A NEW Francois Portmann Thompkins Nest Video, and THREE at the Cathedral Nest!

Photo by Francois Portmann   http://fotoportmann.com/birds/

The Thompkins Square formel shelters her three eyasses from the sun.  She appears to have the knack for motherhood, or is an experienced Mom.

Dad Red-tails on the other hand, upon seeing the eggs brooded over time are  driven into a hunting frenzy by their hormones and, at least it appears, must learn other fathering skills by watching over time.   And pairs appear to work out their own double parenting system.   Tristan always did the last feeding of the day while Isolde took a break, often  atop a building open to the sky.  

Pale Male on the other hand seldom if ever feeds, but is quite partial to sitting on eggs and eyasses for as long as his mate will let him.  He also fully prepares the prey to be eaten before presenting it. 

On the other hand, the formel of the previous Southern Central Park pair , Charlotte, liked to prepare her own prey.  She also refused stiff prey. Pale Male Jr.  once appeared on the nest with a rather stiff pigeon.  Instead of taking it and flying off to eat it.  Charlotte looked utterly disgusted and flew off to hunt for herself.  Junior stood there with the prey watching her go, shoulders slumped.

 You'll note in Francois Portman's truly delightful new video of the Thompkins Square Park pair coming up further down the page, that stiff prey are perfectly acceptable to everyone on that nest.

Francois said...
 Here is a new video from the nestCam:
First, the tircel (at left) tries his feeding skills, 
then the matriarch takes over and demonstrate how it's done!
enjoy
francois
(Watch the formel's expression and body language as the Tiercel attempts to feed.  DB.)
http://youtu.be/anB_gdsA8AQ

 photo courtesy of Rob Schmunk
And indeed, there are the usual three eyasses for the Divines, Isolde and Norman, after all! 
Check it out.   
Isolde still takes her evening break but it doesn't appear that Norman feeds the eyasses during it. 
 Not surprising actually.
 Norman's full name is Stormin Norman as he still focuses and has from the beginning on firm territorial boundaries and the harrassing of interlopers.
 Go!
http://morningsidehawks.blogspot.com/

 Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne

Pale Male's Nest and the Red-tailed Hawk Nest in Central Park's Sheep Meadow--Offspring Are Allowed to Nest in Closer Proximity

Photo courtesy of  palemale.com/

This is one of a pair of Red-tailed Hawks that has built a nest in a tree by Central Park's Sheep Meadow.  

The most prevalent common thought about this pair is that they are the hawks  who previously attempted to nest in the neighborhood of Central Park South, which is the street that borders the southern end of Central Park

Which brings up two questions a number of people who have contacted me have asked:

Where is Sheep Meadow? 

And how far is Sheep Meadow from Pale Male's Nest?

Time for a map of Central Park...

Starting at the bottom left (West)  of the park, cruise up (North) and hit the 65th St Transverse Rd.  Just above where those words are written on the map you'll see Sheep Meadow notated.  

(Tidbit 1: Sheep Meadow originally included a flock of sheep and a shepherd from 1884 to 1934.  During that time they were housed in a Victorian folly which in 1934 was turned into Tavern on the Green.)



Photograph courtesy of The Central Park Conservancy
 Sheep Meadow, between 66th and 69th Streets, is open from mid-April through Mid-November.  

Very soon the nesting hawks will have more company than they currently do. And the fact that during the summer, Sheep Meadow can be far more crowded than the above photograph reflects has some hawkwatchers concerned. 

Though as Sheep Meadow pair are obviously urban hawks or they wouldn't be there in the first place and the newest research has found that young hawks have a tendency to return to their natal territory to nest, one at least of the Sheep Meadow Red-tails could well be progeny of Pale Male and Lola or as the southern territory was altogether open,  Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte.  

(Though if Jr. was Pale Male's son as suspected, still related.)

By the way, I never saw Pale Male and Lola have very hostile interactions with Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte, which may be a clue to a relationship.

And as Pale Male and Octavia are allowing the new pair to nest so closely to the Fifth Avenue nest it may be a clue to a relationship there as well.

Some years ago before the research came out about the tolerance of offspring coming back to natal territory at breeding age to nest, one day during nesting season with eyasses on the nest, Pale Male and Lola were both on the nest when a third Red-tail landed on the roof of 927 Fifth Avenue just above them  and  looked down at everyone. (This was not a menacing posture at all.)  Pale Male was up there like a shot, but instead of screaming at the "interloper" and  knocking  him off the roof  for trespassing all Pale did was land on the roof about a foot from him and make an angry body posture.  The hawk stranger took on an OH, SORRY, kind of   look and zipped off.   Neither Pale Male or Lola screamed or chased him with blood lust in their eyes which is what happens if a stranger hawk even crosses the far borders of the territory ordinarily in natal season. 

After Pale's trip up to the roof, I can remember long time hawkwatcher Stella Hamilton and I just looking at each other with that kind of,  WOW, what just happened kind of look on our faces.   At the time, we talked about the fact that the intruder hawk acted like he just wanted to look at the nest.  No hostile body position, more like when Pale Male looks down from a tree at a person he knows and likes.  The only thing we could come up with that might explain the behavior, far fetched as it seemed, was that the third hawk may have fledged from that nest.  

