Photo courtesy of http://palemale.com/
Pale Male keeps his eye on things, as usual.
An update from Katherine Herzog, long time hawkwatcher, who has specialized in Central Park Red-tails, particularly Pale Male, for many years.
She's been down with bronchitis but is passing along the news from The Central Park Hawk Grapevine...
Hi D -
There have been sightings of the fledglings....near Bow Bridge and The Ramble....though they are usually operating independently. Someone saw one of them eating a rat on a tree near Bow Bridge (didn't see if the fledgling had caught it or if it was delivered by Pale Male).
Others have seen Pale Male and his new consort
(Lincoln named her "Octavia" as she is his 8th female companion) flying
with "the 2 fledglings" over the sailboat pond. Problem is: with the skies full of migrating raptors - how can one be sure these are Pale's fledglings and not just migrating juveniles passing through his territory? Pale Male flew
with them but his consort attacked them and drove them off....if PM is
to continue to provide food for his offspring, he'll have to do it on the sly. The "wicked step-mother" is having none of it!
You're right that the fledglings were just starting to hunt (I think they fledged around the 20th of June - just weeks before they were picked up for rehab)....they were hunting mice and rats (most likely slow moving rats having eaten lethal doses of rat poison).
When I hear more - I'll pass it along.
All the best, Kat
A NOTE...
Calling Octavia "wicked step-mother", is a joke. Kat and I both know that Octavia is doing what likely comes quite naturally to her while being courted by a new mate in which the pair bond has as yet been consummated. Other hawks are her competition and unlike Pale Male she doesn't know his progeny from Adam.
Kat is also right that at this time of year, there are many migrating Red-tails passing through Central Park and Octavia no doubt feels they should stay out of her conjugal territory.
Pale Male and Lola knew after years of watching together that many of the new hawks would be gone in a day or two. And even those that stayed in the Park to overwinter, due to the luscious prey base, would eventually disperse. And the yearlings that didn't bug out with the rest, were no match for the pair come time to harden the territory's boundaries when their hormones told them it was time to get serious.
Octavia will likely calm down as the years progress, but as we all know not only is Pale Male the Monarch of Central Park, but he is the King of Stealth and downright crafty besides. Perhaps not only will his rehabbed watch him in his hunts and therefore learn their craft, but perhaps he'll periodically elude Octavia's eye in order to augment their diet.
And the Wisconsin report-- The Winter Birds Arrive, and the Walmart Red-tail.
The Dark-eyed Juncos have returned. First it was the females and now the males, like the one above, have arrived.
An immature White-crowned Sparrow perhaps?
And last but not least the Walmart Red-tailed Hawk, who was last seen on the blog, with a Red-wing riding her back, cruises unfettered.
Donegal Browne
Pale Male pushes off!
courtesy of http://www.palemale.com/
Wednesday-- from reliable, stalwart, long time hawkwatcher Katherine Herzog!
About 3pm today in the Ramble, one of Pale Male's newly released offspring was spotted by hawk watchers....after watching her fly to several trees near Evodia Field and Azalea Pond....she flew to a tree near the "balancing boulder" just off the path to the Boathouse. Shortly, thereafter, pandemonium broke out with very loud hawk screeching. Three Red Tailed Hawks had converged overhead in a tree near the boulder and it was determined that the three were Pale Male, his new female consort, and Pale Male's youngster.
Pale Male had a Red-Breasted Woodpecker in his talons which his new female was trying her best to acquire....instead Pale Male delivered it to the youngster. While PM and the female flew towards Fifth Avenue....the youngster clutched the fallen woodpecker on the ground. After a few minutes and being surrounding by curiosity seekers as well as the hawk watchers, the youngster flew with the food to a quieter location - the rocky outcrop overlooking the gill....(where the bull frogs hang out). She look her time, over 1/2 an hour to dismantle and devour the entire woodpecker, head, feet and all. The rain drove us for cover and I left the park at 4:45.
I was aware that Pale Male had noticed the two birds on Saturday as he flew in circles over them shortly after their release, but, that he recognized them as his offspring and has provided food for at least one of them - is truly astonishing!
But I am still not sanguine about the youngsters' changes for survival. They are still flying low - like they were just before their poisoning (muscles atrophied during their long captivity?) and their hunting skills seem to have eroded. None of the hawk observers, who have been on almost dawn to dusk watch since Saturday, have seen any hunting behavior from either young hawk.
Will be interesting to see if Pale Male will continue to augment their food supply.
Best,
Katherine Herzog
KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED FOLKS! D.B.
1:21:27PM There was no crow alert this time. I just looked out and there the immature Cooper's Hawk sat at ease on one leg atop the Sparrow Pile in the drizzle.
1:21:50PM And there she continued to sit.
1:22:05PM She continued to scan.
1:23:51PM
1:25:52PM Here in the profile you can see the different slope of the skull and beak compared to a Red-tail.
1:30:39PM Her contracted foot comes down and her right wing stretches slightly
1:30:46PM She stretches and appears to see me. If she did she didn't seem to care one bit.
1:30:47PM The stretching appears to have unsettled the sparrows in the stick pile and activated them. But not enough to flush. They know better than that.
To be continued...
But in the meantime, give some thought to signing the Audubon Action American Eagle Compact!
http://www.audubonaction.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aec2012_landing&s_src=americaneaglecompact&s_subsrc=wingspan
Join the conversation at The Eagles Nest Blog-
http://eaglecompactusa.wordpress.com/
Could this be a place to talk about Urban Hawks and Secondary Rat poisoning?
Donegal Browne
