I was taking pictures of the Flatiron Building in New York City, when I saw a hawk fly in and land on what used to be the northern Toy Center building, which is undergoing renovation. It landed and returned south. It was dark, so I couldn’t get a good enough I.D. to figure out if it was one of the Washington Square hawks, the hawk that had been seen hanging around the park, or just a migrating hawk.
The adult female of Washington Square was hunting in the park this afternoon. The park had lots of downed tree limbs and construction debris that came off of 2 Fifth Avenue. The park is still closed to the public, but park employees were working hard to clean up the mess. The area is still without power.
He’s just fine. The park remains closed, but here’s a view of Pale Male from Fifth Avenue.
I went out before the parks got closed for Hurricane Sandy late Sunday afternoon to look for Pale Male and his family. I had no luck finding his fledglings, who have been seen by others over the last few days. But I was able to get good looks at Pale Male and his new mate (on the left in the pictures of the pair).
It was a confusing hawk watching day. The hawks were on both Central Park West and Fifth Avenue. But which hawks, was the confusing part. Were they adults, were they juveniles, were they Pale Male’s offspring or migrants.
In the sky above Fifth Avenue, what I thought was Pale Male and his new mate, turned out to be Pale Male and a juvenile when I looked at the pictures at home. So, don’t ask me who is who, just enjoy the images of wonderful hawks in Manhattan!
The first rule of owl watching, is don’t talk about owl watching! So, I won’t say much. It’s just really early for a Long-eared Owl in the greater New York City area.
