on the eastern shield of the building asking as a target for the Blue Jays that harass the hawks in the late evening when I arrived. At some point the father brought in prey, landing and leaving in under a minute. The mother then came in to help feed the eyasses and then hopped up on the unused mount for a flag pole. At this point it was getting too dark to take anymore pictures. I’m looking forward to the young hawks being in the southern section of Central Park this summer.