Belted Kingfisher
I added a new bird to my Central Park list on Sunday, a Belted Kingfisher.
Expecting Parents
The Fifth Avenue nest had hundreds of observers on Saturday. Many first time watchers stumbled onto the “hawk bench” while taking part in Easter activities in the park. (The “hawk bench” has great view of the nest, which during this season has lots of telescopes, including a power Meade telescope connected to a video camera/monitor generously provided by Lincoln Karim, www.palemale.com.)
Old timers were there looking to see if the chicks had hatched yet. The old timers have reasonable concerns since last year’s eggs failed to hatch.
Pale Male (the male Red-tailed Hawk) has a history of his first year nests failing, so after the nest was removed in the early winter of 2004/5, it was not surprising that the 2005 nest failed. Whether the nest was too small to keep the eggs insulated, the stress of building a new nest or possible punctures by the pigeon spikes in the nest are all possible reasons for first year failures.
The new nest cradle, added as a compromise over safety, might also be a problem. So, all eyes are on the nest. The hatching window is anytime in the next week or so. Hopefully, good news will be reported soon.
When I arrived in the late afternoon, Lola (the female, nesting Red-tailed Hawk), was very active.
5th Avenue Nest
I arrived in the early evening just as Pale Male had arrived to give Lola a break.
Charlotte On Her Nest
At least two eggs are visible. Pictures were taken late in the afternoon on a cloudy Wednesday.
Spring Birds
Now that Spring has arrived and Daylight Savings time has started, it’s possible to some real birding after work.
Here are some birds from Monday evening.
Sunday, 4-9-06 through Wednesday, 4-12-06
I wasn’t able to make the Sunday fly out, but reports were that the owl flew out on schedule.
On Monday, there was no sign of an owl, just European Starlings hovering about the hole. We hope that this only means that the surviving adult Eastern Screech-Owl is now sleeping in tree branches now that the trees have leaves and the weather is warmer, and that nothing has happened to the owl.
On Tuesday, European Starlings were seen in the cavity early in the morning. By mid-day a dead owl hatchling was visible at the edge of the cavity. The park dispatched a “cherry picker”, and a second dead hatchling was discovered in the cavity. Both bodies were badly decomposed.
On Wednesday, a park employee found a third hatchling on the ground near the owls’ tree. I went to the tree and the surounding area in the evening to look one more time for our adult owl. It was nowhere to be found, which may be good news not bad.
So, a winter season of Eastern Screech-Owl watching ends with sad
results in the southern portion of the park. The season started with four
adults, two in the Ramble and two along the West Drive. It ended with
only one adult and a death toll of three adults and three hatchlings.