A little after 7 p.m. on Sunday, a Kestrel decided to give Pale Male a hard time. In years past, crows would have been the major pest, but the crow population has been decimated by the West Nile Virus and there are now very few in the park.
I added a new bird to my Central Park list on Sunday, a Belted Kingfisher.
The Fifth Avenue nest had hundreds of observers on Saturday. Many first time watchers stumbled onto the “hawk bench” while taking part in Easter activities in the park. (The “hawk bench” has great view of the nest, which during this season has lots of telescopes, including a power Meade telescope connected to a video camera/monitor generously provided by Lincoln Karim, www.palemale.com.)
Old timers were there looking to see if the chicks had hatched yet. The old timers have reasonable concerns since last year’s eggs failed to hatch.
Pale Male (the male Red-tailed Hawk) has a history of his first year nests failing, so after the nest was removed in the early winter of 2004/5, it was not surprising that the 2005 nest failed. Whether the nest was too small to keep the eggs insulated, the stress of building a new nest or possible punctures by the pigeon spikes in the nest are all possible reasons for first year failures.
The new nest cradle, added as a compromise over safety, might also be a problem. So, all eyes are on the nest. The hatching window is anytime in the next week or so. Hopefully, good news will be reported soon.
When I arrived in the late afternoon, Lola (the female, nesting Red-tailed Hawk), was very active.
I arrived in the early evening just as Pale Male had arrived to give Lola a break.
At least two eggs are visible. Pictures were taken late in the afternoon on a cloudy Wednesday.
Now that Spring has arrived and Daylight Savings time has started, it’s possible to some real birding after work.
Here are some birds from Monday evening.