Which some, no doubt, would have scolded us for anthropomorphizing, at the time.  As it turns out perhaps we weren't necessarily all that far wrong. 

If you happen to be in Sheep Meadow and want to see this nest, as tree nests are somewhat more vulnerable than building nests, and "which tree" is harder to explain than a building address,  a tree nest's  general location only, tends to be published,  look for someone with binoculars and they will very likely be able to direct you to the correct tree.

 Now onward Ladies and Gentlemen, move right (East) and up (North) and look for the ovoid blue shape on the map which is notated as the Conservatory Pond.  Some older maps label it as the Conservatory Waters but most patrons of  Central Park just call it the Model Boat Pond.  And that is what you should call it too if you ask for directions, as most patrons of the park don't know its name of record.

(Tidbit 2:  The Central Park Conservatory was never built but periodically there will be regattas of beautiful little model sail boats, including a wee pirate ship with grog barrels, racing in the pond so you can see how the name morphed as it did.)

As we all know, Pale Male's nest is on Fifth Avenue, the right (East) border of Central Park and 74th Street. The street nearest to the center of the Model Boat Pond if it ran into the park that is, is 74th.  Or if you would rather figure it for yourself,  go down to the 65th St. Transverse and count up.

For those of you interested in computing distances the crosstown blocks or Big Blocks, as they are called,  are four to a mile.  The Little Blocks, uptown/downtown blocks, are twenty to a mile. 

These nests are not all that far apart at all, now are they?  

Tra La! Happy Hawking!
Donegal Browne

Just look at Octavia's Wingspan Compared to Pale Male's!

 Photo courtesy of palemale.com.

Pale Male, (left), Octavia (right)

Do you remember that in one of the emails from NYC Hawkwatcher Katherine Herzog, she mentioned how huge Octavia is.  

I believe Kat compared her wing span to that of almost a  Turkey Vulture in comparison to your usual Red-tailed Hawk wing span.

And Kat wasn't exaggerating!  Look above at the size and wing span difference between she and Pale Male!

The rule of thumb is that in reverse sexual dimorphism in hawks that the female is about a third larger than the male. 

Agreed, Pale Male, is a smaller swifter model of a Red-tail male, but still Octavia is hugely larger than he in comparison. 

Also a heads up, both hawks have been seen bringing bark to the nest to line the bowl.  It won't be long now before Octavia will be up there on 927 Fifth Avenue full time! 

Sally of Kentucky asks if Downtown Male might be Pale Male Jr?  It is possible as that was his previous territory but though this hawk does look like Pale Male facially, I think he may be a little darker than Junior  though I'd have to watch him in person to be sure one way or the other.  Junior had a way of holding his body that is distinctive.

Also keep in mind that the newest research found that Red-tailed Hawks often return to their natal territory to nest.  Therefore Downtown Male might be a hawk that came from a nest of Charlotte and Junior's or even Pale Male and Lola's nest on Fifth Avenue.

Happy Hawking!
P.S.  Scroll down for a previous posting from earlier this evening.    

Donegal Browne 

Are Charlotte and Pale Male Junior Back? Plus the Known Nest History of Junior and Charlotte. And a Favorite Pale Male Copulation Spot

                                                  Photo courtesy of http://www.palemale.com
Charlotte on the nest center and Pale Male Jr. flying off the nest on the Trump Parc building, Central Park South, 2005

                                     
I was told second hand that someone had ID'd the pair building a nest on the Plaza Hotel as that Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte. They are the longtime southern Central Park pair, who were known to have built nests in that territory circa 2002 through 2010.  Others disagree.  


What do I personally think?  I just don't know.  I've not seen them so I can't give a personal opinion. 

 I've gotten in touch with some of their previous chief watchers in hope they'll compare the pair currently in residence with their memories and with photographs of Junior and Charlotte from past years. 


I do hope they are alive.  

Therefore lets look at previous photos of the pair for comparison with the current resident hawks if you see them.

Look above at how extremely dark Charlotte is, with a very heavy belly band.  The "light areas" on her breast are a dark cream color as opposed to a white.  Junior on the other hand is much lighter overall.  His belly band is scant but not as light as Pale Male's is.
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Photograph by Donna Browne

  The building with the gold top is the Trump Parc on Central Park South and the Avenue of the Americas.  The nest pictured at the top was located on the third from the right corbel, in the bottom row of corbels mid-building.

(Many thanks to wonderful author and original hawkwatcher Marie Winn for investigating what that particular architectural feature is called back in 2005.)


After Pale Male and Lola's nest failed in 2005, a neighbor of the Trump Parc contacted Marie Winn and told her she was seeing hawks going back and forth to the Trump.  It had already been reported earlier in the season that once again Junior and Charlotte's eggs had blown away but as hope springs eternal Marie told me about the possibility that something was going on up there after all if I wanted to check it out.


So I packed up my equipment at the Hawk Bench and headed South.  Do keep in mind that back in 2005 Pale Male and Lola were the only successfully nesting hawks in NYC-- that we knew of.  (We've all found each other in the other boroughs and beyond since.)


As you can see from the photograph of the Trump Parc taken from the park, the nest is way way up there and the sight lines are horrible from the ground.  Not to be deterred, I found a high spot in the park with a view, set up my tripod and started to watching...and  watch.  The view was so steep from where I sat that day that if a hawk was sitting the nest or even standing deep she could not be seen.  I keep watching and going on the third hour of nothing I was getting restless and glanced over at a squirrel,  caught myself looking away, got my eye back on the nest just as a HAWK flew in from the south and one took off the other side of the nest and round the building.  It was a nest switch quick as that!

