Chasing Hawks on Christmas Day

We had a gorgeous Christmas Day, a perfect time to walk in Central Park and find red-tailed hawks. We were so happy to chase one first-year youngster around the Ramble, and then thrilled to see Octavia north of the Met Museum and Pale Male just south of the Reservoir. 

Pale Male, Christmas Day, 2016

The Chasing the Hawks in Central Park video I titled I Saw Three Hawks Come Sailing In on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. It is always fun to photograph Pale Male.

I love photographing hawks on sunny days. These photos of the youngster made me happy.

The first photo below is of Octavia, high in a tree north of the Met Museum. The rest are of Pale Male, first south of the Reservoir, then on top of the Met Museum, then just east of the obelisk.

More Hawks!

I've been chasing hawks whenever I can. There are at least two first-year hawks in the park (see Bandshell Babies), and one second- or third-year hawk (see Hunting at Bethesda Fountain). On October 26 I followed a young first-year red-tailed hawk at Bethesda Fountain, and November 2 I watched the hawk (the same one, I believe) near Laupot Bridge. Of course, I made a video!

First-year red-tailed hawk near Laupot Bridge, Nov. 2, 2016

And I've also been looking for Pale Male. I saw him two evenings behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on Oct. 29 and Nov. 1. So, another video!

Pale Male after eating dinner behind the Met, Oct. 29, 2016

Enjoy the two videos!

These are the still shots of the young first-year hawk on Oct. 26. Following that is a gallery from Nov. 2. I am pretty sure it's the same hawk both days, but there have been two babies with those strong eyebrows hanging out in the park recently.

Pale Male on Oct. 29 and Nov. 1.

Hunting at Bethesda Fountain

A squirrel was crying around 3:15 on Oct. 28 on the west path leading down to Bethesda Fountain. I had been looking for the two first-year red-tailed hawks we saw earlier this week, but despite the plaintive sounds from the squirrel, I couldn't find a hawk.

Around 5:15, we went in search of the kids again, and coming to the same tree, we found the squirrel a little lower, still very, very nervous. Going farther up the path, a red-tailed hawk, with a red tail, was spotted in a tree over Terrace Drive. The hawk took off for the tree on the west side of the balcony, and then flew down into the ivy after a rat.

A visiting young adult red-tailed hawk near Bethesda Fountain, Oct. 28, 2016

The youngster missed, then flew down toward the Lake. We found the hawk in a tree to the east of the fountain. We chased the hawk as it flew around, at one point going onto one of the decorated ornaments near the stairs.

When last seen, as the sun was going down, the hawk was on a tree on Cherry Hill, look very regal. When the raptor flew again, it was south, and we couldn't relocate the bird.

The young adult on Cherry Hill

The red tail tells us the hawk is an adult, the amber eyes a young one. At first we wondered if this was Fred or Sheep Meadow Papa, but after watching, we decided the bird is a visiting young adult. A delight, wherever the hawk came from.

The video shows the hawk throughout the evening, until we could no longer really see into the trees.