Real lovebirds, those hawks!

2/18/05 -- Here is Jack Meyer's list of park sightings for today. Looks like a typical late winter collection of birds EXCEPT for one exciting difference. Note the third-from-the-bottom entry: the red-winged blackbirds SINGING NEAR THE AZALEA POND. That's another, much awaited harbinger of spring. They weren't singing last week. Now they are, on one of the coldest days of the year, demonstrating that the various changes in bird behavior observed as spring approaches are due to light, that is, the gradual lengthening of days, not due to temperature changes.


DATE: Friday, 18 February 2005
LOCATION: Central Park
OBSERVERS: Marty Sohmer, Jack Meyer
REPORTED BY: Jack Meyer

Red-tailed Hawk
Mourning Dove (Evodia Field.)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Feeders.)
Downy Woodpecker (Several, feeders.)
Hairy Woodpecker (Feeders.)
Black-capped Chickadee (Feeders.)
Tufted Titmouse (Several.)
White-breasted Nuthatch (Several.)
Brown Creeper (Evodia field.)
Fox Sparrow (Evodia field.)
White-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco (Several, Evodia field.)
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird (Singing near Azalea Pond.)
House Finch (Feeders.)
American Goldfinch (Several, Feeders.)






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From Yesterday's Daily News:

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Real lovebirds, those hawks!

Thursday, February 17th, 2005

Love is in the air.

With their new nest still under construction, Pale Male and Lola, the famous red-tailed hawks of Fifth Ave., have been in full-feathered ecstasy along the rooftops of the upper East Side.

"They mate every day, five times a day for five seconds," said Lincoln Karim, who recently spotted the lovebirds expressing their love atop an antenna on E. 79th St.

In December, the co-op board of 927 Fifth Ave. took down the bird's nest amid complaints of hawk leftovers raining down on the ritzy sidewalk.

After a week of protest by bird lovers - including Mary Tyler Moore, who lives in the building - the co-op board relented and installed a stainless steel basket to house the new nest.

The birds have been rebuilding their home, one twig at a time, and are about half done - taking frequent love breaks.

Marie Winn, who wrote a book about the Pale Male and Lola called "Red-tails in Love," said Lola should lay her eggs in early or mid March.

Bird lovers were happy to hear the news that Pale Male and Lola haven't let their real estate crisis dampen their passion.

"It's a little bit of nature in New York," said Gretchen Lengyel.

Her friend, Peggy Stotter, chimed in with a quote from an old Broadway show tune, "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets."

Austin Fenner