Friday, April 20th

Marie had been predicting that the Fledgling would soon be independent.  I had argued back that without tree cover or warm weather, the family might stay in the cavity longer than would be normal.

Today, Chris found the Fledgling in a Hawthorne tree, where it most likely spent the day.  Ironically, it was a warm day, trees were not leaf covered but enough buds were on the tree to hide the bird, and it was the correct time for the fledgling to start being independent.  So, no clear answer to our riddle.

Owl watchers for the evening were Jim, Chris, Noreen, Barbara and myself.

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Day 41 on 5th Avenue

After two years of nest failures on 5th Avenue, all eyes are on the hawk nest to see if there are any signs of hatching. 

James Lewis has been keeping track of Pale Male and his mates for years and has compiled a chart of dates.  Since it is impossible to tell when the eggs are actually laid, Jim has measured the date between the first night the female hawk overnights on the nest and the day an egg hatches. This date range has been between 35 and 41 days for the nest site.

According to Lincoln Karim’s Pale Male website, Lola spent her first night on the nest on March 9th.  This would have made April 19th the 41st day. 

But Lincoln Karim, also observed that Lola, may not have stayed overnight on the nest on March 10th.  So the start date may be the 10th or 11th of May.

So, expect large crowds of nervous hawk watchers this weekend at the Model Boat Pond.

The pictures below are from Friday evening.  Pale Male was on nest, and the pictures are of Lola returning and Pale Male leaving and going off to his favorite Met security camera.

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Thursday, April 19th

Finally, we had some sunshine and warmer weather on Thursday.  It was 55 and partly cloudy, with a wonderful sunset.  Marie, Jim, Barbara and I were at the fly out, plus some birders and softball players.

This evening, in fairly bright light, Trident and the Fledgling came out one after another, followed by Herringbone about ten minutes later.

Trident and Fledgling hung out for awhile, then all three went NE of nest, then we lost track of them.  Searches of the owls’ normal spots, came up empty.

Tuesday, April 17th

There was a light rain, that turned into a rain shower after fly out.  Jean, Marianne, and I were at the fly out.  Chris, Fig and Chris’ boyfriend also stopped by briefly.

Fly out was first the fledgling in fairly bright light, followed after a good while by Trident and with another delay Herringbone.

The owls stay together within a hundred feet of the nest.  Soft songs were heard from the fledgling.  We saw the owls drop to the grass a few times, including the fledgling.  They might have been eating worms brought up by the rain.  The owls came back to the area around the nest cavity, but we lost them and called it a night as the rain had gotten stronger.

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Tuesday, April 10th

Tuesday, had three observers on a crystal clear night, Marie, Jean and Bruce.  Two owls were seen in the nest cavity, the fledgling and the adult we’ve been calling Trident because of its vertical forehead stripes. 

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Red-tailed Hawk nests are the order of the day in New York City this year.  I think we have at least ten confirmed nests.  In the next few weeks, we should have lots of babies all through the city.  I’m going on vacation but will be back in time for some Red-tail babies.

Beyond my reporting there are lots of excellent websites in New York with news of Red-tail nests.

Rob Jett’s City Birder blog has news of two nests in Brooklyn and news via Chris Lyons of hawks in the Bronx.

Robert B. Schmunk’s Bloomingdale Village blog has been keeping tabs on the Cathedral Church of St. John hawks and other hawks in Central Park.

Jeffrey Kollbrunner’s website has news of a pair of hawks in Queens.

And if you’re into Peregrine Falcons Ben Cacace blog, NYC Nova Hunter has been keeping track of a pair on Park Avenue and the 55 Water Street webcam is back online.

Plus, James O’Brien’s The Origin of Species blog has news of American Kestrel, Peregrine and Hawk in midtown and Harlem.

Pale Male on Sunday