Urban Hawks

The owl that has come from Riverside Park, was in a Spruce Tree today, giving great looks. Late in the afternoon, it kept its attention on two Cooper’s Hawks. Luckily, the Cooper’s Hawks left the owl in peace.

Before, fly out a Holly Tree (more of a bush) near the owl’s roost was full of singing sparrows going to roost. I said to a fellow bird watcher, “If I was an owl, all that singing would make me hungry.”

At fly out the owl went to a limb and spent about 30 minutes on a branch over a road. It was intently looking into the brush and the Holly Tree. There were two owl watchers close to where I thought the owl was looking to hunt and I asked them politely to step back a bit. They were very nice about it and moved backwards.

After about five minutes the owl went after something on the ground, missed and then few up to a limb about ten feet off the ground. Soon thereafter the owl charged into the Holly Bush, just like you might see an Cooper’s Hawk hunt. Like sparks flying off a 4th of July sparkler, waves of sparrows came streaming out of the bush. It must have been at least thirty birds. Eventually, the owl flew came out and went to a tree just under a street light.

The owl stayed put for a few minutes before flying south. It landed in a tree and then looked to go down to the ground hunting, but I couldn’t relocate it and left the park.

All told, I think we kept track of the owl for 45 minutes after fly out, which was later than normal at 5:15 pm.

In addition to the “regularly” seen Barred Owl in Central Park, today there was a second owl. It has the same black mark on its beak, that the owl that has been in Riverside Park and I was studying in early December. So, this second owl is most likely the one that had been in Riverside Park.

This owl started the day in a White Pine, was harassed by Blue Jays, and then ended up after a few stops in a Holly Tree a few blocks north.

At fly out, the owl after a small hop to another branch of the Holly Tree, flew about 50 feet, did a little preening for about ten minutes and then flew out of sight.

I went back home via the Ramble, hoping to find the “regularly” seen owl, without any luck, but did find a Red-tailed Hawk perched presumably where it would be roosting for the evening.

The Barred Owl was out on an open branch in the Hemlock tree it has been roosting in, enjoying the sunlight for most of the afternoon. For many Central Park bird watchers it was a treat, as the owl has usually been tucked deeply in the tree and hard to watch. However, a Cooper’s Hawk forced the Owl to find a safer branch for the late afternoon. Fly Out was fairly normal with a visit to a branch near the roost, and then another a bit to the north. The owl ended up being scolded by a Northern Cardinal, and the owl made a half-hearted attempt to go after it. It then made a long flight and after one perch, made another and we lost track of the where the owl went.

Tonight, we saw the Central Park Barred Owl catch a rodent, drop the rodent, retrieve the rodent and I’m not sure why drop it again. After this the owl stayed in the same area and continued to hunt before going after another rodent before flying out of sight.

On Sunday, the Central Park Barred Owl was out in the open in a tree near where the usual Hemlock Tree roost is. Given the skirmishes between the owl, a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk and a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk during the last few weeks, I wonder if the owl had been forced to move earlier in the day.

The owl made one small hop from where it was roosting, and coughed up a pellet before flying out. Owls have limited peripheral vision, so much of what it follows is based on sound. Tonight it fascinating to watch it track its environment based on sound, then sight.

On Saturday, the Central Park Barred Owl chased away a Cooper’s Hawk at fly out, but then settled down and slowly explored the areas near the roost site and perched for the longest time at the shoreline of a small pond.