Other Birds

Lesser Scaup

The light wasn’t that great at 7:00 p.m. but I got my first photographs of a Lesser Scaup on Wednesday.  The 117th bird species I’ve photographed, and the 131st I’ve seen in Central Park.

Female on left, two males on the right.
042606lsc
927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Sunday After The Rain

Sunday afternoon the rain finally let up for a bit.  The light was difficult and I missed getting a photograph of a Yellow Warbler up in the North Woods.

A juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron on the island on the Harlem Meer (a body of water at the NE corner of the park).
A Yellow-rumped Warbler in the Ramble.
A Palm Warbler in the Ramble.
Lola on Fifth Avenue still sitting on her nest.
Charlotte on the Hampshire House on Central Park South.
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Doing The Math On Central Park South

Doing the math, I’m concerned about the Trump Parc nest.  Given when the first egg was discovered and padding very generously for delayed incubation and hatching this is the time line:

First egg discovered, March 13
Possible delay of incubation, add 2 days, March 15
Incubation takes 28-35 Days, add 35 days, April 19
Hatching, up to 4 days, add 4 days, April 23

This is the most generous timeline I can create, 41 days.  Given that no one has seen chicks yet, I think we should prepare ourselves for a negative outcome with this first set of eggs.

It rained most of the day in New York City on Saturday. The photographs below are from Saturday afternoon between 1:45 and 2:45 during a break in the weather. 

Charlotte on the NE roof edge of the Hampshire House.
Charlotte on the roof of 116 Central Park West, which was a construction site last year.
Charlotte back on Hampshire House.
Leaving…
…to return to…
…the nest.
Junior appears from the back of the nest…
…and quickly flies off.  Charlotte then rapidly moves to the back of the nest and settles in.
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Watching Paint Dry

Friday, it was back to dull evening behavior.  (I wonder if the flurry of activity on Thursday was due to the unseasonably warm weather with temperatures in the 80s.)

Charlotte remained on the nest most of the late afternoon, early evening only showing herself for a few minutes.
We found Junior on the upper right edge of the Essex House sign as we left the park.
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Central Park South Change Of Pace

Until today watching the Central Park South Hawks nesting from the street has been like watching paint dry. 

5:45 p.m. – Empty Nest.
5:47 p.m. A light colored head appears.  What’s Junior (the male) doing on the nest?
6:00-6:15 p.m. After some movement around the nest he looks like he’s trying to cool off a bit.  Not your typical egg sitting behavior. 
6:15 p.m. Charlotte returns with a gray squirrel.  Unusual behavior, since Junior has spent the last month feeding her.
6:17 p.m. Junior leaves the nest.
6:18 p.m. He quickly returns.  Charlotte is in the back of the nest out of sight.
6:23 p.m.  After both disappearing to the back of the nest, they both reappear.  Junior then takes off for the evening.
6:30-7:00 p.m. Charlotte spends a lot of time out of sight, but also spends a lot of time at the edge of nest.
7:40 p.m. She settles down for the evening.

All of these behavior changes could be a sign that the eggs have hatched or are about to.  We’ll know the answer in a few days.

Update: I received an email from Ben Cacace who was digiscoping (using a digital camera with a telescope) from a nearby hotel at the same time I was photographing from the street.  From the higher view, there appeared to be an egg in the nest.  So, we’ll need to wait a bit before passing out the cigars.