Urban Hawks

March 29, 2019December 17, 2020Northwest Central Park Hawks

350 CPW Exchange

In the middle of the afternoon, I got to see the male of the 350 Central Park West nest give the female a nest a break from incubation duties. It was 45 seconds of excitement after an hour of watching the female sit on the nest!

Birding in other areas of the park made up for the hours wait. Spring migration is finally started and new species are arriving daily and general number are higher too. I had three new species for the year, Great Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron and Golden-crowned Kinglet.

March 29, 2019December 15, 2020Red-tailed Hawk Nest Updates

2019 Manhattan Red-tailed Hawk Nest Update 2

Good news since the last update.

It has been confirmed by someone with a view from across the street of the Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, has a nest.
The 96th and Lexington female and her new mate have returned to 1802 Third Avenue on the 5th Floor of the fire escape.
Inwood Hill Park has eggs.
350 Central Park West has eggs.
Randalls Island has eggs.

We still need reports for some of the nests, and certainly are missing nest in upper Manhattan. So emails are welcome.

March 28, 2019December 16, 2020Owls

Late Northern Saw-whet Owl

A Northern Saw-when Owl was in Central Park today. It may be an owl that over wintered in the park or a migrant. I was surprised to see one so late in the year. But I looked up the frequency of Northern Saw-when Owl sighting over the last twenty year in Manhattan on eBird.org, I discovered Northern Saw-when Owls are seen until mid-April, with late March being a peak period for sightings.

March 28, 2019December 17, 2020Northwest Central Park Hawks

350 Central Park West Still Brooding

I caught up with the adults of the 350 Central Park West nest this afternoon. The female was sitting on the nest and the male was soaring above The Pond.

March 20, 2019December 17, 2020Northwest Central Park Hawks

350 Central Park West Brooding

The female at 350 Central Park West has started sitting on the nest. I would suspect that there is a single egg with one or two still to be laid over the next few days. The male stayed in two trees across from 350 CPW while I was watching the nest. This is the fifth confirmed nest for the year in Manhattan.

It was very windy so the video has some very shaky patches. I included them just to demonstrate she was clearly on the nest.

March 19, 2019December 18, 2020Washington Sq. Red-tailed Hawks

Washington Square

I arrived just at the right time to see the Washington Square pair fly off together and then copulate before the female returned to the nest to continue incubating her eggs. There are currently two eggs in the nest, with the possibility of one more in the next day or two.