Urban Hawks

August 12, 2006December 20, 2020St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Finally, A St. John’s Red-tail Sighting

I had almost given up hope of finding one of the fledglings again, when I got a call from James O’Brien on Saturday afternoon saying that one of the fledglings was at 115th and Morningside Drive in a tree just inside the park. James had seen the fledgling catch and eat two rodents.

When I arrived things had quieted down, but the fledgling did move about from tree to tree every so often. I saw the fledgling go after a squirrel and a pigeon without success before loosing the fledgling as it flew east past Fredrick Douglas Boulevard around 112th Street.

Thanks to James for the phone call!

August 11, 2006December 20, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks

Pale Male Eye Candy

Pale Male spent the early evening on Friday, just north of Cleopatra’s Needle, which is west of the Metropolitan Museum.

August 11, 2006December 25, 2020Other Birds

Morningside Park

An afternoon search of Morningside Park and the NW section of Central Park for the St. John Red-tails came up empty on Friday. I suspect that the fledglings are now hunting on their own and their range has increased making it much harder to find them. If you’ve seen them recently, please leave a coment!

I did see two unexpected sightings. An Eastern Kingbird and an Amercian Crow one one of the Red-tails favorite spots, 301 W 110th Street.

August 6, 2006December 25, 2020927 5th Avenue Red-tailed Hawks, Other Animals, Other Birds

Couldn’t Find What I Was Looking For. . .

I went birding on Sunday in hopes of finding the St. John the Divine hawks or the 1st Year Red-tailed hawk, Ben Cacace and Lincoln Karim have been seeing in Central Park. I didn’t find either of them.

I did see some old favorites however, the Red Squirrel (the only one in Central Park), Lola, the female Red-tailed Hawk from the 5th Avenue nest, who was on the NE tower of the Beresford keeping an eye on a Kestrel pair on the SE tower, and the two young Green Herons.

August 5, 2006December 20, 2020Other Birds

Green Herons Have Grown Up Fast

My knee is improving, so I went into Central Park for the first time in about two weeks. The fall migration has started and warblers are starting to return to the park. In my brief outing in the park, I saw a Yellow Warbler, an American Redstart and two Northern Waterthrushes.

The Green Heron young have left the nest, and I found two of them feeding with a parent in a tree 20 feet south of the nest and along the shoreline of the lake. Having been away for two weeks, I’m not sure if we’ve lost another young heron, or if one of the birds has already fledged and has begun to feed on its own.

Adult in the middle with fledgling below and one just visible behind the adult.

July 25, 2006Other Birds

Green Heron Chick

I’m sorry to report that smallest of the Green Heron hatchlings has died. Cal Vornberger, the gifted wildlife photographer and author/photographer of Birds of Central Park, witnessed the death and has a compelling set of photographs on his blog, www.calvorn.com. Cal has put together a slide show of the photographs at http://www.calvorn.com/herons.html.