Wild West Playground
The nest continues to show the signs of hatching, with flies, feedings and the parents up and off the eyasses often. But it’s still to early to see they eyasses (nestling hawks). Today, squirrel was on the menu.
Category: 350 CPW/1115 5th Ave/W0302/WWP Red-tailed Hawks
Wild West Playground Nest
On Saturday, I was certain the nest had hatched at 93rd and Central Park West, but I wanted to go back today and confirm the nest had hatched. It sure has. I saw another feeding, both parents looking into the nest, the mother flying off the nest and watching it from above, and the female sitting high on the nest rather than snuggling onto the eggs. I saw all the signs to confirm it had actually hatched. The male even took food off the nest and ate it in a nearby tree.
The “action” takes place for only about ten minutes about every 90-120 minutes. But if you want to see the chicks, you’ll need to wait a week or two They’re currently too small to see from the park.
Wild West Playground Nest Hatches
We’ve been watching the nest daily to see signs of hatching. On Friday, the female was sitting high on the nest and the male visited the nest often which were positive signs. But late on Saturday afternoon, I saw a feeding on the nest which was a sign the nest had hatched. The eggs don’t hatch all at once, so there may be unhatched eggs at this point. Hopefully, we see more feedings and possible the head of an eyass by next weekend.
Wild West Playground Status
I’ve been birding without a camera this week, but have been visiting the Wild West Playground nest at 93rd and Central Park West. For the most part, I’ve only seen a hawk brooding on the nest, barely visible. However, I have caught two exchanges on different days around 6 pm. If things go well, we might see signs of hatching by April 15th.
St. John, then Wild West
My afternoon of bird watching started at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. Over the last few days, many birders have watched a pair of Common Ravens (not so common for Manhattan) work on a nest on the shoulders of St. Andrew. (This is the site of a long time Red-tailed Hawk nest that was abandoned when construction of a building started nearby. The pair moved to another spot on the Cathedral and eventually moved to the Columbia University campus.)
So, when I looked a the nest, I was very, very surprised to see a young Red-tailed Hawk sitting in the nest. It will be interesting if the ravens reclaim it, or if they will move. (Update: Birders report the ravens have reclaimed the nest.)
Afterwards, I went down to 102nd and Fifth Avenue to look for the pair that had been there all winter. I could not find them. Others have also lost track of them. They may have a new nest location but I couldn’t find it. This is a real mystery, as they had been seen copulating often on a building at 104th and Fifth Avenue.
Lastly, I went to see the Wild West Playground hawks. They had an exchange (switching brooding duty) before I had my camera out, so I only go pictures of one of them hunkered down on the nest.
Wild West, Again
I’ve been having some bad luck visiting the Red-tailed Hawk nest. It either rains or there are high winds. Today it was both. But I got to see the male bring a pigeon to the nest, and the pair do an exchange (swapping brooding duties) later in the afternoon. After last year, with no nesting Red-tailed Hawks in Central Park, even with the problems photographing this pair, I’m happy the park is back to normal.
