6/6, Fledge at West 116th St

Checking on the Riverside Park hawk nest at 116th St. to see if there had finally been a fledge, I found only one young hawk in the nest at the start of the evening.

It was obviously paying attention to something over toward Riverside Drive, and other watchers in the area pointed out that an adult was perched across the street.

But perhaps there was something else that way?

Indeed. Perched almost directly above the head of the hawkwatchers, about 50 feet up and some 30-40 yards from the nest was the other baby hawk.

Whether the young bird had managed to fly over there, no witnesses were around to say. And maybe it had done some crazy amount of branching in order to work its way to a tree above the park's upper walkway. But even if the latter, it's far enough away from the nest that such effort should count as having fledged.

So congratulations, little one.

And meanwhile, mama was perched atop the Paterno apartment building.

But then took off on her rounds.

The fledgling rotated around so that its back was to the sun. It settled in for some preening, and ogling of the passers-by below.

Then mama returned, perching atop 448 Riverside.

Besides keeping an eye on the kids, mama also had other concerns. The next door neighbors, relatively speaking, are not friendly. One of the Riverside Church peregrine falcons was also on patrol.

Mama took off again, but a bit later there was a noisy confrontation overhead when she and the falcon met up. Some screeching and then everyone returned to their corners. Okay for now, but this could get ugly in the coming weeks as the baby falcons also fledge.

One last look at the fledgling in sunset light.

6/5, Riverside and West 116th St.

Just before Sunday's dinner-time rainstorm, I visited the red-tailed hawk nest area at Riverside Park near 116th St. It's been more than 50 days since first hatch was detected there, but except for some aggressive branching first seen on Friday, the baby red-tailed hawks there have yet to fledge.

Sunday eve first found one baby hawk just visible napping in the nest, but as the wind picked up a bit, it got up and started flapping like crazy. But where was its sib? In the nest, too. It got a minute or two later and the flapping party went into overdrive as rain started to sprinkle.

One of the duo branched up to a very small limb about five feet above the nest and for a time looked like it was going to fledge whether it wanted to or not as the wind gusted. But it managed to hop back down into the nest as the deluge began and observers cleared out.

2/10, New Morningside Hawks?

Two or three reports in the past month suggested that a pair of adult red-tailed hawks might be trying to claim the western edge of Morningside Heights, over along Riverside Park. On Tuesday I spotted a red-tail gone to roost in the park at 112th St., but the light was too poor to see if it was adult or youngster. Then early today (Wednesday) I received a report of four hawks circling over Riverside around 112th. Possibly the cathedral hawks had flown over to have a discussion about territorial rights.

Late this afternoon I made a couple sightings of two hawks along Riverside in the Morningside neighborhood. First was a brief look at two hawks at Riverside and 110th, both arriving from the east, apparently paying little attention to each other, and then splitting off in opposite directions.

A bit later and a bit north, a pair of red-tails again popped out of the adjoining neighborhood, circled over Riverside for a moment, and then alit on apartment buildings. One landed on the Coliseum on the southeast corner of Riverside and 116th.

While the other alit atop the Paterno on the northeast corner.

And then moments later, off again.

Comments from a neighborhood hawkwatcher who was seen the duo a few times indicate that they are working on a nest inside Riverside Park. One wonders if this is last year's Grant's Tomb pair, trying again a little bit farther away from the nasty falcons at Riverside Church, or if a totally new pair is giving the neighborhood a try.

2/6, Riverside Park

I've continued to alter my usual route to work by walking up Riverside Drive to see if the juvenile red-tailed hawk was still around. Or one of them, as I've been told that a couple weeks ago there were two in the area. Early Friday afternoon I again encountered a hawk right around 110th St.

He first appeared making a swoop after a squirrel in a treetop near 108th St., but that failed and he headed back up to 110th, where he perched in the strip between the main part of RSD and the access road.

And then launch...

And swoop down a block...

Where he tried to nail a squirrel in the snow and ice alongside the parked cars. That failed and he headed up into a nearby tree, giving a near miss to one car speeding by. (Whew!)

Look around and think about it.

Repeat.

Repeat some more.

Working up some interest in another attack.

Yes, that squirrel is apparently peeking out from under a parked car.

Another swoop down at that squirrel, but another miss. The hawk sailed on and back into the tree where he'd been 6-7 minutes earlier.

Stare at that dratted squirrel.

And ponder.

ANd time for me to leave.

1/30, Riverside Park

Since the blizzard that wasn't, I've been walking alongside Riverside Park in the 100s and 110s on my way to work to see if the young red-tailed hawk was still in the area. Friday I found him hunting near 108th St.

Just enough time to shoot two pictures and then he was in the air. Up to 109th St and then back and down toward 107th.

Back up and into a tree. Perch for maybe half a minute, and then take off again.

And down into a tree almost touching the park wall. Hmmm, apparently missed some prey.

Oh, wait. There's a squirrel on the other side of the tree. But how to get at him?

Hop up a branch, look around, hop back down. Meanwhile the squirrel takes off. Drat.

Take off again and go perch in a tree in the middle of the park.

And ponder our tactics.

There I left him as I continued on to work. But he wasn't the only raptor sighting of the day. At 113th St. I happened to look up and way, way overhead, someone was circling around. It seems a turkey vulture was checking out the scene.

1/25, Riverside Park

A two-plus hour walk through the north end of Central Park and around Morningside Park late Sunday afternoon was a complete bust for finding any red-tailed hawks. On the positive side, a half hour past sunset, I did find where the juvie red-tail who's been hunting in Riverside Park in the 110s goes to roost at night.

1/23, Riverside Park

The juvenile red-tailed hawk was reported still hanging about Riverside Park in the 110s on Wednesday, but I had no luck finding him Thursday or Friday afternoon.

The squirrels were all pretty nonchalant, as usual.

And the only action to be had on Friday was a hairy woodpecker working over a tree near the wall at about 110th St.

1/16, Riverside Park

The juvenile red-tailed hawk hanging about near the Soldiers and Sailors Monument was not the only young raptor I'd heard was lurking in Riverside Park this winter. Another RT was supposed to be up in the 110s. Friday afternoon I went looking for him, and he flew right up.

Even sat still for half a minute for a close-up.

But then he was off and hunting like a maniac. Here, there and everywhere between 112th and 106th streets. Never perching anywhere for longer than 20 seconds. And when it seemed like he was gone, he'd come zooming by from somewhere behind.

A ton of fun to watch, though, as he used the gusty wind to his advantage to do "pop ups", zooming along at hip level and then suddenly going straight up to land on a branch 30 feet overhead.

1/4, Riverside Park

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.