We viewed the nest mostly that year from Little Hill,  the best angle we could find on the ground. (Later there would be spots on roofs and looks out windows.)  No there wasn't a handy bathroom, or a restaurant, or even a bench to sit on that hot summer as there was when we watched Pale Male but after the grief of no hatch at 927 in 2005 after struggling to get Pale Male and Lola's nest spot back for them,  we still could exalt as  many of us saw our first urban eyasses courtesy of  Junior and Charlotte who had overcome their years of tough circumstances and  succeeded. 


Speaking of tough circumstances--a little background about the Trump Parc nest.  

Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte had nested on the corbel for some years before being successful in 2005.  It is a very inhospitable nest site as wind blows the nesting material away as it does the eggs or in wet weather invariably the cold or the wet seemed to kill the eggs.  In 2006 after the first set of eggs blew away, Junior and Charlotte double clutched, a second clutch of eggs was laid.  That summer there was a drought  and the nest was successful.  Big and Little were hatched and fledged beatifully.

At least one of the current pair that has been seen frequenting southern Central Park has been observed in the inset of a window in the top  row of windows nearest the gold roof .

Photograph by Brett Odom, 2008

Pale Male Junior left and Charlotte right

After another failure at the Trump Park Nest in 2006, Junior and Charlotte moved to a air exhaust window ledge nest site at 888 Seventh. Avenue in 2007. (above) The primary problem with this site for the hawks originally was that it did not overlook a green space. 

Therefore on June 13, 2007,  888 was the jumping off point of a famous NYC hawk event, which occurred when Charlotte and Pale Male Jr.'s  eyass Ziggy fledged down into a plaza near the Ziegfield Theatre during morning  rush hour.   Grounded fledglings are a common problem in urban areas,  and Ziggy, like many others of her ilk  couldn't get airborne again. 

 (In natural areas and also at a very few nesting sites in NYC, the newly fledged hawk can climb up into bushes, branch then into small trees, then big trees,  where she is out of danger and then can be easily fed by her parents until she is better flighted.  At a very few nests in the city, the fledged youngsters can actually make their way back to the nest, which is what rural fledglings do normally.)


But back to Ziggy attempting to climb the wall of a building as there was absolutely no helpful vegetation around,  while a crowd gathered around her in the plaza on June.  First off a homeless man picked her up and was about to make off with her when the crowd put the cabash on that activity and Ziggy was placed back on the concrete to wait for some kind of authorities to arrive and deal with her.  


They waited.


Eventually various members of various "authorities" did arrive and a discussion ensued as to exactly which authority actually had the authority to take custody of Ziggy.  I'm told the discussion took awhile.


Eventually, thank goodness,  renowned rehabber Bobby Horvath appeared on the scene and gave Ziggy a look over.  Then whichever "authority" that after discussion was decided to be the authority, decided that Bobby should take Ziggy back home to the Horvaths rehab center in Long Island where she could be observed for possible non-visible injuries and practice flying in a flight cage.

On the 19th Ziggy was taken to Central Park, a Park Ranger,  than kept an eye on her until Charlotte and Junior appeared in response to her begging cries about 24 hours later and began their parental duties as if there had never been a break.

Photograph by Brett Odom 2008

 Now back to how the previous pair looked--                           
This is Charlotte about to place nesting material . Note she is in bright sunlight which tends to brings out the gold in Red-tailed hawk feathers but she still appears very dark. Note the contrast of her "backpack straps" with the rest of her back.

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Photograph by Brett Odom, 2008

Another look at Pale Male Jr., May, 8, 2008, right.  In this muted light his head appears far lighter than his back.  (Compare the coloring with the photo that heads the blog in which the difference in color between the two isn't as highly contrasted.)  Charlotte is barely visible on the nest center.  Yes Junior flew up to the ledge and managed to get the extremely long piece of bark inside.  It wasn't easy.

If you happen to see the Red-tail pair who frequent the territory below that of Pale Male and Zena in Central Park.  Take a good look.  Could it be Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte?

Photo by Brett Odom--Big beautiful Charlotte in flight.

                                           Charlotte, photo by Brett Odom, 2009
          Note how dark her patagial mark is. That's what the mark is called that appears from her neck, extends and then stops midway on the leading edge of her wing.  And her wrist comma, the dark curved mark starting at the leading edge and curving down  just before getting to her primary fingers.  

And check out that heavy belly band!

As this is the time of year when one can often see the hawks circling and get a good long look, compare the above photo with the larger of two hawks busying themselves around the Plaza Hotel.

Photo of Pale Male Jr by Brett Odom, 2009

 Compare Junior above to Pale Male below.  They do resemble each other in a coloration rare in the city, and the reason that many believe that Junior is the son of Pale Male.  A DNA test of the two birds would be the only way we could know scientifically that he positively was related.

Tristan, the late mate of Isolde, now mated with Storm'n Norman, was called informally Pale Male III and also believed to be a son of Pale Male by many watchers.

 When we get to the history of the Divines and the Cathedral Nest of  the Church of St. John the Divine, we'll talk more about the sweet, endearing,  and very relaxed Tristan.

