I commented in my last post about how restless the Briarwood mama hawk was when viewed on the webcam. Later Friday I ran across a comment on Jeff Kollbrunner's red-tail nestcam site that Mama had laid her first egg on about March 7. So March 7 plus about 38 days would be... today. Sure enough, in news updates for yesterday and today, Jeff has reported that in all likelihood, the first Briarwood red-tailed eyass hatched on Thursday! Certainly there was feeding behavior on Friday and Saturday, although the eyass cannot yet be seen.
Meanwhile in Manhattan...
What with finishing a book and then running errands, I was as usual late getting out to check on the hawks. When I did, it was first up to the CCNY area for a stroll and a look around the campus and St. Nicholas Park. No luck. Then walk south to Morningside Park. Walked past the pond just before 6:30, looked at the geese for a minute or two (no other water birds around), then turned around and... Tristan was perched in a tree at the top of the 116 Step Hill.
Past experience indicated that Tristan's spot was not a good one for the photographer. Finally I found that a bench on the 112th St. overlook offered the best view.
I suspect I must have just missed some activity, because Tristan showed no sign of doing anything for the next full hour. Look north, peer east, look south. Repeat. Not even any grooming. The most fun to be had was trying to take a picture of Tristan with a plane in the background, as the LaGuardia flightpath this evening included a long, low descent over Harlem.
Anyway...
Around 7:20 there was a moment of potential hilarity and excitement, as a curious squirrel ascended Tristan's tree and got within a few feet of the hawk. But no, Tristan didn't do diddly, and the squirrel turned around and headed back down.
Finally at 7:35 Tristan decided he'd had enough of perching in that tree. Why, it must be time to... go to sleep. He stood up, turned around, and then flew north. Five minutes later I found him in the expected roosting tree, fluffed up and doing a little bit of pre-bedtime scratching.
Yeah, time for me to call it a night too.
Hey, next time youre in my hood, give me a ring! Didnt see nary a hawk in my nabe yesterday, but lots of kestrel activity. The Inwood female continues on the nest, but direct views will be gone soon, once the greening starts. As for the CCNY hawks, my preliminary guess would be that they are in the southern most leg of Highbridge Park b/c I always see them coming from that area. But who knows, they may also be using some green space just near the Harlem River.
ReplyDeleteJim, My decision to wander around CCNY yesterday was pretty much a last-minute thing or else I would have dropped you a line.
ReplyDeleteBut boy, that's a tricky area to find a spot with a view of a wide area that's not blocked by trees or buildings.