St. John the Divine
I only spent about 20 minutes watching the St. John pair on Saturday, but they looked like they were ready for spring. The dome roof is being worked on. Hopefully, it won’t disrupt the nesting season.
350 Central Park West Reboot
The hawk nest at 350 Central Park West has had a hard time. In 2018, the male died during the incubation period and while the female tried she could not incubate alone. In 2019, after about two weeks, the eyasses (baby hawks) died on the nest and the female died a few weeks later.
Over this last year, the nest was removed during façade work on the building.
So, it’s been a wonderful surprise that in under two weeks, the nest has been rebuilt. If this nest wasn’t so well watched, you might never know that the nest is new and both hawks aren’t the originals.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I got to see a lot of the hawks. Early in the day or late in the day is best to catch up with them. I saw them on the nest, bringing twigs, copulating and hunting.
But what I didn’t expect was what we got to see late on Thursday. The male when from the nest to the 96th Street transverse road. He would go about 100 feet, stopping mostly on streetlights. He got to Fifth Avenue and 97th and did something I never would have expected. He flew to Madison Avenue, then went south to 95th stopping first at 96th, before flying west back to the park. What an urban hawk!
If you’re trying to learn who is who, take a look at them copulating. There are lots of field marks if you look closely.
Let’s hope “third time’s a charm” for this nest. It would be nice to see at least one year work out well for this nest.
Two NYC Parks Wildlife Unit Programs
The NYC Parks Wildlife Unit asked me to help get the word out about two programs of interest to NYC Raptor enthusiasts in NYC…
Citizen Science: Raptor Monitoring with NYC Parks Wildlife Unit
2020 Raptor Nest Monitoring Project
The NYC Parks’ Wildlife Unit is reaching out to outdoor, park-caring enthusiasts for help scouting for raptor nests during the 2020 breeding season. NYC Parks records data on raptor nests, such as red-tailed hawks, cooper’s hawks, American kestrels, and others, found in or adjacent to park property. We are looking to recruit some additional eyes to scout throughout the city, especially in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island (Northern Manhattan and Prospect Park, Brooklyn are already very well covered). Your assistance will be useful in creating a vivid picture of where birds of prey are nesting in NYC. This information will also be helpful for future conservation and education efforts conducted by NYC Parks and our partner agencies and organizations. We know you are already outside enjoying the outdoors and caring for Parks, we would love to put some of your observations to good use.
Scouts will be asked to:
- commit to exploring an area of their choice to scout for nesting raptors, February through June 2020
- participate in an online training session to learn more about the project
- if a nest is found, scouts can commit to monitor the nest and send in weekly observations
- strictly follow wildlife viewing ethics, to be discussed during training session
If interested in participating, please email or call. Also contact us with any additional questions.
Sunny Corrao Public Engagement Associate
NYC Parks’ Wildlife Unit
212-360-1447
Sunny.corrao@parks.nyc.gov
Also note an upcoming raptor scouting session:
Citizen Science Raptor Nest Scouting Day
When: Saturday, March 14; 11:00 a.m.
Meet at the Greenbelt Nature Center; 700 Rockland Avenue; Staten Island
NYC Parks’ Wildlife Unit collects information regarding location and success of nesting birds of prey throughout NYC. Participate in our citizen science project and scout areas to find active nests around the Greenbelt in Staten Island. NYC Parks’ staff will provide basic training and binoculars to borrow, for those that need it. Pre-registration is preferred. To register or for more information please contact Public Engagement Associate Sunny Corrao by email or phone: sunny.corrao@parks.nyc.gov or 212-360-1447.
Fifth Avenue Red-tailed Hawks
On Monday afternoon, Pale Male was on the 927 Fifth Avenue nest and Octavia was on a building at 79th and Fifth Avenue. Pale Male did some rearranging of some sticks on the nest.
Green-winged Teals
This winter there has been a female Green-winged Teal on the northern water bodies of Central Park. She was first seen on the Harlem Meer, then the Reservoir and then on The Pool. Two days ago, I saw a Green-winged Teal on The Lake. Yesterday, I saw both a male and female Green-winged Teal together on the small island by Bow Bridge on the Lake.
The pair moved to the Reservoir along with about a hundred birds when the Urban Park Rangers launched a kayak onto the lake to search for the Common Merganser trapped in the plastic ring. (The merganser could not be found on Tuesday despite a diligent search.) Today, the pair was seen on The Pool.
Common Merganser
Sadly, a Common Merganser is on The Lake in Central Park with a plastic band wrapped in its mouth and neck. It looks like the ring to a wide mouth beverage container. The Urban Park Rangers have tried to trap the bird over the last two days without success. Let’s hope they are able to net the bird soon.