Photo by Donegal Browne

One of Pale Male's favorite copulation spots, Linda #3.   And one of the places where he and Zena were observed copulating yesterday.

HAPPY HAWKING!
Donegal Browne

P.S.  Also keep in mind concerning the current Central Park South pair- either Junior or Charlotte may have passed and taken a new mate so if one is not an original of the pair it doesn't necessarily discount the other as not still being alive with a new mate.  And don't fail to send in your sightings if get some!

Sam Says It's a Hatch as Do the Rest of This Evenings Hawk Bench Warmers!!!

Photograph by Samantha Browne-Walters
It was around 6PM and very wet when daughter Samantha arrived at the Bench. Already holding the Bench down in the rain, with the company of a couple of chubby NYC pigeons, and some begging squirrels were, from the left in deep discussion about the nest activity-- Stella, Katherine, Kenturian, and Margaret. Sam of course was there but behind the camera.

Photograph by Samantha Browne-Walters
About 6:25 Ginger, got up out of the nest and began tearing a piece of prey into small bits. She then put her head into the nest bowl.

Photograph by Samantha Browne-Walters
A slightly larger thumbnail.

Photograph by Samantha Browne-Walters
Then her beak would go to the prey and then back into the bowl with slight poking movements.

Photograph by Samantha Browne-Walters
There was consensus at The Bench. It's a HATCH!!!!

After 6 years of horrid disappointment, IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!!!

What a stunner.

Photograph courtesy of palemale.com
In the meantime, once-again-dad Pale Male is over on the railing of the Oreo building being attacked by a Kestrel. He guards the territory, hunts all day, and what does he get? No respect, that's for sure. But it is all part of the job. He allows himself to be a target and keeps Kestrel interested in him as opposed to Mom and the kid(s).

Photograph by Samantha Browne-Walters
Every season for the last six years I've watched this nest for at least part of each season. In 2005 I watched it exclusively until finally Lola, after an extra month of sitting, ragged feathered and a brood patch gone purple from pressing against the underlying cradle spikes, she gave up the nest. Pale Male then tried to tempt her back with tasty tidbits and sat himself for long hours hoping she would return. Finally he too, gave up.

It was an emotional crusher.

After the destruction of the nest in 2004, the protesting in bitter cold, leading the revolt with Honk for Hawks on Fifth Avenue, world wide pressure on the condo board, panels of experts deciding how to build something for the nest to sit atop, and its installation. And Pale Male and Lola had taken to rebuilding their nest like a dream. The Model Boat Pond crammed with people waiting for a hatch that never came.

Would it have been better not to have insisted that they be allowed to nest on their old site? Something had gone wrong. Who were we humans to think we could do it better than the hawks did? If not able to use 927 would Pale Male and Lola have found a new nest site and there would have been a hatch like usual?

First the meddling of tearing down the nest was a travesty, but had we made it worse by settling for the carriage? As it was a different set up should we have said, don't bother and Pale Male and Lola would have found a new site and all would have been well?

Speaking of hawk watching despair, we had bitter years of it. It was physically painful but as time went by I knew I was still very sad about it but somehow we accepted that quite probably there would never be eyasses in Pale Male's nest again. We lived with it.

Then yesterday, when I was alerted that there might be a hatch on Pale Male's nest. I sat down and wept. Tears made of years pain, and now possible relief and happiness! Eureka! We might have done okay by Pale Male, the human trusting hawk, after all!

So what did go wrong? I've been thinking about this constantly since hope reared her lovely head on the 20th. I began comparing the breeding history of Pale Male and Lola with that of Charlotte and Pale Male Jr. from 2005 on in my head.

It was late in the 2005 season when Pale Male and Lola gave up their nest. By then we knew that the Trump Parc nest of Charlotte and Junior had once again failed as well. Their eggs had blown off the nest, yet again.

Then there was a rumor that there was activity around the Trump Parc nest which most watchers discounted. It was too late for anything to happen and besides the nest site wasn't the least bit watcher friendly. Unless a hawk was standing near the edge of corbel on the Trump Parc there was nothing to see at all. Zip.

Whatever the case, I was miserable about Pale Male and Lola and even if there was the slightest chance something was happening on the Trump, I was going to go look.

I trundled back and forth in hot summer weather with a rolly bag full of equipment on the very south end of Central Park right up next to the wall looking for a spot that might give even a speck of better viewing of the nest. Eventually I set up and made myself keep my eyes glued to the corbel. Nothing could be seen of twigs or nesting materials. I waited. I waited for hours. Nothing. Then, it didn't take more than 5 seconds and if I'd glanced away I'd have missed it. A hawk came out from behind a building, landed on the corbel and another took off the corbel and disappeared behind an another building on the other side.

It was a pair doing a switch of a nest in a near blink of an eye. There had to be eggs up there! And there were. They'd double clutched. Two healthy eyasses, Big and Little, fledged off the Trump that summer of 2005.

In 2006 both nests failed, but a dog walker had seen a nest on the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. The walker told hawk watchers. It was the nest of Isolde and Tristan.

