It’s Like Last Year
They fly out tonight reminded me so much of last year it was like a time warp. Same stump, same owl, same fly out pattern. And hundreds of runners going right past her…
Caution – Rabid Raccoons
Three rabid raccoons have been found in Central Park this year, two in the last two weeks. The NYC Health Department’s latest press release warns Central Park visitors to stay away from raccoons and other animals that might carry rabies. Dogs should also be kept on leash in the park and be properly vaccinated.
The full press release is on the NYC.gov website.
The Health Department reminds us that the last New York City rabies case in a human was in the 40s, so there is no need to panic. Both the Bronx and Staten Island have had rabies outbreaks in raccoons in recent years without humans getting infected. That said, the Health Department still recommends taking basic precautions against getting our pets or ourselves infected.
Update 2-27-10: Since this was posted, rabies has spread exponentially throughout the park. This latest press release from the Health Department shows 39 positive animal cases in 2010 in Manhattan.
Eastern Screech-Owl Back In A Cavity
With the cold weather and bare tree limbs, we’ve been looking for possible roost cavities for the North Woods Screech-owl pair. Tonight we found the female in a familiar cavity. She’s back in the same cavity she lost to a raccoon earlier this year. Her mate was heard but not seen after fly out.
Déjà vu
My experiences on Friday, had the three same birds, a Cooper’s Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk and Eastern-Screech Owls, as I had last Sunday.
The Cooper’s Hawk had a full crop and perched in the same spot for over an hour, west of the Wildflower Meadow. Another birder had found the Cooper’s Hawk and we went through all of the I.D. helpers listed in Kenn Kaufman’s Advanced Birding chapter on The Accipiters. Variances between a perched Cooper’s Hawk and Sharp-shinned, include size, tail shape and size of white band at the tip, eye placement and relative size, blackish cap on the Cooper’s vs. a more uniform color that extends to the neck on the Sharp-shinned. It was a fun discussion.
The Red-tail was closer to the Pool side of the Loch, and then flew off to the northwestern edge of the North Meadow. It continued on towards the south, and may be one of the hawks that has also been seen in the 90’s on Central Park West. It would be great if a pair of hawks built a nest in the North Meadow again. This would be a great time for a pair to try. With the “Cathedral” pair having shifted their territory in a more northerly direction, now would be the time for a new pair to claim the northern end of the park.
The Eastern-Screech Owls were seen after we had given up finding them. Both owls were in low brush and hard to spot, but the male ended up flying up to bright light by a roadway. He’s usually shy, so it was great to see him out in the open. Our hunt for their winter cavities continues, without any success.
Winter Hawks
All over New York City, wintering hawks are establishing themselves in various parks. I’ve received emails about hawks on the Upper East Side, down in Washington Square Park, and Riverside Park in Manhattan, as well as other locations in Queens and Brooklyn.
This Cooper’s Hawk seems to have settled into the Loch in Central Park, and looks like it might stay the winter.
Red-tails, Cooper’s and Screech-Owls
I walked up from the mid-70s to the North Woods to look for Screech-Owls and came along some interesting diversions along the way. On a building at 89th Street and Central Park West was a Red-tailed Hawk. This section of the park, west of the Reservoir, usually has a Red-tailed guest during the winter. To my surprise there were two Red-tailed Hawks, something I’m not used to seeing here.
Then while waiting for it to get dark, a Cooper’s Hawk dove into the Loch. It caught a squirrel and ate it. It’s the first time I’ve seen a Cooper’s Hawk with a squirrel.
Lastly, I was able to see and hear both of the North Woods resident Eastern Screech-Owls. They’ve switched roosts, so we felt lucky to find them.
On the way out of the park, I saw that the Lasker Pool is now the Lasker Rink! Another sign of the changing seasons.
