Urban Hawks

April 1, 2007December 15, 2020Owls

Sunday, April 1st

Chris was the only one watching the owls this evening and sent this great report:

"Well, I screwed around with e-mail after sending that message to you all, got out late with the dog and was rewarded for my tardiness –I found the nest cavity.

The female and the fledge came out of a *very* small hole near the lamp post at about 7:12.

I was walking by with the dog, scouting tree branches when a little gray fluffball poking its nose around caught my eye. The mother and fledge took turns peeking out of the hole from about 7:10 — they must have been standing on each others heads or something — then flew out to the tree near where the third chick was rescued by Barbara and Carolyn.

There they were greeted by the male who was roosting or in another cavity. He flew upwards, from the left, responding to the same haunting percussive calls of the female we heard Friday night — and attempted to copulate with her. He didn’t get a good hold and dropped off after a brief moment. They all flew off very quickly at about 7:20 towards the Friday night ‘sex tree’ but I lost them and didn’t make much effort to find them.

It really is cold and damp.

They’re still in a cavity!

Chris and Fig.

April 1, 2007December 18, 2020Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Park Avenue Peregrine Falcons

Ben Cacace, who blogs at NYC Nova Hunter, has discovered a pair of Peregrine Falcons who hang around Park Avenue in the upper 40’s and lower 50’s. Ben’s a fantastic birder and I’m so happy he found some Raptors close to my apartment!

A Peregrine Falcon on 299 Park Avenue, the UBS building, around 6:30 on Saturday evening.

I returned on Sunday afternoon to find the pair of falcons on 299 Park Avenue, one on the north face (on top of the light colored, vertical window washing rail at the top middle of the photograph), and one on the east face (lower right of the photograph.)

At around 3:10 p.m. the Peregrine Falcon on the east face of 299 Park leaves and begins circling over Park Avenue. The Peregrine circles to gain height. It circles over the void created by Lever House’s lower section, then comes south down Park Avenue, reverses course and flies directly over the Seagram’s building. I can’t be sure if it landed or went further, so I go to Lexington to investigate. At 3:25 p.m. the Falcon appears from behind the Citicorp building on Lexington, circles the building twice and at 3:28 p.m. lands on the northern top edge of the Citicorp roof.

It begins to rain, so I go home.

March 31, 2007December 16, 2020Owls

Saturday, March 31st

Owl sex was again seen, but not photographed. The sex has us questioning if after the loss of three chicks, is there a chance of a second brood?

March 31, 2007December 22, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds

Red-breasted Merganser, Eastern Phoebe and the 5th Avenue Nest

On Saturday, I ran around Central Park in the afternoon.

First stop was the Meer, where I got shots of a Red-breasted Merganser drake with his punk hair style. He’s the bird in the foreground with a Ruddy Duck behind him on the right. He’s a new bird for my Central Park Bird List.

While walking down to the Fifth Avenue nest, I saw this Eastern Phoebe, a sure sign of spring.

When I got to Fifth Avenue, at first nothing was visible. Lola was on the nest, snuggled into the nest and hidden. But soon Pale Male arrived and sat on the window the hawk watchers have nicknamed Linda 6.

Lola got up to rearrange herself, and move a few twigs.

March 30, 2007December 21, 2020Highbridge Park Red-tailed Hawks

Highbridge Park – Fifth Manhattan Nest!

I received two great emails. The first was a note from James O’Brien that he ran into someone who can see the 888 Seventh Avenue nest. This person said Charlotte was sitting on eggs. It might turn out that the nest isn’t behind the vents after all. This makes 888 the fourth confirmed nest in Manhattan.

The second note was from Glenn Alvarez, who wrote that Highbridge Park has an active Red-tailed Hawk nest. This is the fifth confirmed Manhattan nest for the season!

James O’Brien had seen the nest this winter, from the lower level of Highbridge Park. Glenn’s email confirmed the nest was active and gave us the hints to find it from Amsterdam Avenue. Like the Highbridge nest, it may become impossible to find once the trees get leaves.

Highbridge Park is located along the Harlem River on Manhattan’s eastern northern tip. It is a long, thin park of about 120 acres. For information about the park, see the Park’s Department website.

I went up after work to take some photographs of the nest. I only saw one Red-tail, who I assumed was the female since it was sitting nest for over 90 minutes. I didn’t see its mate.

March 30, 2007December 16, 2020Owls

Friday, March 30th

As it got dark, the female adult, followed by the fledgling, appeared on the trees east of a Grotto. While there, the female adult sang one soft song. It was the trill song, the one we used to hear the West Drive screech female singing after her mate disappeared.

The female and fledgling headed west along the edge of the Pool and then few across the water, landing in a tree at the east end of the Pool. Then the female alone flew into a bare tree just to the north.

A few seconds later, we heard two trill songs, one from the female and a response from the male somewhere nearby. Suddenly the male appeared right above the female. And there, silhouetted by an almost full moon, we saw an amazing sight–Owl sex.

Then all three flew across the drive, and into the darkness of the night.