10/7, Hawkwatching

I headed over to the north end of Central Park today to see if I could spot a hawk in the area, as the two sightings by Bruce and myself last Sunday suggested that Tristan and Isolde might be in the area. However, it was relatively late, so the shadows were already very long by the time I arrived (5:20) and one presumes many of the birds would be looking for a roost for the night.

About the only good photos I took were of the ducks in the Pool near Central Park West, as there were a couple dozen mallards about and several times there were male dominance displays. But after ten minutes of that, I was off in the direction of the Wildflower Meadow.

No sign of the immature blue grosbeak about, but I did see some birders who I'd bet were looking for it. No hawks either, but plenty of robins and one yellow-breasted chat who took off just as I was taking a picture. Drat.

After wandering about the service road area for a half hour or so, I began making my way toward the northwest corner of the park, from whence I could pass or cross Morningside Park on my way to the office. There was no sign of a hawk atop the Verizon building at 108th St. (no surprise, it's been a while since there was one there), but hey, over there... what's that?

A hawk was perched on the railing atop 352 West 110th St., a familiar spot from June and July when Tristan or Isolde were watching from a distance the kids over by the Cathedral. But it's been over two months since I last saw a hawk at that spot. Who was it today? Good question. It was already past 6:20, so the light was poor, and I don't have a camera tripod. Consequently, every pic I took of the hawk was terrible. It was perched looking west, catching the last of the sun on its breast feathers, but leaving the upper side of its tale in the dark. But it did seem that there was no tell-tale red gleam to the tail feathers, and so it was most likely a young hawk, and not Tristan or Isolde.

At 6:43, the hawk took off, heading west along 110th St. but angled just a bit so that it crossed the street and disappeared over the south campus of the Cathedral grounds. Perhaps it was headed toward a nice spot to roost for the night. But by then it was too dark to adequately check out the area.