I arrived at the park on Sunday afternoon to find the male sitting in the nest and the female of the pair on top of the Christodora House roof. They exchanged places on the nest. The male flew to a nearby tree, and after a brief interval, the male broke off a twig and took it the nest.
He disappeared and then reappeared on a church cross on Avenue B. The nest has at least two eggs and this young pair seems to understand exactly what they need to do for the next four weeks.
My quest to find the nest of the pair of hawks that have been seen on upper Fifth Avenue came up empty again. While I was in the Consevatory Garden, I saw a Red-tail circle around the garden with a pigeon in its tallons. The hawk then took the bird to the roof of the El Museo del Barrio.
After a few minutes, the Red-tailed Hawk flew off in the direction of the Academy of Medicine, and disappeared. Searches of the ledges of the building came up empty.
There is at least one egg at the Tompkins Square Park nest. The female has started brooding and everything looks great so far. In addition to the Red-tailed Hawks, today there was an American Kestrel around the edge of the park both on Avenue A and Seventh Street.
Update: A second egg was laid on Thursday afternoon and a third was laid in the week.
A hawk was on the Beresford Apartments tonight, just like last night. I’m feeling this bird wasn’t Pale Male, but still can’t be sure. At this point, it’s a mystery for me. The bird stayed on top of the north tower until 7:30 p.m., then went to the west tower before diving down quickly off the tower. A possibility is that I’m seeing the male, but just haven’t found the now brooding female.
I’ve received reports from three different people that a pair of hawks was building a nest on the Bersesford Apartments. I went last night and saw a single hawk, which could have been Pale Male on top of the building.
So, right now I’m confused about what’s going on. Either the hawks started to build the nest and Pale Male chased them away or one of the new hawks has similar markings to Pale Male. This is going to take some return visits to figure out.
The Tompkins Square Park female has begun spending a great deal of time on the nest during the day and is over-nighting on the nest now. Egg laying and brooding should be right around the corner.
