NC-17 Continues
The 5th Avenue Hawks copulated at least nine times on Sunday. Spring sure is around the corner.
NC-17
Saturday on Fifth Avenue was full of excitment. The “bench” counted at least eight copulations, of which I saw four. It’s a fun time to down at the Model Boat Pond. The copulations occured all over the place, with the pair putting on quite a show.
Lola would usually have been brooding by this time of year. The late start might end up helping this year. If the nest cradle was causing problems with heat loss, any later start date would be welcome.
One Long-eared Owl Continues
At least one Long-eared Owls continues to be in the park. It was sleeping when I arrived, ignoring the young adults smoking pot on the nearby hill!
I ran into a longtime friend and a photographer who I had never met before. I helped them find the owl, since it was difficult to locate.
The “new to birding” photographer asked me questions about camera equipment non-stop. I didn’t have the heart to say, “It’s not the equipment stupid” but wanted to. If you want to be a birding photographer, don’t worry about your equipment. Getting a good kit together is easy.
Today, most birding photography is rather soulless. Most photographers are obsessed with the perfect details in the perfect light. These photographs are like yearbook pictures, perfectly boring.
Captivating pictures tell you something about the bird’s behavior or environment. To do that, you’ve got be part birder, part naturalist and lastly a photographer.
So, if you want to ask me questions, don’t ask me about hardware. Ask me about when the light is good, what I’m discovering about the bird’s behavior today, what moment I’m trying to capture, etc. If you don’t study the bird and figure out what’s special about it, how can you take a great picture of it?
Calm Friday Evening on Fifth Avenue
I arrived late to a calm evening on Fifth Avenue. I was able to take a few pictures of the female, but saw nothing exciting.
Pale Male vs. Pale Female
Some field marks to tell these two hawks apart…
A 5th Avenue Couple
On Saturday, I got to see a great deal of Pale Male and his new mate. She’s being called lots of things, Pale Beauty, Pearl and Paula, but until there is some consensus, I’ll be calling her Pale Female.
Pale Male caught a pigeon. He plucked it, eat some of it and then called for Pale Female. She eat it, and when she had finished, called him to eat the remains.
Later, she was on a “Linda Building” (920 Fith Avenue, two buildings south of the nest building) window railing, when he arrived with another snack. Having both just eaten, he cached the bird on their nest, and returned to the railing where they copulated.
They sat together for about half an hour, before Pale Male left and went to roost on a tree at the bottom of Pilgrim Hill. She however remained on the railing and was still there when I left the part at 7 p.m.
As we get to know the new female, each of the 5th Avenue bird watchers were sharing tips about how to tell the two birds apart. His white/light brown throat vs. her dark throat. Her droplet like chest spots vs. his oak leaf patterned barred vertical strips. Her broken tail feather and lighter tail. His two missing primary wing tips. I’m sure we’ll find more, but I think most of us are starting to find it easier to tell them apart.
After the failed nests of the last years, we have a new variable. Will the nest work with a new female, or not? We’ll know in a few months.
