On early Sunday afternoon, I arrived at Tompkins Square Park to find the two adults circling just east of the park.  They circled and circled, getting higher and higher until they joined at least two other Red-tailed Hawks and what looked like another species of raptor.  The Red-tailed Hawks escorted out the intruder.

When it was over the two Tompkins Square Park hawks returned and they seemed to be escorting a pair of Red-tailed Hawks to move further north.  My interpretation of the events was that the pair of hawks seen frequently in Stuyvesant Town may have been chasing an intruder, gotten support from the TSP Pair, but once the intruder was safely escorted out of both pairs territories, the Stuyvesant Town hawks had to be chased back to their territory.

After hearing two very upset hawks and watching workers try to install a piece of plexiglass (which seems to be a very bad idea), we ran into a member of the Christodora Co-op Board who explained what was happening at the Christodora House. 

The building is starting a two year facade renovation which will require surrounding the building with a protective screen so all the brickwork can be replaced. If you’ve seen the top of the Christodora, which has mesh on top of almost the entire top floor to prevent brickwork from falling, you know this is an urgent and necessary project.

So, the buildings actions to remove the nest and discourage the hawks from reestablishing a nest are entirely justified. It’s better to force the hawks to relocate, then to have them injured during the construction.

But you have to wonder about two things:

1) How naïve the building’s board and management company must be not to have had a press release ready to explain their actions?  The Christodora House nest did get huge coverage in the NYC tabloids.  It was big news.  Didn’t the board know about the problems at Pale Male’s nest and the recent fines levied against a construction crew on Central Park West? 

2) What the heck are they doing with that sheet of plexiglass?  Imagine what would happen if one of the adult hawks flies into the plexiglass and is injured?  Looks like the Christodora House needs some adult supervision.

On Friday, Tompkins Square Park bird watchers discovered the hawk nest had been removed from the seventh floor air conditioner of the Christodora House. In its place was a strip of pigeon spikes.

On Saturday and Sunday the hawks, which the locals have named Christo and Dora, worked overtime to start rebuilding the nest.

Irregardless of the ethics or legalities surrounding the removal of an established nest during the winter, we’re now in a difficult situation. 

If the co-op owner, management company or a construction crew had a legitimate reason to remove the nest, their recent actions haven’t dissuaded the hawks from moving.  So, will the building just torture the hawks by removing the nesting materials each week until spring?  That certainly would be cruel.

And if the nest is now left as is, will the pigeon spike cause a problem for the eyasses safety this spring?

I suspect this situation will end up being escalated to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.  Let’s hope that either the building is forced to let the hawks continue nesting on the Christodora House or if the hawks are to be evicted, that old nest site is properly prepared so the hawks begin to find an alternate nesting location as soon as possible.

I got to the park just after sunset and got a brief look at one of the hawks before it went down Avenue A to roost.

Adult Red-tailed Hawks generally tolerate juvenile hawks in their territories in the fall but start be aggressive with juveniles once the days start getting longer in the winter.

Today, after watching the adult male of Tompkins Square Park begin to do some hunting, all hell broke loose as a youngster came into the park.  Soon both adults were chasing the youngster around the park and calling loudly.  I wasn’t able to capture the action very well, since it was late in the day and I only had a 600mm lens with me, but it was exciting to see.

This was the hawk causing all of the commotion.

While the female spent the afternoon on a chimney around 4th Street, the male hunted and ate a rat in Tompkins Square Park on Saturday.