3/9, Friday Hawkwatching

Two trips to the nest site today, but hardly any pictures and none worth the effort of posting.

First, in early afternoon: I checked the parakeet nest on West 103rd St. at 1:45 and found one of the residents busy on the renovations. Then walked up the Cathedral and found nothing going on. At about 2:00, while using the small field glasses to check rooftops, I barely spotted a hawk circling about above the Schomburg Plaza apartments more than a half mile to the east. It was only visible when it banked and exposed the full length of both wings to view.

After a minute or two, it seemed to head west or southwest, and I lost sight of it. Three or four minutes later a hawk came flying up Morningside Drive and zipped into the nest. As I was maneuvering along 113th St. for a good view of the nest, another hawk seemed to also come up Morningside Drive, but kept going and then dived into the park around 115th St. Turning back around to check the nest, no hawk was visible.

One hawk or two? Hard to say.

Headed over to the Cathedral at 5:00 and again no hawks initially in view. Twenty minutes later, after walking through the park up to 116th St. and then back down to 110th St., I discovered that one of the hawks had perched on the Wadleigh School tower. Whoever it was was happy with the spot, as he or she stayed there until after shadows fell across the location, sneaking off close to 5:50 while I was looking another direction. No nest activity was noticed at all during this 45-50 minutes.

Elsewhere... Lincoln reported late today on his website that Lola was beginning her first night of the season in the Fifth Ave. nest.

3/6-3/8, Midweek Hawkwatching

Despite winter's last gasp, I've been over to the Cathedral each of the last three days to check on the red-tailed hawks. However, the way my schedule works, it's been during what I consider lunch hour, i.e., after 5:00.

Tuesday
I found Isolde sitting in the nest when I got there at 5:20. I didn't immediately spot her as she was sitting closer to St. Andrew's right shoulder and so was only visible from down Morningside Drive.

She shifted about a bit, causing me to once or twice think she had left. Then just before 5:30 she flew over to the trees along the Morningside Drive side of St. Luke's hospital. Twenty seconds later Tristan fluttered down to the same branch, as if he had been perched up above on the hospital roof. Hawk sex immediately ensued.

I wondered if this was one of their favorite "trysting" spots. If so, then some folks at St. Luke's must be getting an eyeful, and an earful, from the activity going on just 15-20 feet outside their windows. As I've described it to a couple people, it "sounds like seagulls fighting." (The title of "Rustling in the Treetops" on my last post is something of a misnomer.)

Unlike Sunday's episode, Tristan hung around afterward for a bit more than five minutes. Perhaps perching five feet away is the hawk version of cuddling. He then flew across the street, perching directly above the sidewalk for a minute or two, then shifted to the next tree over and collected a twig for the nest.

From there he flew over to a chapel roof and then up to the nest, where I couldn't see him as he ducked down to, I assume, put the twig in a good spot. I had trotted down to the 112th St. overlook to see if I could a look at what he was doing, so when he left the nest heading north, I was too far away to see what was going on. But the gullfight noises erupted again from the trees outside St. Luke's, and then Tristan flew down into Morningside Park north of the dog run.

I hung out for another five minutes to see what Isolde's plans were for the night, but by 5:50 I was beginning to lose feeling in one hand due to the cold. Isolde was still perched outside the windows of St. Luke's as I left.

Wednesday
Thankfully, it was a bit warmer and less windy. I got to the Cathedral just a bit earlier but didn't see any hawks about. Then from Morningside Drive I was able to spot a hawk perched atop the Wadleigh Secondary School over toward Seventh/Powell Ave.

After hanging about the 112th St. overlook for a few minutes, I decided to head north and possibly make a pass through Morningside Park. It was almost immediately apparent that another hawk was perched in the park close to the sidewalk up toward 114th St. Looks like Tristan. Is he checking out the cars or the dogs going by?

He didn't stay perched there too long.

But flew into the park and perched in the treetops over the dog run.

Both he and Isolde must have been happy with their respective perches. I left at about 5:40, and Tristan was still above the dog run and Isolde was catching sunset rays atop the Wadleigh.

Thursday
A much quieter day. From about 5:00 to 5:40 there were no hawks in sight, neither at the Cathedral nor atop the Wadleigh, and apparently not in any of the treetops in Morningside Park between 110th St. and 115th St. either. On giving up and starting to leave, I made one last look from up 113th St. at the nest and realized that Isolde was sitting there quietly.

She might have been there anywhere from a minute to 40 for all I know. Depending on the hawk's position and posture, it can sometimes be difficult to see them. They might be ducked down, or else turned so that you're looking at the dark feathers on the back of the head.

I took a few minutes to help out a lost pedestrian looking for a hotel supposedly located on West 113th St. -- turned out that it was in the 200 block but advertised itself as being in Morningside Heights! -- and while I was doing that Isolde made her exit from the nest.

3/4, Rustling in the Treetops

Out a bit earlier than usual on Sunday. Passed by 103rd St. at 2:10 and saw that the monk parakeets were at home. But they were huddled up under the air conditioner and not working on re-building the nest.

Walking down 110th St. toward Morningside Park at 2:20, I stopped at the corner of Columbus Ave. to wait for the light. Then realized that one of the red-tail hawks was perched across Columbus Ave. on the slab-antenna structure atop a small building at the corner of 109th St.

A look at pictures afterwards revealed that it was Isolde.

Isolde flew across the street a minute later, perching in the trees along 110th St. overlooking Morningside Park. But then she took off north banking eastward and I lost sight of her. From the park overlooks along Morningside Drive, there was no sign of her atop any of the usual or likely Harlem rooftops.

A look up at the nest site revealed it was empty. Rather than hang around here I opted to go get a latté and then go exploring, and not in Central Park either.

It was about 4:40 when I returned to Morningside Park. Walking between the rockface and the ballfields, I saw a hawk fly into the nest. By the I got to the top of the 116 Steps, the nest was empty, but Isolde was perched in a tree close to the 112th St. overlook.

Isolde hung out there for a few minutes, backlit in the setting sun. It was hard to tell if she was looking downward a lot or if her head was droopy after a tiring day.

Isolde changed tree three times over the next ten minutes.

She ended up just inside the upper 114th St. entrance to Morningside Park. Five minutes later Tristan came flying up Morningside Drive. For a moment I thought he was going to perch alongside Isolde. Oh, no, he's got something else in mind. It's spring and a young male's fancy...

Four or five hawk shrieks and a flurry of wing and tail feathers sticking out in all directions and it was done. Tristan immediately took back off, flying toward the nest with a stick in his beak. He made another pass by the nest a minute later, but when I wandered down that way to see what was up, he instead flew up Morningside Drive and then disappeared around 116th St.

Isolde stayed perched at 114th St. for another ten minutes, looking rumpled, presumably because of the breeze and the chill.

While I made another quick walk down near the nest she too took off for parts unknown.

After strolling down to the lower level of the park and then back up, I hadn't seen any further sign of the hawks. At 5:50, exit.