AERIAL ATTACK

2/6/05 -- HAWKWATCHER REPORT

AERIAL ATTACK

Marie,
Yesterday (Sat) Pale Male delivered some twigs to the nest after circling the pond two or three times. He then sat on the nest for between 5 and 10 minutes. Then the most incredible thing happened....he jumped off the nest and soared low across the pond, like a jet plane, wings back and went after some pigeons in the small grassy area behind the benches. He was no more than 5 feet above our heads. A spectacular aerial show. Somehow the pigeons all got away and Pale Male landed in a nearby tree empty handed. It must have taken about 5 or 6 seconds from beginning to end. What a thrill to have seen that.

Bob Brooks


Map Courtesy of http://www.kelley-graphics.com/centralpark/lrgview.html
and sent with annotations based on my info by Karen Anne KollingRED-TAILED HAWK TERRITORIES IN CENTRAL PARK


2/6/05 -- Get out your magnifying glasses. The lettering on this map of Central Park may be hard to read.

Each yellow rectangle on the map indicates a Red-tailed Hawk nest. Going from North to South, they are:
1. At the Harlem Meer and 110th St., a possible, but unconfirmed hawk pair.

2. The North Meadow pair: Last year, in a tree at the SE end of the North Meadow, this pair hatched three young, all of which fledged successfully.

3. Pale Male and Lola [Our celebrities]

4. The Hecksher Ballfield Pair. [The male has a light-colored head and is often called Pale Male Jr] This pair made an unsuccessful nesting attempt in a tree at the northwest end of the Heckshire Ballfield. They are almost certainly the same pair that has been trying to nest on a high ledge of a building on Central Park South for the last two or three years. Last year they were observed in territorial battles with a pair of Peregrine Falcons that are often seen at one of the high towers of the Sherry Netherland Hotel on Fifth Ave. and 59th St. [Though the falcons are consistently seen in the same location, year after year, no nest has ever been found]. The falcon encounters probably encouraged the redtail pair to move a bit north and west, into the park.