I went up to look at the 350 Central Park West nest again and finally found one of the adults for the first time in 2019. The hawk was sitting in a tree 100 feet inside the park at 96th and Central Park West, and after a long period flew over to the empty church on the corner.
While I haven’t seen Pale Male and Octavia copulate this season, they’ve been spending time together, both have been working on the nest, and chasing out intruders into their territory. It’s so nice for another year of hawk nesting to begin once again.
The week of Valentine’s Day is the unofficial start of hawk watching season in New York City. Hawks who have been doing minor nest refurbishment since January, now start to copulate and getting ready for egg laying in mid to late late March. I gave a talk on Pale Male last year and thought it might be helpful to share some of the slides as a primer on what is going to happen over the next six months.
I encourage anyone who hasn’t watched a Red-tailed Hawk nest to do so this year. It’s incredibly enjoyable. The “hawk bench”, where the best viewing is from, is just next to the Hans Christian Andersen statue on the west side of the Model Boat Pond. And if you aren’t near the Fifth Avenue nest, there are many alternative nests to choose from in New York, as well as may other locations throughout the country.
Monday’s hawk watching wasn’t that successful. I only had a brief glimpse of Octavia, Pale Male’s mate on the Carlyle Hotel in the afternoon.
I had a brief view of Octavia on the nest before she flew off at dusk. I’m looking forward to watching them for another year!
I went up to see how the Red-tailed Hawks were doing up at 95th and Central Park West. I’ve heard the female found a new mate over the winter and I went up to see if they were rebuilding the old nest. I didn’t see any sign of them, but I have seen two adult Red-tailed Hawks a bit further north this winter around The Pool. I know the Fifth Avenue, Tompkins Square and Washington Square Park hawks are doing fine. I’d be happy to get feedback on other nests, especially any nests north of Central Park.
Having come up empty, I went over to the No. 28 Bridge and saw the Peregrine Falcon female sitting in her usual roost. She left before I could get my camera out. I then found a falcon on a terrace railing of the north tower of the El Dorado. I thought it was the female, but discovered it was the male after he made a pass at the highest air conditioner on the tower, where the female was eating a pigeon. She made a cry as if to say, “I’m not sharing.” This was the first time I’ve seen them on the El Dorado, and it was nice to find a spot where they eat. From the looks of the air conditioner, it looks to be the site of many meals.
Update 2/11/19: I received a report from a resident of 350 Central Park West that visits were made to the Red-tailed Hawk nest Monday morning. Great News!
The air conditioner is marked by the light circle on the right hand tower.
