Urban Hawks

October 28, 2007December 23, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

5th Avenue Hawks on Sunday

I was able to see both Pale Male and Lola on late Sunday afternoon.

(Warning: some graphic rodent eating shots near the end of this post.)

Lola on the northeast tower of the Beresford.

American Crows making a racket, but not directly attacking Lola.

Pale Male on his favorite Turtle Pond tree.

He attracted a crowd at Turtle Pond, so he moved into a tree on the Great Lawn…

but returned to Turtle Pond to catch a rodent.

He must have incredible vision. He hunted from about 150 yards.

Then he went up into a tree for his dinner.

After he was done eating, he cached half of the rat on a Great Lawn tree. He then cleaned his beak on the bark of this tree and flew north for the evening, skipping his usual sleeping tree.

October 28, 2007December 23, 2020Other Birds

Downy Woodpecker

A Downy Woodpecker was busy making a cavity on Sunday, near Triplets Bridge.

That’s sawdust being ejected from the nest on the right.

October 28, 2007December 23, 2020Other Birds

Virginia Rail

A Virginia Rail, which may be the same bird that was released into the park earlier this month by a rehabber, was out in the open on Sunday in the stream between Balcony Bridge and Triplets Bridge.

The reeds where the bird had been hiding, were removed last week as part of the renovations of the Lake

October 25, 2007December 21, 2020Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Washington Square in the early evening

On a gray day, that dried out late in the afternoon, I caught up with our young Washington Square hawk in the eastern side of the park. The hawk hung out for awhile, moved around a bit, made one hunting attempt, and then settled down for the night on a high branch of a mature London Plane tree.

October 21, 2007December 28, 2020Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Brunch in Washington Square

For about three weeks, Washington Square has been host to a First Year Red-tailed Hawk. Today, I saw the hawk for the first time. It was feeding on a rodent and then had a stand off with a squirrel.

This post does have some graphic pictures. If you’re squeamish, you might want to skip to another post.

October 14, 2007December 25, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, Other Red-tailed Hawks

Pelham Bay Park Landfill

Sunday, I spent mid-day in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. It’s at the end of the 6 Subway Line, which is an easy but long ride from Manhattan. Long Island Sound basically ends at the park, which makes it a perfect magnet for birds migrating from New England.

Once a year, the Urban Park Rangers lead a hawk watching tour of the landfill which is normally closed to visitors. This year’s tour ended up being a perfect day for hawk watching. The weather was nice, and the wind was steady and from a northwesterly direction. We ended up having hawks in view the entire time we were on the landfill, which is highly unusual. Needless to say, I had a great time.

The landfill is a large hill. It is the highest point in the area giving us a great view, plus it creates updrafts for the hawks and falcons.

We ended up seeing many Red-tailed Hawks (seven were in the air at once), American Kestrels (at least four), Northern Harriers (at least two), Osprey (two, not photographed) and one possible Sharp-shinned hawk.

There were at least two American Kestrel pairs on the landfill. Two were seen on the barb-wire cages that surround the methane gas vents. Needless to say the fences have large signs saying “No Smoking”.

My guess is that this is an accipiter. Based on the size, it is was likely to be a Sharp-shinned Hawk but this is only a guess.

Reverse view of the same unidentified hawk.

As we were leaving the landfill I commented how nice it would be if a hawk landed on the Bronx Victory Memorial. A few minutes later my wish came true!

As we returned to the Ranger Station, a juvenile Red-tailed hawk landed on a tree 15 feet from the station.

I was able to follow it for about an hour. It hunted along the edge of the highway, in a playground, and on top of a stadium light. The hunting attempts weren’t successful, but I think the young hawk was practicing rather than giving it the full effort.

It moved from tree to tree making a hunting attempt each time.

Here it is in a bush after trying for a mouse in a playground.

It then went after the Monk Parakeets of Pelham Bay Park, which use the stadium lights of the running track.

The Monk Parakeets were safely one stadium light tower away from the hawk. But they sure made a racket.

The hawk takes a few looks, moves around a bit and then flies away.

I returned to Manhattan with a detour into Central Park, where I found…