Due to the overcast, drizzly weather, I had figured to give the weekend a miss for hawkwatching. But late Sunday afternoon I decided to take the "long route" walking to my office. I entered Central Park at West 100th St. at about 3:50, planning to quickly check the Loch area and the North Woods and Great Hill on the way to Douglass Circle. Arriving at the intersection of the service road and the west loop road, I said hello to the black squirrel who can be found there, took out the iPod earplugs (the new Argerich recording of Schumann's piano concerto), and hmmmm.... odd bird chirping. An alarm noise?
I'd walked only 20-30 feet east on the service road when I spotted a red-tailed hawk busy feeding in a tree just to the north. It must have just started because the scene continued for more than 15 minutes as I maneuvered about, trying to take pix in the poor light. I can't be sure what was on the menu, but a glimpse of what looked like a tail dangling over the branch suggested it was fresh squirrel.
Dark eyes and a red-feathered tail initially made me think that the hawk was Isolde from the Cathedral, but a closer look at its breast and belly feathers as it preened afterwards finally convinced me that it was actually her mate Tristan. The "light eyes" that I saw on him a few weeks ago were more an effect of the lighting than of youth, and a doublecheck of photos from last summer seems to confirm so.
The day ended after 4:30 when I headed out, with Tristan perched in the same tree, although on a different branch after changing position three times. If the weather had been better I might have said he was likely to roost there for the night.
Update: Found my camera cable and added the one picture. Unfortunately, the poor light, interposing branches, and photographer or hawk motion pretty much made the other 40 pix that I took come out even worse than the one poor shot shown above.
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