Today is the anniversary...

December 7, 1941.

December 7, 2004

Both days will live in infamy.


For those of you with a long memory, today is the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the awful attack that took so many young lives and precipitated our entry into World War II.

Also, as readers of this website remember well, it is the first anniversary of the removal of Pale Male and Lola's nest from the spot where it had served as home for 23 chicks since 1995.

Of course the trashing of Pale Male's nest is on a different scale from the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. For many of us, however, the callous removal of the hawks' closely-watched nest by the management of a residence for the rich and powerful was an event that caused lingering anger and sorrow.

Pale Male and Lola with chicks --May 1, 2003
Photo by Lincoln Karim



Our anger has partially dissipated, assuaged by the building's swift decision to put up a new structure where the hawk pair could rebuild their nest. In January and February, 2005, watched by their admirers at the Model-boat Pond in Central Park, Pale Male and Lola did, indeed, build a new stick palace in their old spot on 927 Fifth Avenue.

Our sorrow has not gone away. When the nesting attempt failed last spring and there were no chicks in the Fifth Avenue aerie for the first time in ten years, hundreds of Central Park hawkwatchers, together with new Pale Male admirers all over the world, continued to grieve. Some of the anger still festers.

We're waiting for a better outcome in a few months -- little white heads poking out of sticks in the nest. Then we'll really forgive and forget.