The week of Valentine’s Day is the unofficial start of hawk watching season in New York City.  Hawks who have been doing minor nest refurbishment since January, now start to copulate and getting ready for egg laying in mid to late late March.  I gave a talk on Pale Male last year and thought it might be helpful to share some of the slides as a primer on what is going to happen over the next six months.

I encourage anyone who hasn’t watched a Red-tailed Hawk nest to do so this year.  It’s incredibly enjoyable.  The “hawk bench”, were the best viewing is from, is just next to the Hans Christian Andersen statue on the west side of the Model Boat Pond. And if you aren’t near the Fifth Avenue nest, there are many alternative nests to choose from in New York, as well as may other locations throughout the country.

Monday’s hawk watching wasn’t that successful.  I only had a brief glimpse of Octavia, Pale Male’s mate on the Carlyle Hotel in the afternoon.

I had a brief view of Octavia on the nest before she flew off at dusk.  I’m looking forward to watching them for another year!

Pale Male and Octavia continue to work on the nest.  Pale Male brought two twigs to the nest while I was watching early this afternoon.

Another good sign Pale Male and Octavia are getting ready for spring, was spotting them both sitting together on the The Carlyle Hotel.  Pale Male joined Octavia on a floodlight, before moving over to the floodlight on the right.  He then went to the “Linda” building which is a block south of the nest before heading north.  Octavia continued to perch on the same floodlight.

The Fifth Avenue nest had both hawks in it late in the afternoon.  Sadly you could see the shadows being cast by the buildings on Billionaires Row every so often.  When I arrived both hawks were on the nest.  Pale Male left leaving Octavia on the nest, and she left after about half an hour.  Pale Male returned with a twig, stopping first on a nearby building.  After about fifteen minutes he glided down to a tree just inside the park, before taking off.  Although, we’re having a warm streak, nest refurbishment is the surest sign I know that spring is right around the corner.