Chasing Hawk Babies!

I've been chasing the red-tailed hawk babies at three spots in Manhattan so far this year: Central Park (Pale Male and Octavia have three kids this year), Grant's Tomb (there are three babies from that nest), and Tompkins Square Park (Dora and Christo have one baby, and are now fostering a second fledgling who was rescued in Brooklyn). In my first video of the offspring of the three nests, you get a chance to compare the kids. You'll note that the Tompkins Square kid is a bit younger (you'll get to see video of the new kid later).

An offspring of Pale Male and Octavia in a tree next to Central Park on Fifth Avenue, June 9.

A Grant's Tomb baby shows off the wings, June 11.

The Tompkins Square Park kid, offspring of Dora and Christo, branching out, June 11.

This first set of photos is of the Central Park babies.

These photos are of the Grant's Tomb baby, plus Mom, when she brought in food for her kids.

The Tompkins Square Park youngster, offspring of Christo and Dora.

Pale Male's Kids

Pale Male and Octavia have three baby hawks this year, and on June 1, the first kid fledged. On June 2, that kid was hanging out on Pilgrim Hill, south of the model boat pond. A second youngster left the nest on June 2, but was not terribly thrilled about spending the first day on a next-door building on an eighth-floor balcony, and was back on the nest on June 3.

The first of Pale Male's kids to fledge

The second to fledge, on a balcony

So it's time for more Chasing the Hawks in Central Park videos, and I filmed these two youngsters, plus Mom and Dad, on June 2. The second fledgling is a real crybaby, but I wasn't able to obtain clear sound of the wailing because the street noise was so loud, so I removed the audio. The photos and video of these birds were taken with the new Sony camera. I'm not yet sold on it, but will have to get used to it, I suppose.

The photos are not quite what I'd like, but I'm still getting used to the camera. They are a record of one of the first days after fledging. Octavia came to visit the first fledgling on top of a pine tree after bringing in a pigeon, but the shot didn't come out.

Hawk Cuisine

Two first-year red-tailed hawks brunched in the northwest part of Central Park on Sunday afternoon, March 26. They didn't dine together, one finding pigeon on a tree branch to his liking, and the other seeking squirrel on terra firma to satisfy her cravings.

First-year red-tailed hawk with pigeon

First-year red-tailed hawk with squirrel

The first hawk had no trouble supping in a tree, but the second hawk had a few more problems finding a suitable dining spot to eat uninterrupted. This kid had chased squirrels for a while, then flew over to Central Park West to look for pigeons (and maybe a condo), before returning to the park, finally catching a squirrel just west of the tennis courts. The squirrel was too heavy to lift into a tree, so the youngster had to find a way to eat it on the ground, while watching for potential dinner thieves among the hawks flying overhead and the people and dogs walking and running by.

The video, Separate Tables, was a challenge to film because it was difficult to keep the camera rolling while yelling at people to keep their distance from the hawk.

This set of photos shows the first hawk with his tasty pigeon.

The second hawk, after chasing squirrels in the park and hunting pigeons on Central Park West, finally caught a squirrel just west of the tennis courts, but couldn't lift it to a tree, so thought it a great idea to stand on the squirrel, mantling it from possible thieves, head feathers on end, for quite some time before beginning the meal. The hawk and the squirrel remained on the ground for more than two and a half hours, before an off-leash dog chased the youngster into a nearby tree, where the kid contemplated the wisdom of retrieving the rest of the meal.