Even on gray, gloomy days, the hawks are still out there. There having been reports of multiple juvenile red-tails loose in Riverside Park, I took the Riverside route on my way to the book store late Sunday afternoon. Luckily, one juvenile red-tail was active, as otherwise I would have walked right by him.
As sunset approached, he had settled in above the dog run across from the Normandy.
On sunny Saturday the 25th, I arrived at the Riverside Park Boat Basin red-tailed hawk nest about a quarter to one and found the mother sitting patiently on her eggs.
She wasn't fussing about much, so it didn't seem like a hatch had occurred or was imminent.
Twenty minutes later, papa hawk showed up to spell her on the nest. Although I didn't note it at the time, he did not bring food for his mate.
There was the usual half minute of mutual examination of the nest interior.
Then mama turned around.
Took off.
And flew straight my direction.
Well, not quite straight. She passed by 7-8 feet to my right, then popped up into a tree alongside the highway, where she briefly worked out a cramp while pondering what to do next.
A couple minutes later she was off, leaving the nest to papa. It turned out that he had the old homestead to himself for the next 40 minutes.
About 30-35 minutes into his nest duty, papa started getting antsy. For a bit I wondered if a hatch had started because he was was standing up and looking down at the eggs. But apparently not, as it turned out that the hatch didn't occur until five days later.
In any event, mama hawk showed back up about 1:50, but did not return straight to the nest. First she buzzed over the head of the hawkwatchers -- obviously she's very used to people being about -- and I got a glimpse of her carrying some food in her talons. She popped up into a tree about 60-70 feet northeast of the nest and preened for a bit.
Oooh, yeah, that feather right there.
Her arrival had been obvious enough that many of the usually oblivious park users had gathered to watch.
She stopped preening and then looked around for a minute. Then dropped to the ground where she had apparently dropped her lunch when she flew in a few minutes before.
Grabbed hold and took off.
Again passing by close to my right and landing in a tree alongside the highway. She plucked her meal.
And began to eat, occasionally looking around.
Her bites were not ladylike.
By this time papa hawk had decided that mama had the scene under control, even though she was still 75-100 feet from the nest. He quietly departed.
Mama finished up, wiped her beak on the branch a few times, then craned her neck about as she maneuvered her lunch into a more comfortable spot in her gullet. She switched to another tree nearby and perched for five minutes. Then finally, she went back to her nest, more than an hour after she had left.
I made my exit, planning to head off to check on another hawk nest. But as I reached the corner of Riverside and 79th, I noticed a shadow falling down the side of a building several blocks north. Looked back up and there was papa hawk flying straight down Riverside Drive.
Just as he was almost overhead, he hit the brakes.
And landed on a top floor terrace railing overlooking the corner.
Where he stayed until after I left five minutes later.
Sunday I checked on a couple of red-tail hawk nesting sites.
To begin, I headed south to the Riverside Park Boat Basin. Even before getting there, I made one possibly two hawk sightings. First, just before 4:00, the pigeons were swirling over Broadway at 92nd St. and something hawk-like went soaring over the avenue and east on 93rd St. Then as I was standing alongside the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a red-tail popped up from the hillside to the north and ascended quickly on the stiff wind. Hardly a wing beat was needed. He hovered like a kite over the Normandy Apartments for a minute and then dove straight down into the park below. Evidently that was the male of the Boat Basin nesting pair.
When I reached the Boat Basin, the female was sitting in her nest. Discussion on the blogs suggests that she might have laid her first egg that day. She sat quietly, oriented so that her head was in the shadow of the tree trunk. But about 4:25 she stood up and fussed around for minute.
Looked around.
And dove out the other side of the nest and out over the river. Just like her mate had done a half hour earlier, she caught the wind and zoomed almost straight up. Then she turned and passed overhead.
And flew up toward the Normandy.
It was just a spin around the block. Within five minutes she was back. Fussed a bit.
And then sat back down.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, I made my exit. First a check on the upper Riverside area to see if the 110th St. hawk was around. Nope. No hawks visible on the Columbia campus either.
Then over to the Cathedral of St. John. Check the close first, and... the Coopie evidently hadn't left yet, even though it had been a couple weeks since I last saw him.
Today he seems to be looking for a meal.
And then around to the other side of the cathedral to check for hawk activity along Morningside Drive. For an hour there was nothing to be seen. Maybe a glimpse of a Cooper's hawk flying over 122nd St. at one point, but nothing else.
At 6:45, a hawk appeared on Gabriel's horn. A minute later it took off, but just for a couple circles over the close.
And then back on Gabriel's horn.
That's plainly an adult hawk, not the juvie who perched on the roof the day before.
Perhaps it was the gusting wind, but a couple minutes later, the red-tail seemed to almost fall off the horn. But I soon saw it flying over the west end of the cathedral, apparently being chased by three or four smaller birds.