In I think 2007, Junior and Charlotte moved to 888, a space that could not be seen from the ground. But Brett Odom could see it from his office and sometimes Lincoln Karim found a seat with a view in an adjacent building. We watched by proxy. That year they only had one egg hatch. And it was Ziggy, the fledgling that came down into Ziegfield Plaza and created a sensation during rush hour and then became entangled with many city departments with their many experts. But Isolde and Tristan came through with Big Sister and Little Brother. 927 failed again.

Then Charlotte and Junior failed year after year or didn't nest at all. One year, and egg was laid, but Charlotte was acting very odd (neurological issues?) and did not brood it. This year 2011, they've not been seen really and the hope is they nest in a spot we've not discovered. But upon thought, it appears to me that they had started having serious fertility problems.

In the meantime, the spikes that had so enpurpled Lola's brood patch and had been chilling the eggs were removed. How could they not have been, they were so close they were bruising her and were connected to exposed metal in the outside air. And still Lola and Pale Male failed. Was Pale too old? Had he become infertile? But we'd heard of hawks years older than Pale Male who were fertile to the end of their lives.

Now we know, Pale Male is not infertile. It was likely Lola who was infertile

Here is my hypotheses. As Pale Male and Lola had had a healthy clutch in 2004, but the eggs didn't hatch in 2005, it was the cradle not sudden infertility that caused the failure.

We now know that increasing low levels of rat poison in a hawk can cause infertility, accidents do occur due to neurological difficulties, and eventually death.

The more frequented portions of Central Park and hence areas with restaurants and food venders have more rat poison laid in them. Pale Male is perfectly capable of hunting rats which he does for mates who like them but personally he prefers avian meals. Lola seemed always to prefer mammals.

If we use the fertility decline of Charlotte and Junior as a rough gauge and compare it to Lola, by the time the cradle had been corrected, Lola was well into an infertility decline due to rat poison.

Ginger who is young and likely new to the park and it's insidious rat bait does not suffer from the problem as yet so she and Pale Male have been able to reproduce.

These are all hypotheses. But if eventually Pale Male and Ginger begin to have fertility issues, it may be because Ginger's system has reached the poison tipping point. Anecdotal to be sure, but if at all possible all hawks no matter how we think they died, even being hit by a car can be the result of neurological issues due to poison, should be tested for poison upon their deaths.

And as it is late in the season for dumb squirrels, and according to hawk watchers of long standing first food for eyasses on 927 brought by Pale Male is mammal. In this case, it was rat.

We must get the rat bait out of Pale Male and Ginger's territory before these long awaited eyasses are poisoned like those of the Riverside pair.

On that thought here is Pale Male news from ABC as of May 20th,
http://abcnews.go.com/US/pale-male-red-tailed-hawk-yorks-avenue-father/story?id=13643583

Donegal Browne
P.S. It's late on a very exciting day. More from contributors and the publishing of comments later yes, but coming soon. Time to tap dance!

Pale Male, Ginger Lima, Piebald Grackle, Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel, and 888 Peregrine on Eggs!

Pale Male flies by with prey.

Still copulating! And still with Ginger Lima...

I looked out the patio door today and WHOA!

No, he hasn't been in wet paint.

Wisconsin, capitol of leucistic and albino fauna, has come through again. This is a piebald leucistic Grackle. In other words, the bird has true species colors in the areas that are not completely devoid of pigment. Somehow the streaks and speckles make him look less fierce than your typical Grackle.

This bird happened to be under the feeder alone so I don't know how he gets along with other Grackles. In the past when there have been leucistic birds in the yard they've been treated, at least to the human eye, by other members of their species as if they were true colored. Though I've not watched a leucistic Grackle before. Stay tuned.

I'd noticed that the entrance to Chewy's burrow was open and lo and behold today, Chewy, or a relative was out in the feeding area stuffing those Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel cheeks.

In regards to a question about a possible nest in Tompkins Square Park, which would mean two urban hawk nests only a mile apart with the addition of the Washington Square nest. A response from Francois Portmann, pro photographer and worldly bird watcher-

There is no RTH nest in Tompkins Square Park. Bird photographer Dennis Edge who visits the park daily confirms: "I saw a squirrel building the nest mentioned, RTHs sometimes sit on squirrel's nest" Hope that helps,
Francois
http://www.fotoportmann.com


Photo by Brett Odom

And from our watcher of the 888 nest site, Brett Odom--

Hello Donna.

Yesterday (April 2^nd. I missed it in my box for a week. Sorry. D.B.) I managed to take a very blurry photo of one of the falcons on the 888 nest ledge. I haven't brought in my tripod to work yet which is why the photo is not in focus. I will bring it in with me on Monday. As you can see, the falcon is not perched, but laying down which is what it was doing on the 29th. I'm not the expert, but I would imagine this is how a bird would lay when brooding (is that the correct term) eggs. This was late in the day and the falcon was still like this when I left for home so I do not know if she, I will use the female pronouns for now, actually had any eggs she was covering. The sun was also on the opposite side of the building so she wasn't attempting to warm up by sunbathing. I would be interested in knowing your thoughts.

I have attached the original size photo so you can zoom in without loosing too much sharpness. Once I have my tripod in, I will attempt to take some better photos. You might not be able to tell, but this is the exact spot where Charlotte and Jr.'s nest is located. It is behind the glass immediately to the left of the falcon. As you can see, the plastic shopping bag I wrote you about last year is still on the nest.

