It's getting closer to egg-laying time at the city red-tailed hawk nests, and word is coming in about nest-building activities in progress all around town.
One second-hand report came in that hawks (plural) were adding sticks to the nest on the Grant's Tomb light tower this past Saturday. However, neighborhood hawkwatcher Jeff indicates that the female at Grant's Tomb does not have the coloring of last year's female. In fact her coloring seems more like that of last year's 116th St. female, and there is some belief that the 116th male died before either of his progeny was ready to fledge. So the hot gossip is that a widow and widower hawk who lived next door to each other last year may have linked up for the 2017 nesting season.
Meanwhile, the male hawk who has been hanging round the 110th-115th section of Riverside Park was found at dusk on Wednesday, as shown above and below, perched in a typical spot close to the park wall around 114th St. Apparently he'd fed well enough for the day, as he didn't seem to be hunting, nor did he seem all that bothered by a squirrel who kept approaching to investigate and/or chastise the enemy.
This 110s male hawk also seems to be a bachelor still. No one has reported spotting him in company with another hawk nor even a definite sighting of a different adult hawk in his little territory. It's getting late for finding a season's mate, so one wonders how much longer he'll lurk about the area.
Unfortunately, no reports received in the past month or more of hawk activity over on Morningside Drive. In all likelihood the cathedral hawks are around, but Morningside is a tougher locale to hawkwatch than is Riverside.
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