Urban Hawks

February 20, 2006December 16, 2020Other Red-tailed Hawks

East Harlem Red-Tailed Hawks

While birding on the shore of the Harlem Meer in Central Park, I saw a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks flying over East Harlem on Sunday afternoon. They flew progressively higher until I lost sight of them. They appeared to be flying over the housing developments that are bounded by Lenox Avenue, 1st Avenue, 112th and 115th Streets.

When I got home, I looked up the area on Google Earth and found that this is a strip of green that runs to the East River with Wards Island/Randalls Island across the river. What a great territory that would make for a Red-tailed Hawk pair. Especially if it also included Marcus Garvey Memorial Park and the area around the 125th Street Metro North Station.

Or is this just the eastern territory of a Morningside Park Red-tailed Hawk pair? Or the northern territory of a Central Park North Meadow pair?

Harlem’s Red-tailed population confuses the heck out of me!

February 20, 2006December 16, 2020Other Birds

Sunday Birding

I started birding on Sunday afternoon at the north end of the park and worked my way down to the Ramble.

Northern Mockingbird on the southeastern shore of the Harlem Meer.

Three female Wood Ducks that have spent the winter on the Harlem Meer. Whenever I see them I think, are they three maidens, three spinsters or three widows?

A hornet’s nest above the Wildflower Meadow.

February 18, 2006December 16, 2020Other Red-tailed Hawks

Immature Red-tailed Hawk Hunting and Eating in the Ramble

On a very cold winter afternoon, I found this immature Red-tailed Hawk hunting in the Ramble at the area along the lake called the Oven. The hawk waited patiently for at least 30 minutes before swooping down to catch a rodent. It then flew with the prey to the Point for a few minutes before returning to a tree in the Oven to consume its catch, which took another 30 minutes. (The pictures in this post are fairly graphic. If you’re squeamish, feel free to skip this post.)