Thanksgiving: Norman Guards Morningside Drive

With a half hour or so of idle time before Thanksgiving dinner, I wandered over to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. A few minutes after 4:00, I easily spotted an adult red-tailed hawk perched quietly atop the Scrymser Pavilion at St. Luke's Hospital.

A close look at photos afterwards made me think that it must be Norman from the cathedral's nesting pair. Not a lot to go on, but the eyes looked more like Norman's than Isolde's.

Apparently he'd already had his Thanksgiving afternoon meal and was cooling his heels until bedtime, checking out the occasional traffic along Morningside Drive and keeping an eye on the woods by the dog run in Morningside Park.

Norman was still up there at official sunset time at 4:30. The spot was getting just enough light that he may have been inclined to hang out another 15-20 minutes before going to roost.

11/23, UWS Kestrel and North Woods Red-Tail

In the hour before sunset...

An American kestrel perched on a water tower on West 104th St.

And an immature red-tailed hawk quietly watching Central Park's North Woods near Block House #1.

About 5 minutes before sunset, the red-tail took off toward the Ravine, presumably to find a roost, but was met by a squall of jay alarms. It returned toward the Block House area and either roosted near there or perhaps down hill toward Harlem Meer.