Late on a blustery Wednesday afternoon, one of the new Morningside Heights hawks was busy hunting in the vicinity of the nest site. Very busy. Hardly had it been spotted in a tree inside Riverside Park at 116th St. then it was on the move.
And into a tree a half block south.
Constantly scanning the ground for prey.
Switch places again, dropping down to a stairway railing, where we find that the hawk is very used to humans.
Several people walked past as it perched there, some less oblivious than others.
Hop over to the next railing, and keep looking around for something edible.
Then back up into a tree above the path.
One more short flight to a nearby tree, and then the hawk vacated the scene, heading down toward the highway before veering south.
I was the other photographer at that amazing close encounter. This afternoon the female was sitting in the new nest, looking content and matronly. A few days ago she was in the old nest, rooting around, so hopefully she was just scrounging for nest material. The male is often in the trees just north of the new nest. The large gnarly Wych Elm tree just east of the nest usually has a raccoon sitting on a knob at dusk, grooming and watching the human traffic along the wall.
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