The Highbridge Park red-tailed hawk nest near Dyckman St. has over the last few years usually been one of the first two nests in Manhattan for egg-laying and hatching. I'd seen Martha fussing about in the nest a week ago, and late Sunday afternoon I headed up there to see if she might now be on eggs. The evidence of it was pretty convincing.
Just a few minutes after I arrived, George flew in. Another couple minutes later, Martha flew off to a treetop 70 or 80 yards away and a had a short meal, leaving George back hunkered down in the nest. Then she switched around the treetops a bit, went for a quick flight up to the three-way intersection of Dyckman, Tenth Ave., and Harlem River Dr., flew back and settled down on a high branch for a solid half hour of preening.
Finally she returned to the nest and after a long confab with George — both were low in the nest and I could barely see either of them for three or four minutes — George departed, his job of egg tending done for the day. He perched across Harlem River Dr. for a bit, apparently watching something he didn't like atop Fort George Hill, before taking off and flying somewhere across the river in the Bronx.
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