I found a good vantage point to watch Octavia incubate her eggs, off the beaten track so I can safely practice social distancing.  Nothing much happened while I watched her for about an hour.

There have been hawks for years around Central Park South.  They've nested on the Trump Parc building and 888 Seventh Avenue with success.  Over the last few years, the Crown Building and the Plaza Hotel a bit further east have been where we thought there might be nests, but haven't been sure.

Today, I caught up with the current pair.  I heard the male, who looks young, cry out the "Honey, I have leftovers" call.  (She never responded.)  With the city being so quiet, I was able to find him on a third floor window of The Plaza Hotel.  He finished eating, and then started to attack his own reflection in the window, before getting caught in some pigeon spikes and then flying off.

He then made a number of loops around Grand Army Plaza, and perched on The Crown Building, the building at 58th and Fifth that has the Bergdorf's Mens Store, and 9 West 57th.  The female was perched there.  They both took off, but returned to 9 West 57th and copulated.

Like the last few years, no clue about the possible nest location.

Three updates:

• I was able to confirm the 350 Central Park West is brooding.
• Once again hawks have been seen bringing nesting material to the Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center, at 106th and Fifth Avenue.
• I saw the pair of hawks that hang out around Grand Army Plaza today, on various buildings, with one eating on The Plaza Hotel, and the pair copulating on 9 West 57th.

In the fog, I was able to watch the 350 Central Park nest and confirm the pair is brooding.  The nest seems better built than the last two years, and offers more protection.   I had to watch from between 96th and 97th Streets on Central Park West to see her.  Being so far way means camera shake and atmospheric distortion, but I was able to see the female brooding.

I caught up with the 927 Fifth Avenue nest as Octavia had returned and Pale Male was leaving the nest.

The background music is from an Accordion player, illegally using an amplifier to totally dominate the Model Boat Pond area.  Sadly, the COVID-19 outbreak is being used by many, mostly affluent park users to flaunt the park regulations.  There are hundreds of off leash dogs, bikes illegally on paths, dogs in the lakes and ponds, people jumping fences damaging the landscapes and motorized scooters in the park now.  While I expected some break down of the social order due to COVID-19, I wasn't expecting it to start with the most affluent New Yorkers.

On Thursday, I got to see another twig delivery to the Majestic Apartments.  The nest building should have been done weeks ago, so it will interesting to see how things turn out this year.

Just catching up with posts.  This was from Sunday.  Octavia can be seen on the 927 Fifth Avenue nest from Pilgrim Hill if you stand in exactly the right place.

Sadly, the female of the Washington Square Park nest disappeared sometime in the late morning on Thursday and hasn't been seen since.  The nest has been abandoned. 

My thoughts go out to all of those folks who watched the live camera feed.  I know for many folks isolated in their apartments it had been a blessing.

The female is presumed dead.  There is a very small chance she is injured or trapped somewhere, but it is unlikely.  NYU staff have checked nearby roofs.

This will most likely be the last chart for awhile.  The COVID-19 crisis is making it difficult to continue reporting.

Since the last update:

• It has been confirmed that the Inwood Hill Park nest is occupied
• Three eggs have been laid in Washington Square Park
• The San Remo pair are now building a nest on The Majestic Apartments
• Unconfirmed reports are the 350 Central Park West is now occupied

For all of us staying at home, Laura Goggin, made a nice summary of web cameras on her blog.  It should help many of us with cabin fever.

A sleeping Easter Red Bat in Central Park's Ramble today, in a bush at eye level. Great find by Janet Wagner.

Octavia has been sitting on the nest for at least the last few days.  She's very hard to see when she's on the nest.  I got some brief glimpses of her this afternoon.

Peter Post emailed me that there has been Red-tailed Hawk nest building activity on the The Majestic Apartments this week, at 72nd and Central Park West.  This is most likely the San Remo pair.  They are nesting on the eastern face of the north tower, two floor of windows down from the top, just left of center.

While on my social distancing complaint, mental health walk today, I was able to photograph them briefly.

In addition to this news, I received a note from Jessica Ancker up in Inwood that that pair is brooding.

