Tonight, I watched the female Dora for about half an hour, before Christo came with a small mouse and began calling. The two copulated and then Dora ate the rodent Christo brought. (For those interested in bird anatomy, Dora’s cloaca is clearly visible in one of the photographs.)
The hawks on Fifth Avenue are looking like they’ve got everything ready for spring. They copulated on the Carlyle this afternoon and worked on the nest. The female usually starts spending nights on the nest by March 15, laying eggs soon thereafter. We’re getting close to this special milestone.
Cold Weather helps bring owls to Central Park. Today, the park had a Long-eared Owl. At fly out it flew to a few perches and flew to the ground to hunt a rodent. A great bird for such a cold and windy day.
This morning there were reports of both the male and female Washington Square Park Red-tailed Hawks visiting the nest and at least one observation of copulation on 1 Fifth Avenue. When I arrived, Bobby, the male, was the only hawk I saw. He made two visits to the nest while I was there and added at stick to the nest.
The Tompkins Square Park pair are getting serious about nesting. They’ve built a new nest close to Avenue A and 9th Street, and the male is busy courting the female. They copulated while I was there and he also caught a small rodent and went off to give it to his mate as a present. So, it looks like everything is in place for spring.
I caught up with Bobby, the male adult Red-tailed Hawk of Washington Square Park at dusk. He was on D’Agostino Hall, 37 Washington Square West and 29 Washington Square West before flying north towards 8th Street. No sign of his mate.
