Category: Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

One Less Rodent In The Park

The 888 Seventh Avenue fledgling is doing great.  She’s now a quite capable hunter.  On Tuesday evening, she captured a large rodent and put on show for the tourists at the south of the park.

She’s becoming much harder to find, a sign of her increasing independence.  I won’t be surprised if she leaves the park soon to begin her life’s adventure away from her parents. I’ll miss her, but will be happy knowing that Central Park has been a safe haven for yet another Red-tail youngster.

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Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Roosting On 15 Central Park West

Not to be out done by their child, the 888 Seventh Avenue parents spent the night on 15 Central Park West.  This may be the highest roost, we’ve seen a Red-tailed Hawk use.

One of the hawks arrived and then left.  I think it was the female of the pair.
The female returns to the building perching on scaffolding.
Soon the male arrives (right) and the female then joins him on a the left.  These are the highest windows on the building on the north tower of the rear building at 15 CPW.
The hawks settle in for the night.
Although it looks like daylight in this long exposure, it is well past dark and both hawks have settled in for the evening.

While I was watching these two, an inline skater came by and showed me pictures from earlier in the evening.  It was of the 888 Seventh Avenue fledgling.  She was hunting on the bridge just inside the park from Central Park South at Seventh Avenue.  Unfortunately, while he was taking pictures someone actually went up to the fledgling and touched her.  No harm was done, but it’s a shame some New Yorkers don’t have common sense!

Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

On Top Of 15 Central Park West

On Sunday evening, I found the 888 fledgling high atop the new Zeckendorf building at 15 Central Park West. She looked quite majestic that high up.  I think she’s sitting on a 45 million dollar condo!  The building’s 201 units sold for over 2 billion. The 888 Seventh Avenue hawks have expensive tastes!

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She dove quickly to what looked to be the roof of the YMCA a few blocks north.  Was pigeon a bedtime snack?
Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

High Above Opposite Ends Of The Park

I birded both ends of Central Park on Saturday.   Up north, there were Snowy Egrets flying south.  The fall migration has started and the species list on NYC Bird Report has warblers, ducks and other birds that haven’t been seen since the spring.

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Down at the southern end of the park one of the 888 Seventh Avenue Red-tailed Hawk parents was on the upper right hand corner of the Essex House sign.
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An American Kestrel came by to give the Red-tailed Hawk a hard time, but didn’t actually come too close before…
heading north into the park.
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927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Birds, Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Sunday Walk Starts And Ends With Fathers

My Sunday walk from the Sheep Meadow to the Metropolitan Museum of Art started and ended with two fathers, the 888 Seventh Avenue male, nicknamed Junior and the 5th Avenue male, Pale Male.

Junior was with his daughter in the southwestern corner of the Sheep Meadow.  He had just delivered a late lunch.
The 888 fledgling enjoying the meal.
After eating and wiping her beak on some bark, she relaxed in the shade.
After watching the fledgling, I went up to The Lake to watch Sandpipers.  Here are two Least Sandpipers having fun.  They’re quite a social bunch.  We’re used to seeing a stray Sandpiper or two in the park, so it’s a treat to watch the Least Sandpiper flock behavior.
Least Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Cedar Waxwing
On my way out of the park, I saw another father, Pale Male on the Beresford’s North Tower.
Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

888 Seventh Avenue Mother

I went looking for the 888 Seventh Avenue fledgling this afternoon, but found her mother instead.  She was at the northwest corner of the Sheep Meadow in Central Park around 67th near Tavern on the Green.

She was being scolded by a group of Robins, who helped me find her.

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The adult hawk flew off out of sight.  While looking for her, I found this raccoon sleeping just north of Tavern on the Green.  Does it dream of the goodies in the dumpsters nearby?