On a rather gray day, it was fun to be in Washington Square Park. The eyass was very active and both parents were on the nest together. Afterwards the male ended up being harassed by two Northern Mockingbirds. In the late evening, both parents were on the scaffolding on the east side of the park.
Although it rained most of the afternoon, there was a nice break after 5:30. There was a feeding and later Lima had an annoying Northern Mockingbird try to get her off her perch. Everyone continues to look healthy.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case further uptown. The nest at CCNY has had the adult female die of Frounce, and an youngster who fell out the nest a few weeks ago died of a combination of internal injuries from the fall and Frounce. The second nestling, was found having prematurely fledged, under-weight and with Frounce, luckily in the early stage.
The Horvaths will be nursing the youngster back to health and if all goes well find wild family to return it to. One of the recent discoveries by rehabbers is that a young fledgling placed into another territory will instantly be adopted by the new parents.
The eyasses at Fifth Avenue have gotten very big. So, much so that for a moment I thought adults were on the nest, when it was only the mother and an eyass! Tonight’s highlight was when the mother was eating, one of the eyasses moved right up to the mother and stole a bite!
The three angels at St. John the Divine are very close to using their wings to fly. I spent a delightful Friday afternoon watching them. Although at first only one was viable, quickly all three became active and in view. There was lots of flapping, hopping and jumping.
The next time I visit, I expect one of them may already have fledged!
I was in Riverside Park tonight, not only to visit the hawks but to discuss outstanding hawk safety issues with John Herrold, Riverside Park’s Administrator.
John Herrold had news of the necropsy results and it looks as though the second generation poison brodifacoum was the cause of death, and not bromodiolone which was used near the Boat Basin Café. This would point to buildings along Riverside Park which use brodifacoum rather than the park itself. (Changing poisoning habits outside the park will be much more difficult than influencing park policy, I’m afraid.)
Mr. Herrold talked about how concerned and knowledgeable his staff was about the hawks. It was good to hear that Riverside Park had the hawks on their radar.
Mr. Herrold did a great job of listening. We spoke of improving relations between Riverside Park Hawk watchers and the park, possibly having a meeting every March to allow hawk watchers to express concerns for the upcoming season and to meet his staff. Knowing names and faces before a crisis goes a long way.
We also talked about the dumpsters and I learned that the inappropriate dumpster has been removed, dumpsters with lids brought in for the Boat Basin Café, and plans are underway to purchase a solar powered compactor for the marina. So, this issue seems to be close to resolution.
We also talked about poisons in the park. Here he feels, that except for poisons placed near the dumpsters, which believes was done in error, the park has been greatly improving its approach to rat management. He believes that over the last five years serious efforts have been made to reduce rodenticide use, by introducing traps, limit garbage, etc.
I asked if he could evaluate the period poisons prohibited around a nests to possibly have them start when nesting begins and also to evaluate the use of underground application of loose poisons rather than using bait boxes. He said he would look into it.
So, it looks like a positive dialog has begun.
The fledglings looked great. Both are being well feed by their mother and one even played on the ground today. So far, so good.
My schedule only allowed me to watch the calm period before a feeding at 5th Avenue this evening. Luckily, there was a small bit of action to make the visit worthwhile.
