Yesterday an enchanting group of 4th graders from a local public school came for a prearranged visit to the Hawk Bench. Lincoln took a day off to be there with his huge telescope with video screen. Frederic Lilien [to the right of me in the photo above] was there shooting [not prearranged] for his new sequel to Pale Male. Apart from the fact that I don't like being filmed, it was a wonderful morning. The kids were fascinated with the hawk story and asked very incisive questions.
Below is a letter from one of the 4th graders, Nina Gunther-Segal, whose mother Molly helped arrange the visit.
April 22, 2005
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Mr. Daniel Feigelson
Principal
PS6 Elementary School
Dear Mr. Feigelson,
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My name is Nina Gunther-Segal. I am a fourth grade student in Mr. Carter’s class. The reason I am writing is to ask you to name Pale Male, the world-famous red-tail hawk, as the official PS6 school mascot. Pale Male is a big celebrity, and we are lucky enough to call him our neighbor. The first time I ever saw him was when he swooped down in front of me and snatched a squirrel off of Fifth Avenue. It was really amazing. In December I went to the demonstrations for the return of Pale Male’s nest. Luckily, Pale Male was allowed to return and he has now rebuilt his nest with his mate, Lola. Since Pale Male is our neighbor, I think it would be perfect to have him as our mascot. You would be telling the world that nature is important to PS6.
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I know this is a very important decision for all of PS6. Maybe you could ask the whole school to vote on Pale Male as a mascot. I think this would be a great idea, because all the students could learn about this amazing hawk. Teachers could even take their students on field trips to the Model Boat Pond to see the hawks for themselves (Mr. Carter took our class on April 21). The kids might actually catch the same “wildlife bug” that has bitten me! Here is a copy of Marie Winn’s amazing book, Red-Tails in Love, for the PS6 library. I’m sure that you and all the teachers will love it (I did!). Maybe they will teach their students about Central Park. After all, PS6 is only one block away from Central Park and there is so much to learn there.
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Marie Winn supports the idea of Pale Male as our school mascot. I also talked with EJ McAdams, President of the NY Audubon Society, who also supports the idea. He told me that if you have any questions about Pale Male or red-tail hawks you could give him a call. You could also visit their websites: <>
Mrs. Winn’s website at www.mariewinn.com
NYC Audubon at www.nycaudubon.org
Lincoln Karim’s website at www.palemale.com
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