Regards,
Brett

Brett, you are using brooding correctly. I used to think that brooding was only used in regard to hatchlings, as opposed to eggs, but I looked it up and it's both sitting on eggs and/or sitting on eyasses. :-)

It looks to me that she is sitting on eggs. As Peregrines don't really have much in the way of nesting materials usually, the nest is called a scrape, I'd suggest that her rather mantling stance is her way of sitting eggs in chilly weather.

I love the fact that the plastic bag is still there.

Wish I knew where Charlotte and Junior have gotten to.

Keep it up Brett, I can't wait to see what happens with the Peregrines next!

Best, D

And last but not least, the link for the now famous Iowa Eagle Cam

http://www.whotv.com/news/who-story-eagle-nest-cam-watch-040111,0,1096929.story

Red-tail Update: Morningside Park Hawks-Isolde and Norman Plus Can Anyone Identify the Red-tail at the NYBG?

Photo by Nicola Cetorelli
Spurred on by Nara and Nicola, the hawkwatchers with the fire escape on Morningside Drive, the information about the hawks frequenting the Morningside Park/Cathedral territory, has begun rolling in!

(My apologies on the lag in posting. My computer lost its mind for a couple of days. Many thanks to computer whiz Mark Brown for his very skilled help in bringing it back to sanity.)

ISOLDE AND NORMAN! (An anterior view is coming up for those who'd like to check that angle for their personal field marks of Isolde.)
Photo by Nicoli Cetorelli

From Nara , January 13th--
When we got home tonight at 6:15, one of the hawks was back. In fact, the doorman and handyman were outside looking up at it. Actually the handyman says he's seen the hawk(s) regularly since the fall, usually at dusk, sometimes hunting. So much for our powers of observation!

Photo by Nicoli Cetorelli
Who knows how long they've been coming here. I'm certain we would have seen them if they were in front of the window (they're hard to miss...) but tonight's roosting spot is right up against the building, on the railing, rather than on the floor of the fire escape, so you can't really see him/her from inside (there must be radiant heat from the brick building).


Photo by Nicoli Cetorelli
After a while we looked out and the mate was on the far side of the fire escape. Both of them are there now.

And now, without further ado...the photos/films!:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ncetorelli/Pictures#

As you will see, my husband is not quitting his day-job anytime soon to become a. a photographer or b. a cinematographer. But they are so close it's hard not to see them well. Incidentally, these were taken with a zoom so he wasn't quite in their faces as much as it seems. I imagine, however, that it isn't a great idea to take lots more photos as it could disturb them (that said, these were all taken Sunday and they obviously weren't too fazed as they've been back at least two nights since then.)

Nara


As several people were interested in scrutinizing an anterior shot, I lightened the above photograph slightly so though not as accurate as to time of day, the details are a little easier to see on a monitor. My apologies to the photographer.

In this photo you can see Isolde's trademark almond shaped "sad eyes" and part of her belly band.

Also local neighborhood hawkwatcher Winkie, who's reports many will remember from past seasons, has a wonderfully detailed update--

Hi Donna,

Greetings from Winkie. It has been a long time without much to report. Nara's sighting is welcome news, but not a total surprise to me as the last few weeks in particular activity has picked up. Let us all hope that this is good news for this year's cathedral pair's nesting.

I have seen Isolde several times lately in her early seasonal, territorial rounds. This season she is keeping much of the same routine that she had with Tristan. This area seems to be much the same: South to Central Park, West to Columbia, East seems to go vastly beyond the old Morningside park's edge and North to 125th Street. Because I have little time outside at this time of year, I have not seen Norman. But from what my husband tells me I think Norman is about. Although I have faith in sightings seen by my husband; alas, he cannot tell one hawk from another.

Shortly before Christmas, I started seeing Isolde around the edges of the park (Morningside, of course) and flying around the south end of Columbia's campus. Over the holiday, I saw from my apartment windows a territory war over the campus. It was early mid day on December 26, there was a hawk flying low over the buildings. Out of the direction of Riverside Church came a peregrine. There was no contact, but many fierce threats and lots of aerial acrobatics. The hawk took it's time to find the wind currents, totally not bothered by the peregrine. The hawk circling low and slow, more circling until the peregrine backed off. By the time the raptors were dots, the peregrine was still following the hawk, just to make sure the lesson was learned. At the time I guessed this was Isolde (not able to get a positive), but maybe it was Norman or a new juvie in the neighborhood. James [http://yojimbot.blogspot.com/ ] does report one in the MS park and Rob [http://bloomingdalevilliage.blogspot.com/ D.B.] sites one in the north end of Central Park.

Interestingly, I have not seen as much peregrine activity around Amsterdam and MS park as I did last year. Maybe this year our cathedral pair are more strongly established than last year.

Work on the cathedral and on the new apartment high rise is finished and so are the additions to the park.

The bad news is that the city is supposedly installing new lighting around the perimeter of the park and throughout the Morningside Heights neighborhood. Ever more work to make the area more inviting to people and less to hawks.

Over the holidays and last couple of weeks my husband has had many hawk sightings. The hawk appears to be doing the usual cathedral activities, but my husband has only ever reported one hawk - not two.

Last Saturday, we saw Isolde soon before roosting. This is my positive on her: it was not Norman. She was in the north end of the park on one of her favorite trees. As in the years past, she likes this territory during the cold months.

