Fabulous Five On Fifth
Tonight, Pale Male and Octavia, plus their three eyasses were on view for most of the evening. So much fun to watch all of them.
RFK Bridge
At the base of the Astoria Queens side of the RFK Bridge is an established nest of Red-tailed Hawks. It’s one of the easiest nests to watch in the city and this year has at least two eyasses.
Randalls Island
On the Northeast light post of the soccer field north of Icahn Stadium is the 2013 Randalls Island Red-tailed Hawk nest. The female of the nest was sitting on the eggs. She sat low on the nest and when she settled in after getting in did the back and forth wiggle a brooding mother does.
So, I don’t thing we’ve had a hatch yet out on Randalls Island.
West End Avenue
Last year, the location of the Riverside nest ended up being uncertain. This year, it’s clear where it is located, on the west side of a West End Avenue building on a top floor fire escape. (The neighborhood is a little worried that someone will disturb the nest given it’s location, so forgive me if I don’t give complete directions.)
The male visited twice and an eyass was seen very briefly (after 6:40 on the video). Neighborhood hawk watchers have seen two heads pop up. The eyass count is just a guess at this point. We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to have an accurate count.
These hawks are the pair that replaced the poisoned pair from the boat basin.
Rats
Today while watching a feeding, a nice gentleman came up to me to watch and said “those hawks are why we have rats in Washington Square Park”. I was taken aback at first but realized it was a chance to educate him about rats in the park.
I told him that the rodent population issues in the park were more complicated than simply a ban on poisons. It’s too simplistic to say the rats are there because the use of poisons have been restricted. I informed him that snare traps can be just as effective as poisons when used properly and managed.
I went on to say that I thought the real cause of the rat problem in the park was the failure of the parks department to take preventative measures to control the rodent population. The park simply encourages them due to:
- Providing them large amounts of food.
- Mass feeding of squirrels and pigeons needs to be prevented by updating park regulations. Park patrons are feeding large quantities of food to squirrels and pigeons. A few pieces of bread or the occasional nut have turned into huge bags of food being spread around the park, which end up feeding the rats as well as the targeted animals.
- Inappropriate trash cans. The new trash cans, while beautiful, are too small and are not rat proof. At dusk you can watch the rats run in and out of the trash cans. These need to be replaced.
- Poor trash management. Trash pickups should be timed not just to keep the cans empty, but to make sure they are empty before the rats become active for the evening.
- Poor landscaping. The new park design has tall grasses and other leafy plants in the shady areas of the park and along the fence borders. These protect rat borrows and create a perfect home for the rodents. The Central Park Conservancy had been evaluating ground cover and found that by carefully selecting the appropriate plants, rat borrowing can be discouraged.
It’s important for the hawk watching community to prevent a backlash against the restrictions on poisons in the park. We’ll need to work with the new Washington Square Park Conservancy to educate them about the complexity of this issue.
It will also mean a reduction of animal feeding in the park which would be very unpopular with the pigeon and squirrel constituencies. This may be the hardest battle.
(…and before anyone says it. A family of hawks will never control the rodent population of Greenwich Village.)
Trio On Fifth
Three eyasses (young hawks) were viable in the Fifth Avenue nest today. Nice to see a full house on Fifth Avenue. Pale Male gave Ocatavia a brief break late in the afternoon. I think the video and photographs say more than anything I could write…
