On International Women’s Day, which had a noisy demonstration in Washington Square Park, the female spent her first overnight of the year on the nest.  The park was full of protesters when I arrived at the park tonight and I almost walked to Tompkins Square Park.  Luckily, I decided to stay and watched a Red-tailed Hawk chase a Peregrine Falcon from One Fifth Avenue and went out of sight.  Shortly thereafter the male was on the Judson Cross and the female was in the nest.  She was still on the nest when I left the park at 7 p.m.

A hawk can start spending the night on the nest way before eggs are laid.  It will be interesting to see how long it takes until we see the first egg.

Update 3/9/17: The female did not spend the night on the nest the next night.  This is unusual, but given the Peregrine Falcon’s late appearance and the protesters in the park, she might have felt a need to protect the nest on Wednesday night.  The next week should be interesting.