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Red-tailed Hawks can build multiple nests and choose one at the last minute. So, on Saturday when they spent much of their time in the lower eighties, and visited the nest they built after last year's fell which two blocks north of the Boat Basin Café, it made me wonder if their final nest selection hasn't been made yet.
In any case, while I was there they kept me on my toes, moving from 79th to 95th and went to both sides of the highway. It took a lot of energy to keep up with them!
Thanks to great detective work by Nina Wolf and other birders in Riverside Park, the new nest site of the Riverside Hawks has been discovered. I was able to confirm the nest location on Saturday, but wasn't able to see the hawks in the nest until Sunday morning.
The nest is on a traffic island at the next exit north from their old nest. It is on a strip, that due to heavy traffic, is cut off to humans, dogs and raccoons. Best of all, there are a row of benches for any and all hawk watchers to sit on!
Update: March 22nd. The Hawks ended up choosing a nest site a few blocks north of the Boat House Café. This is not unusual. Hawks may build an alternate nest, and then not use it.
The action is shifting back to Fifth Avenue from the West Side and the Beresford these days. Spring is right around the corner.
Here are some pictures of the female of the Riverside pair, hanging out on the streetlights above the West Side Highway.
Update: I received an email from Nina Wolf, that the hawks have been breaking off sticks around 84th Street and flying north. So, this may be a sign that their new nest is farther north than last year. If anyone knows of the new nests location, please drop me an email.
Sunday had a Long-eared Owl in "The Oven" (a cove on the Lake in Central Park).
The Long-eared Owl was in a deciduous tree in the open which is unusual for the species.
During the winter, about an hour north of Manhattan on the Hudson River, you can find Bald Eagles. On Saturday, Teatown’s Hudson River Eaglefest 2009 was held along the river. I drove up with James O'Brien and Ben Cacace and we ended up seeing over sixty eagles! (We might have actually seen more, but we didn't count the eagles we saw on the west side of the river to avoid double counting.)
We birded both sides of the river from Croton-on-Hudson on the east bank, up to George's Island and Bear Mountain and down as far as Haverstraw on the west bank.
Also available in HD
Early morning view from George's Island Park
The view across the river from George's Island
There was a nice mix of adult and juvenile eagles on the river.
If you count closely, you'll see ten eagles out on the river. This photo was taken about two miles south of Bear Mountain Bridge on the east side of the river.
The Cooper's Hawk that has been consistantly roosting in one tree on a hill by the Lake, was there again tonight. When I arrived it was chasing off another Cooper's Hawk from the area, but soon settled in for the night. This makes it over a month that the bird has used the same tree to roost.
I haven't been over to lower Riverside Park since last Spring. I was there in the late afternoon on Sunday and saw both the male and female.
The male spent most of his time on top of two tall buildings, either a popular perch on a water tower at around 80th or the south tower of the Normandy apartment building. His eye color has darkened since last year, as was to be expected.
