The Pool, The Loch and the North Meadow have a young Red-tailed Hawk this season. This young hawk is full of teenage enthusiasm. I posted pictures of this hawk last week hunting around the Pool.
This week, I found one of its roosting spots. (I think the hawk wants me to keep the location to just between the two of us.)
Tonight, Marie, Jimmy, and I watched the nest cavity. We saw an adult and the fledgling trading places. It was a cold night after a nice and sunny, warm sixty degree day.
At fly out, we thought all three flew out of the cavity but couldn’t be certain.
We heard a soft song by one of the owls but we didn’t see any copulation tonight. All three stayed in the usual trees for about 10 minutes before flying northeast. We searched in the trees, but the owls had out foxed us, and were nowhere to be seen.
As we exited the park, our peanut feeding raccoon lover was feeding two raccoons. No wonder The Pool is over-populated with them.
Now, that we know where the cavity is, we can start to learn to tell the parents apart. This evening, we see one of the owls, I begin to call Trident, because of three lines that come off its forehead. It might turn out that there are four, but the name sticks.
Chris was the only one watching the owls this evening and sent this great report:
"Well, I screwed around with e-mail after sending that message to you all, got out late with the dog and was rewarded for my tardiness –I found the nest cavity.
The female and the fledge came out of a *very* small hole near the lamp post at about 7:12.
I was walking by with the dog, scouting tree branches when a little gray fluffball poking its nose around caught my eye. The mother and fledge took turns peeking out of the hole from about 7:10 — they must have been standing on each others heads or something — then flew out to the tree near where the third chick was rescued by Barbara and Carolyn.
There they were greeted by the male who was roosting or in another cavity. He flew upwards, from the left, responding to the same haunting percussive calls of the female we heard Friday night — and attempted to copulate with her. He didn’t get a good hold and dropped off after a brief moment. They all flew off very quickly at about 7:20 towards the Friday night ‘sex tree’ but I lost them and didn’t make much effort to find them.
It really is cold and damp.
They’re still in a cavity!
Chris and Fig.
Ben Cacace, who blogs at NYC Nova Hunter, has discovered a pair of Peregrine Falcons who hang around Park Avenue in the upper 40’s and lower 50’s. Ben’s a fantastic birder and I’m so happy he found some Raptors close to my apartment!
At around 3:10 p.m. the Peregrine Falcon on the east face of 299 Park leaves and begins circling over Park Avenue. The Peregrine circles to gain height. It circles over the void created by Lever House’s lower section, then comes south down Park Avenue, reverses course and flies directly over the Seagram’s building. I can’t be sure if it landed or went further, so I go to Lexington to investigate. At 3:25 p.m. the Falcon appears from behind the Citicorp building on Lexington, circles the building twice and at 3:28 p.m. lands on the northern top edge of the Citicorp roof.
It begins to rain, so I go home.
Owl sex was again seen, but not photographed. The sex has us questioning if after the loss of three chicks, is there a chance of a second brood?