Now for the sighting from Nara, the cathedral hawks have used the fire escapes along Morningside Drive previously.

First, Isolde and Tristan and then Norman and Isolde have hunted and rested there. Usually, Tristan would stay south of 116th Street, only meeting Isolde in the north end at dusk. Then they would fly south together, finding other roosts.

Without Tristan, Isolde has liked to roost in the the same trees at the north end of the park. Most of the time Norman would fly though and on to another roost. Norman has in the past been more favorable to spending time in the north end of the park than Tristan was. He has frequently gone to roost on the fire escapes. Sometimes he moves on to wherever Norman goes. He has always lived up to his name of Stormin' Norman, but he does seem to prefer the northern range of his territory.

There is still the boundary divide of territory somewhere around 125th Street. Over the first of the new year, my husband and I took several walks in and around St. Nick's park. It is more like Morningside used to be. There are two hawks in this territory, possibly the same CCNY pair as before, definitely not Isolde and Norman.

I don't know of anyone who had followed this pair closely. Do you have any information about their nesting last season? We saw no activity on the CCNY campus building that had been previously used.

(Winkie I don't have any further information on the CCNY pair, but I'm hoping your question will spur whoever might have some to send it our way. D.B.)

Hopefully, this will be a good year for our NYC red tail hawks. I am, of course, rooting for our locals - the cathedral and the Riverside pairs. It would be wonderful for Lola and Pale Male to have success this year. In Manhattan, however, there is still opportunity for some of the young red tails to find success.

Regards,
Winkie

Chief hawkwatcher 0f Charlotte and Pale Male Jr., Brett Odom, reports he has a friend, also with a fire escape/balcony uptown in which hawks, likely Isolde and Norman, have been frequenting. He's asked his friend for further information and it should be coming our way soon.

Photo by Pat Gonzalez

Pat Gonzalez, who contributes lovely wildlife photos from the New York Botanic Gardens among other places, has a question---


Friends:

Attached is a cropped image of the red-tail that flew over the twin-lakes at the NYBG earlier today, January 13, 2009.

Any ideas as to who our friend is?

Pat

Last season bonded Red-tailed Hawks, Rose and Hawkeye (since died, 7/30/09, likely of secondary rat poisoning) formally of Fordham, nested in the NYBG. There is interest regarding Rose and the likelihood of who her new mate might be plus where she and said new consort might nest.
Does anyone have any news?


Donegal Browne

Urban Red-tail Update: Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte

Photo by Brett Odom
Charlotte (left) and Pale Male Jr. (right) behind the partition.

Brett Odom, the hawkwatcher with the ringside seat, has done it again. Hurrah! Though Charlotte had been spotted within the last few months, Junior had been missing, we'd hoped he was only on a winter sabbatical, but now both are back, with positive I.D.'s and scoping out the old digs.

It's such a treat to see their beautiful and familiar faces once again. The adrenalin and hope starts for yet another year. The gyre continues its spiral.

Photograph by Brett Odom

Brett's note--
I made it into the office today with my camera and both Charlotte and Junior visited this nest this morning (01/10/2010). I have attached some photos of them. It is definitely Junior.

They did not bring any new twigs to the nest but they did spend a lot of time rearranging the ones already on the nest.


Photograph by Brett Odom

Now Junior is on the left and Charlotte is on the right. They are both looking down obscuring their faces, and as the light is striking the bird more heavily on the left, making color comparison iffy.

How does one make sure who is whom in this shot? Look at their size and particularly their feet. In this pair there is a sizable difference. Charlotte is a particularly big girl and Junior takes after his presumed dad, Palemale. Who, as we know, is swift, smart, and diminutive.

Here we go again, folks!

Donegal Browne

P.S. The update on Pale Male and Lola happened to come up BELOW the piece about how it was COMING SOON and you well may not have seen it. So I'm deleting the COMING SOON piece and if you scroll down to the next post you'll finally get to read about PM and L and find out how the Monarchs of Central Park are doing.

Monday Micellany--Manhattan Red-tail Update, Baby Squirrels, a Baby Giraffe, GHO video, and Piliated Woodpeckers

Photograph by Dave Treybig , Piliated Woodpeckers

Dear Donna:

I hear a characteristic "Kack, kack, kack" somewhere in the front yard, and investigated. Margot and I have seen Piliated Woodpeckers around infrequently since moving here from the Texas Gulf Coast. But these were sounds that were relatively close to the house. Recently we observed the birds engaged in building up their health prior to nesting activities.

I walked to the front door, slowly opened it, and thrilled to find in our front yard, using short stumps as a source of art and ant larvae. I managed to get a few photos of these elusive to photograph (for me). and I though might enjoy the spectacle of these magnificent birds.

Unless there are no Piliated Woodpeckers around, why would people feel motivated to use poisons and poisoned ant traps to reduce the number of ants?. Using the birds as a natural process for any eradication seems to be a more environmentally friendly mechanism to control ants, if any ants seem to be a pest.

Attached is a shot of two piliated woodpecker on the same pine stump. The shot was taken immediately after opening the front door, as was shot through glass. Still, all in all, I thought some might be interested in these interestingly colored wild creatures "looking like masked bandits."

