Northwest Central Park Hawks

New Nest, but Old Hawks

Today, I got to the 1115 Fifth Avenue nest a bit after noon to find the workman on a rig near the nest, but the brooding female calmly sitting on the nest. I had been concerned about how she would react to the rig being near the nest when I saw them move the supports closer to the nest on Wednesday.

Given that things seemed to be fine, and fog was making it hard to see the 1115 Fifth Avenue nest, I looked at other nests. The 350 Central Park West nest is empty, and I also checked on the St. John the Divine nest, which was also empty, although I did see a hawk on the Telephone Co. Building. I then made a trip down to Washington Square Park, and found the new female in the nest but not yet sitting on eggs. I will detail what I saw in a separate post.

I then returned to the 1115 Fifth Avenue nest in the late afternoon and a group of us came to understand that the 1115 Fifth Avenue pair was the 350 Central Park West pair. The female has the same deformed tail. But more interestingly, the male was perched on the building at the southwest corner of 96th and Central Park West, which has a perfect view of the new nest. At dusk, he flew over and gave the female a ten minute break. This explained why we had been seeing him so often near the old nest. It’s only three blocks away from the new nest, and they’re maintaining the territory. Riddle solved.

General News, Northwest Central Park Hawks

More 1115 Fifth Avenue

I went up to the northeast entrance of the Reservoir to get a good look at the newly discovered 1115 Fifth Avenue nest. It’s clear that this is going to be a difficult situation. The pair is clearly sitting on eggs and the façade work is getting closer to the nest. It will be interesting to see how the hawks react to the rig getting even closer to the nest on Thursday.

Red-tailed Hawk Nest Updates

2021 Manhattan Red-tailed Hawk Nest Update 2

Updates:

  • Brooding has begun on both the Inwood Hill Park and Tompkins Square Park nests.
  • A new nest was found at 1115 Fifth Avenue at 93rd Street by Stella Hamilton. The building is undergoing façade repairs, so this nest may have problems. It helps explain why when the Thomas Cardinal Cooke (TCC) hawks were flying high above Fifth Avenue, we often saw two additional hawks flying with them.
  • Ben Cacace reported the early stages of nest building on a Con Ed smokestack at 75th and York Avenue.
Northwest Central Park Hawks

1115 Fifth Avenue

Stella Hamilton let me know of a new Red-tailed Hawk nest this afternoon. It is at 1115 Fifth Avenue, which is just south of 93rd Street. The news is bittersweet, as she discovered the nest because the hawk pair was calling in distress, as workers lowered a rig down the side of the façade.

These situations have not worked out well in past years. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully, the building contacts the NYS DEC for advice on how to handle the situation.

General News

A Year with Pale Male

Save the Date! April 8th at 7:30 pm.

I’m pleased to announce that I’m presenting a benefit lecture to support NYC Audubon in early April. If you’re a fan of this website, I invite you to show your support and attend. Tickets are $25. To register, just go to the NYC Audubon website. It should be a fun evening. The full description of the talk is below.

This special Zoom presentation to benefit New York City Audubon’s Science and Conservation Program takes you inside the fascinating life of Pale Male, the most-watched Red-tailed Hawk in the world. UrbanHawks founder and expert D. Bruce Yolton will share a special evening devoted to urban hawk watching including tips on how to watch and enjoy him in person.

From his enviable Fifth Avenue home, Pale Male is enjoyed by tens of thousands of New Yorkers and visitors to the city.  Learn about his life and loves in this richly illustrated program. Using photographs and video clips, D. Bruce Yolton will take you inside a year in Pale Male’s life. We’ll begin in the breeding season, through nesting and shepherding fledglings, and follow Pale Male through the relaxed fall and winter months. 

D. Bruce Yolton has chronicled Pale Male, and New York City area hawks for the last 15 years on his blog urbanhawks.com. A retired I.T. professional, he has photo and video credits in major publications, including the New York Times, New York Magazine, NPR, HBO, and National Geographic. RSVP Required. Limited to 500. $25

Owls

Barred Owl

I finally had a chance to catch up with the Barred Owl. It called once and did its normal stretches before fly out. It then spent some time looking at squirrels near the roost site before quickly going west. It ended up chasing a Red-tailed Hawk and we lost track of the owl.