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.

Pinny Grows Up

I saw Pinny tonight at the Pond. He's a young northern pintail drake who has been hanging around the Pond most days since the beginning of December. Before that, there was a young pintail at the Pool (uptown in Central Park), probably the same duck. I posted a blog about this pintail on Nov. 24, Hey Lady, I'm Not a Mallard! (At first I said the duck was a female, then backpedaled rapidly when I found out otherwise.)

We have been thrilled to watch our Pinny (so much easier than saying young northern pintail drake each time) transition from his "baby feathers" to his adult magnificence. He is a duck with a lot of personality.

Pinny with his pintail, the Pond, Central Park, Feb. 18, 2017

My Pinny Grows Up video is the result of three months of filming, and shows Pinny from Nov. 24, 2016, through March 17, 2017. It is set to music by Beethoven, the Trio in E Flat Major, Op. 38, performed by Paul Pitman and obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source.

This group of photos shows the transition from youngster to adult with adult feathers. The pintail appeared in February, and is very visible in the fourth photo.

Dec. 7, 2016

Dec. 28, 2016

Jan. 17, 2017

March 17, 2017

The following photos follow Pinny from Dec. 21, 2016, through March 17, 2017.

A Wilson's Snipe at Triplets Bridge

After the storm on Tuesday, Central Park became a temporary home for a number of birds stranded in the snow. Among the visitors (including numerous woodcocks) was a Wilson's snipe (Gallinago delicata), who appeared at Triplets Bridge on March 16 and stayed through March 17. I filmed the bird both days, and set both videos to music by Charles Gounod.

Wilson's snipe at Triplets Bridge, March 17, 2017

The two videos show the bird hunting for worms under the water, bobbing and bobbing.

This set of photos shows the bird on March 16.

These photos are from March 17.

This was not the first Wilson's snipe I've seen, but this bird was the first I was able to photograph close enough to get good shots. The last one I photographed was on April 10, 2014. Here's one of the grainy photos from that day.