Good news for those of us practicing social distancing.  The NYU/Washington Square Park Red-tailed Hawk pair have started brooding, and have one egg with more expected.  They are live on the NYU Hawk Cam.  While watching a hawk sit on eggs isn't too exciting, things should become much more fun in late April once the eggs hatch.

I've been a bit behind in posting picture from 350 Central Park West.  They've been very active.  Copulating on multiple building and generally hanging out near the nest.  I so hope they do well this year.

Sad news from Morningside Park.  The male from the St. John nest was found lethargic and died shortly after being taken into rehab.  More about the death can be found on the WINORR facebook page.

The other news is about two possible nests and a new location for nest building on the San Remo.   It was also nice to see Lincoln Karim's picture of Pale Male and Octavia copulating this weekend.  Let's hope there eggs hatch this year.

With the COVID-19 outbreak in NYC, reports may be more sporadic this year. Practicing social distancing will be more important than hawk watching over the next few months.

Mary Beth Kopper found a Long-tailed Duck on the Central Park Reservoir on Saturday.  A bird common in New York harbor, is very rarely seen in Central Park.  The female slept most of the time it was on the reservoir before becoming active later in the day.

On Wednesday, thanks to a report from Deborra Mullins, I had my first warbler of the season, a Pine Warbler.  Eastern Phoebes are also being reporting in Central Park.  After a quiet winter, spring migration is very welcome. 

There wasn't much excitement this afternoon.   Just the usual pre-brooding stuff.  A copulation, some nest rearranging to make sure it is "just right", and then lots of hanging around close to the nest.  Bring on the eggs.

An American Woodcock was out in the open south of the Maintenance Field parking lot this morning.  However it got spooked and flew west. It decided to stay the whole afternoon perfectly still.  I came back at dusk and once it was dark it finally moved. 

I stayed and listened for bats, and had two Big Brown Bats in clear view flying at times a few feet from me.  I got some nice recordings.  On my way out, I was able to record two more Big Brown Bates on Cedar Hill, and possible got two recordings of a Silver-haired Bat.  I don't usually listen for bats this early and thought I might be lucky with the warm weather and see an Eastern Red Bad, which I didn't end up seeing or hearing.

I'm starting to receive Red-tailed Hawk nest reports from around Manhattan.  Fort Washington and Tompkins Square Park have brooding hawks and there are reports of a nest being built on Governor's Island.  A pair of hawks has been seen copulating at 34th and 2nd Avenue, but the nest has not yet been located.  Drop me an email or comment on Facebook if you have updated news on any Manhattan nest.

I got to see some nest renovations on Saturday and discover a few more perches, including a water tank on 96th Street.  I expect to see them start brooding any day now.

I only spent about 20 minutes watching the St. John pair on Saturday, but they looked like they were ready for spring.  The dome roof is being worked on.  Hopefully, it won't disrupt the nesting season.

The hawk nest at 350 Central Park West has had a hard time.  In 2018, the male died during the incubation period and while the female tried she could not incubate alone.  In 2019, after about two weeks, the eyasses (baby hawks) died on the nest and the female died a few weeks later. 

Over this last year, the nest was removed during façade work on the building. 

So, it's been a wonderful surprise that in under two weeks, the nest has been rebuilt.  If this nest wasn't so well watched, you might never know that the nest is new and both hawks aren't the originals. 

On Wednesday and Thursday, I got to see a lot of the hawks.  Early in the day or late in the day is best to catch up with them.  I saw them on the nest, bringing twigs, copulating and hunting. 

But what I didn't expect was what we got to see late on Thursday.  The male when from the nest to the 96th Street transverse road.  He would go about 100 feet, stopping mostly on streetlights.  He got to Fifth Avenue and 97th and did something I never would have expected.  He flew to Madison Avenue, then went south to 95th stopping first at 96th, before flying west back to the park.  What an urban hawk!

If you're trying to learn who is who, take a look at them copulating.   There are lots of field marks if you look closely. 

Let's hope "third time's a charm" for this nest.  It would be nice to see at least one year work out well for this nest.