A new season of hawkwatching has begun as red-tailed hawks around Manhattan are working on their nests and showing signs that eggs will soon be laid.
Hawks will again be nesting in Morningside Heights at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Grant's Tomb locations. The only change is that the Grant's Tomb pair have relocated their nest to a different light stanchion on the tomb perimeter, possibly because of park path reconstruction below the old nest.
At both sites, the females were observed late this week spending time in their nests, quietly watching the skies. There was speculation that the Grant's Tomb female might already by brooding, but it seems more likely that she was "overnighting" and getting used to spending prolonged time in the nest in advance of actual egg-laying.
What effect the winter weather has had on nesting schedules is hard to guess. FWIW, last year both the cathedral and tomb nests apparently had females overnighting if not brooding by March 10. But also recall that the cathedral nest had an early failure and that they "re-clutched" in mid April.
Thank you for the update. The Grant's Tomb female was seen a couple of days ago bringing a twig to the new nest, so indeed she's still working on the finishing touches. Each evening she settles in after some twig arranging. Female peregrine from Riverside Church flew overhead without any interaction, a fine thing... so far!
ReplyDelete