Dave and Margot Treybig
Hardy,VA

Thank you Dave, for sharing your sighting. I wish I had those birds in my front yard. And as to ant poison, and the more natural way, these guys, of ridding oneself of an overabundance of ants--I couldn't have said it better.
******************************************************
As many of you know, Pale Male Jr. and Charlotte's egg is due to hatch. Brett Odom the only Hawkwatcher who can actually see into
the nest enclosure hoped for a hatch over the weekend before his trip out of town--

I'm really hoping that we have a hatch when I return. I hate that I'm away during the hatch window. I'm pretty sure that on Thursday Charlotte was still sitting on an egg. I saw a white blob, but since it wasn't moving I'm assuming it was an egg.

After the terrible NYC hawk season last year and another nest failure with Pale Male and Lola this year, I'm not feeling very confident with Chalotte and Junior. But I'm hoping they prove me wrong.

Do you know if anyone has been able to confirm where Hawkeye/Rose and Isolde/Norman moved to?

One of my friends that lives on 85th and Columbus had a hawk land on his terrace. I'm guessing this is the Riverside pair, but perhaps it could be one of the cathedral hawks.

On another note, I'm visiting with my mom in MS and she moved into a new house last year. Behind her is a hay field surrounded by a stand of pine trees. When I was walking my dog early this morning a saw a red-tail fly into one of the pine trees. I didn't think about it, but it is actually a prime spot for a nest. I'm sure the hay field is home to hundreds of voles. I might try to walk around in the pine trees and search for a nest today or tomorrow if the poison ivy isn't too bad.

Brett B. Odom

Thank you Brett. We all have our fingers crossed. I'm dearly hoping that they'll be a little white fluffy head across the street from your office when you return.
As to Isolde and Norman, Cathedral Hawkwatcher Winkie sent in an email with her take on the situation. Find it further down.

Regarding Hawkeye and Rose, formally of Fordham, it still isn't clear whether they are the hawks that are now nesting in the New York Botanical Gardens on a similar structure to that used by them previously. Or if only one is there with a new mate, or if it is a different pair altogether.


4/2008
I was hoping that perhaps thoughts that Isolde and Norman had abandoned their nest site at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine might have been similar to those of last season. Last March I heard that they had abandoned the nest behind the elbow of St. Andrew. When I returned to NYC from Wisconsin in early April, 2008, I staked out the site and watched for hours. I looked from every angle, I waited and I waited. Nothing.

4/2008
Then just as I was about to give up, I thought I saw some movement. And after waiting some more, I was rewarded with a look at the top of Isolde's head. Due to all the activity around the nest she had just been staying deep in the nest, only coming up for infrequent very fast switchs with Norman. I was hoping that the same thing might have happened this season. That Isolde was just staying deep and therefore the nest seemed abandoned unless you stuck it out watching for hours. But then I received the following email from hawkwatcher Winkie, a regular observer of this nest.

Hi Donna,

I wish I had something interesting to report, but nada it is. Since early courting, I have rarely seen either Norman or Isolde. My husband thinks he sees the female across 125th st, sometimes near to the CUNY campus.

I saw Norman late in the afternoon several weeks back. He was circling Morningside Park and headed toward Marcus Garvey Park about sundown. Never to be seen on the heights again.

I also have not looked on the other side (close and school) of the cathedral for a nest. There just has not been enough activity around the cathedral to warrant a better look. There is so much more people activity than last year.

The work is still going on the roof of the cathedral. The public is now settling into the towers (Avalon Palace,or something like that). Robert has been more devoted in his search and I don't think has seen anything either. James has an occasional report of one them over 125th st. So far as can be determined they do not have a nest this year. I will let you know if there is anything that is reportable.

Winkie

A beautiful find from Robin of Illinois--

Most babies measuring 5ft. would be considered big, but newborn giraffe, Margaret, at Chester Zoo , UK is seen as unusually small for her species. HOW SWEET!! She is one of the smallest giraffes ever born at Chester Zoo but pint-sized Margaret will soon be an animal to look up to.

Little Margaret, who is the first female Rothschild giraffe born at the zoo, is being hand-reared by her dedicated keepers. The first calf for six-year-old mum Fay, Margaret, who was born two weeks early, tipped the scales at just 34 kilos and is a mere 5ft tall.

Tim Rowlands, team leader of the Giraffes section, said: 'Margaret is potentially one of the smallest giraffe calves we have ever seen. Fay isn't the largest of giraffes and Margaret was also early which might go some way to explaining her size. 'Margaret was having difficulty suckling so our keeping team are now hand-rearing her'..

Longtime reader and contributor Diane D’arcy has some suggested reading for Pat Gonzalez about Great Horned Owls--

Hi Donna:

Well, as to the owl, Pat should read Bernard Heinrich's book One man's Owl. I believe it is out of print but can be gotten at any good library. They are fearsome birds.

Diane D’arcy

From GHO watcher Pat Gonzalez—
I’ve added some more photos as well as music to my owl video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4VIfmuLot8&feature=channel_page

It is that time of year again--baby squirrel season. And wildlife rehabilitator Carol Vinzant has her hands full as usual. Meet Garfield and Hayes--

Donna,

Garfield is probably two weeks younger than Hayes and he started out a lot skinnier. He’s growing a lot, but Hayes is still the big brother. Here he is stealing the bottle.

Carol

animaltourism.blogspot.com

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