Washington Square Park
Some slightly out of focus pictures of a nest exchange this evening in Washington Square Park…
Activism Needed – Please Help
As many of you know, a female hawk died in the Chinatown/City Hall area earlier this season. The necropsy results for the bird has come back, with a verdict of “Poisoning – Anticoagulant rodenticide”. Laura Goggin reports on her blog that the male has found a new mate but poisoning continues near where the pair have decided to nest. This means we could easily have another hawk death, just like the first if no action is taken.
Please take a few minutes to read Laura’s latest report and if you have time write a polite letter to the City Council member for the area. Details are on Laura’s blog.
Fifth Avenue
It looks like we still have a few more days before the nest hatches at Fifth Avenue. I looked for signs of a hatch but found none tonight. Pale Male was on the Carlyle Hotel and Octavia was on the nest.
Hatch Watch Begins Soon
NYC hawk watchers will be looking at nests for signs of hatching over the next few weeks. Calculating hatches can be complicated. While egg take 28-25 days to incubate
- females may begin to sit on nests a few days before they lay their eggs
- egg are laid 36-48 hours apart and incubation may not fully begin until the last egg is laid
- an egg takes about a day to hatch as the chick pips out of the egg and feeding usually doesn’t begin right after hatching
Since we can rarely look into a nest, we’ll be looking for signs of a hatch such as a hawk slice from an eyass (pooping chick), a victory flight lap by the parents or lots of food being brought to the nest by the male and a first feeding. It takes a few extra days from when we see a feeding until we can see fuzzy heads too.
We might see a hatch by next weekend and certainly within two weeks. It’s a great time watch a nest and a sure sign that spring has arrived.
More photos of 96th Street
With better weather, I got to see a nest exchange and both hawks of the 96th Street pair today. Both hawks look great. It was the first time I got a good look at the male.
I look forward to learning about this pair over the next few months. It should be a fun summer in Central Park.
