2014 Manhattan Score Card Update 4
More nests have hatched, but I still have some gaps in the chart for the season. News of any additional nests or hatches in Manhattan, especially around the north of Central Park would be appreciated.
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More nests have hatched, but I still have some gaps in the chart for the season. News of any additional nests or hatches in Manhattan, especially around the north of Central Park would be appreciated.
Young eyasses are as cute as ducklings, so it was with a great sense of joy that I was able to finally see them for an extended period of time this evening. The video is a little long, but blow it up to full screen, set the resolution to HD, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the show!
Although it took some patience, I got some clear views of Pale Male and Octavia's eyasses today. Got to see two eyasses clearly. (At this stage the last hatched can be hard to see, so I won't be able to know if it's only two eyasses or if we have three youngsters for a few more days.)
Although I could have missed them, I didn't see any feedings at the Sheep Meadow nest. So, I think this nest still has a few days to go. I got to see a lot of the mother. She looked great sitting on the nest.
It's amazing how fast eyasses grow. This year at Washington Square Park, without a web camera, that's a good thing. Two eyasses were visible feeding today with small heads peaking out during feedings.
I got to see at least one of the new Fifth Avenue eyasses (newly hatched hawks) today. From the feeding behavior of Octavia, there looked to be at least one other eyass in the nest. We'll see in a few days if it's two or three in total.
A number of established nests have hatched over the last week. These include Pale Male's nest on Fifth Avenue, Washington Square Park, Swindler's Cove and St. John the Divine.
The Washington Square Park nest hatched while I was away on vacation. The eyesses are still too small to photograph well, but I did capture what looks like a youngster on video between some twigs. We should get better views within a week or two.
For the last few weeks I've been keeping track of a new Red-tailed Hawk pair in Sheep Meadow of Central Park. Most of us who knew about the pair decided to keep them under the radar while they got established. But a photograph was recently showed on the palemale.com site, so now that the secrets out I think it's reasonable to share some photographs.
In Washington Square Park, Rosie and Bobby should have young ones within the next week or so. They both looked good tonight with both them taking turns keeping the eggs warm on the nest.
I arrived at the park on Sunday afternoon to find the male sitting in the nest and the female of the pair on top of the Christodora House roof. They exchanged places on the nest. The male flew to a nearby tree, and after a brief interval, the male broke off a twig and took it the nest.
He disappeared and then reappeared on a church cross on Avenue B. The nest has at least two eggs and this young pair seems to understand exactly what they need to do for the next four weeks.
My quest to find the nest of the pair of hawks that have been seen on upper Fifth Avenue came up empty again. While I was in the Consevatory Garden, I saw a Red-tail circle around the garden with a pigeon in its tallons. The hawk then took the bird to the roof of the El Museo del Barrio.
After a few minutes, the Red-tailed Hawk flew off in the direction of the Academy of Medicine, and disappeared. Searches of the ledges of the building came up empty.
There is at least one egg at the Tompkins Square Park nest. The female has started brooding and everything looks great so far. In addition to the Red-tailed Hawks, today there was an American Kestrel around the edge of the park both on Avenue A and Seventh Street.
Update: A second egg was laid on Thursday afternoon and a third was laid in the week.
A hawk was on the Beresford Apartments tonight, just like last night. I'm feeling this bird wasn't Pale Male, but still can't be sure. At this point, it's a mystery for me. The bird stayed on top of the north tower until 7:30 p.m., then went to the west tower before diving down quickly off the tower. A possibility is that I'm seeing the male, but just haven't found the now brooding female.
I've received reports from three different people that a pair of hawks was building a nest on the Bersesford Apartments. I went last night and saw a single hawk, which could have been Pale Male on top of the building.
So, right now I'm confused about what's going on. Either the hawks started to build the nest and Pale Male chased them away or one of the new hawks has similar markings to Pale Male. This is going to take some return visits to figure out.