Urban Hawks

Pale Male and Octavia continue to work on the nest.  Pale Male brought two twigs to the nest while I was watching early this afternoon.

Another good sign Pale Male and Octavia are getting ready for spring, was spotting them both sitting together on the The Carlyle Hotel.  Pale Male joined Octavia on a floodlight, before moving over to the floodlight on the right.  He then went to the “Linda” building which is a block south of the nest before heading north.  Octavia continued to perch on the same floodlight.

The Fifth Avenue nest had both hawks in it late in the afternoon.  Sadly you could see the shadows being cast by the buildings on Billionaires Row every so often.  When I arrived both hawks were on the nest.  Pale Male left leaving Octavia on the nest, and she left after about half an hour.  Pale Male returned with a twig, stopping first on a nearby building.  After about fifteen minutes he glided down to a tree just inside the park, before taking off.  Although, we’re having a warm streak, nest refurbishment is the surest sign I know that spring is right around the corner.

While it’s still winter, Red-tailed Hawks across the region are starting to tidy up their nests and get ready for spring.  Around Valentine’s Day pairs of hawks will begin to copulate followed by brooding in mid to late March.

Today, I caught Pale Male and Octavia working on their Fifth Avenue nest.  It always seems like each wants to undo what the other has done, but it always works out.  Octavia left the nest first, followed by Pale Male about fifteen minutes later.  I was able to catch up to Pale Male in one of his favorite roosting trees at dusk.  

Pale Male is on the left and Octavia is on the right.  Note his smaller size, lighter color and thinner head.  Notice her rounder, wider head, darker color, and rounder eyes with a light lower eye ring.