Despite all of time I’ve spent looking at owls, I have been keeping an eye out for Pale Male.  Today, I started my birding near Pale Male’s nest.  My first views were of a Cooper’s Hawk chasing some European Starlings. 

Then Pale Male arrived.  He broke off a tree branch and took it to the nest.  He then perched a little south of the nest on a fence, then a water tank and then a railing.  He kept looking south.  I think his new mate may be spending her time below 72nd Street.

I spent time watching American Crows, waterfowl and American Kestrels on Saturday and watched Pale Male on Sunday. The Harlem Meer had a nice selection of birds, including Buffleheads, Ruddy Ducks, Gadwalls, Mallards, Northern Shovelers, Wood Ducks, and a Mute Swan.

Sandy made a mess of the park, and there are still sections closed. The clean up may take longer than usual as resources are being sent to hard hit areas of NYC rather than Central Park.  Sadly entitled Upper East and West siders are complaining about how they suffered because they can’t walk their dogs in the park or use the bypass road in the north of the park, which is now a staging area for the clean up.  Get a life folks!