Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks Archives - Page 18 of 25

August 1, 2007December 17, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Internship at Time-Warner

I found the 888 fledgling flying west on 58th Street today, and then landing on the Time-Warner building in Columbus Circle. Her flying skills have really improved. This perch is about ten stories high.

A Mockingbird quickly arrived to harass the Red-tail.

The Mockingbird gave up after a few minutes.

After about 45 minutes, the fledgling glided down to Columbus Circle with talons down, into the flower beds near the fountain. It came up empty and…

t stayed for about a minute and returned to the park, quickly making its way north for the night.

July 31, 2007December 23, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

On The Fence

After a few days of difficulty finding the 888 Seventh Avenue fledgling, she was found with her father near the 67th Street Playground, which is just off Central Park West.

The father, whose been giving hunting lessons.

The 888 Seventh Avenue fledgling near the two Lawn Bowling greens.

Her attention was focused on something. There is a gutter around the greens. I wonder if there is a family of rodents there?

She made some small hops and moved up and down the fence.

Lincoln Karim and I were shooting from opposite sides, and both managed to get blurry pictures of each other. (Although our pictures might make us look like we’re close to the fledgling, we both kept a safe distance. Our telephoto lenses flatten the depth of field.)

A bit blurry, but a nice shot to see her feather detail.

he father had stayed put, and the fledgling returned to be with him. He showed her a Robin’s nest.

Which she jumped on and after a bit followed her father south.

Now you know why Robins and Blue Jays are so bold in attacking Red-tails.

July 29, 2007December 15, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

888 Adult Female

After the rain stopped on Sunday, I heard the 888 Fledgling begging for food, but could only find the mother. She moved from the Locust Grove to the Ballfields while I was there.

July 21, 2007December 17, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Late Afternoon Around The Ballfields

The 888 fledgling is being encouraged to do some hunting by her parents. But she’s not doing that great at hunting yet. It takes practice and she’ll get the hang of it soon.

Here she is perched on the northern side of the ballfields. I’m calling her a she because of the size of the band Bobby Horvath used to band her, a 7D. This is the largest size used for Red-tails, so the odds are 99% that she’s a she. Her band number is 1207-98290.

The more I learn about Bobby Horvath, the more I admire him. Last Wednesday, he was involved with an Osprey rescue where with the help with a friend, two good samaritans and a ladder borrowed from a local fire house, he freed a young fledgling who had gotten caught in rope and fishing tackle that its parents had used to build the nest. The bird dislocated its hip hanging upside down and thrashing to get free, so Bobby has been nursing it back to health.

She then moved to the southern edge of the ballfields.

She picked up what looked like leftovers and began to eat them. She perched on a fence post near the playgrounds and attracted a crowd of about thirty.

Afterwords, she flew back one of her favorite trees near the Ballfield Café and tried to take a brief nap.

July 19, 2007December 23, 2020Southern Central Park Red-tailed Hawks

Southwest Central Park

The Southwest corner of Central Park has gotten noisy. The 888 Seventh Avenue parents are trying to wean the fledgling from feedings and are trying to get it to hunt on its own. As a result, the fledgling spent over an hour begging for food Thursday evening.