The Plaza Hotel Flagpole
On Wednesday evening a hawk was on the NE flagpole of the Plaza Hotel. I’ve been seeing this hawk a great deal recently, but other than seeing it around The Pond I don’t know much about it.
Octavia on the Met
I first spotted Octavia (Pale Male’s mate) on top of one of Fifth Avenue’s ugliest buildings this afternoon, 1001 Fifth Avenue, “designed” if you can call it that, by the firm of Johnson/Burgee. She had the good taste to move to the Met’s SE corner, and then the NE corner before I lost her as she flew around 86th Street and the East Drive at dusk. I think she might have a roost somewhere a few blocks north of the Met.
Mandarin Duck
A Mandarin Duck has been on The Pond for a few days in Central Park. It’s unclear from where it’s escaped, but it could be from the Central Park Zoo. It’s banded and looks healthy. The last time I can remember one in the park was in 2009 on Turtle Pond.
Imposter in Tompkins Square Park
This late in the year, I always question if the juvenile I’m watching near a nest site is from the nest or a migrating juvenile whose just passing through. This happens frequently in Central Park, but I saw it for the first time in Tompkins Square Park yesterday. The juvenile I saw was definitely not the surviving fledgling. It had very different tail feathers and different chest markings.
Regardless of who this hawk is, it was great to watch. It ended up having a fun interaction with two squirrels.
Bats and a Red-tailed Hawk
I stopped by Central Park’s Pond on my way home. The Pond is located just north of the Plaza Hotel at the south east end of the park. The usual suspects were there, including a Wood Duck, a Black-crowned Night Heron, Mallards and Canada Geese, plus the hundreds of Common Grackles coming home to roost in the trees surrounding the Pulitzer Fountain of Grand Army Plaza.
What I didn’t expect to find were two Eastern-Red Bats feeding at around 6 p.m. Usually, I need to rely on my Echo Meter Touch to identify my bats, but these were clearly Eastern-Red Bats just by watching them. I did my best to get some pictures without flash in the low light.
After sunset, a Red-tailed Hawk flew around the Pond and the buildings on Central Park South. I suspect one of the adults we saw bringing nesting materials to Crown Building earlier this year. These hawks continue to be a mystery, but it was good to see they’re still around.
Pale Male and a Cooper’s Hawk
I caught up with Pale Male just north of the Obelisk on Sunday, and then a young Cooper’s Hawk eating a bird a bit further north. Nice to see that are starting to get some visiting raptors to the park.
