– No WSP Red-tailed Hawks were seen by the little search party I was in last night after work. We searched for a good couple of hours in various parks and blocks in between (scanned rooftops, water towers, etc.) to no avail.
– Over the last couple of weeks, Bobby and Rosie have been seen bringing twigs to a new location; a window ledge at NYU’s Shimkin Hall, a building next door to Bobst Library. They have been bringing the nesting material to the ledge regularly, sometimes a few times in one day. It’s said that Red-tailed Hawks often have a ‘secondary’ nest that they build for various reasons; to trick predators into thinking that’s their primary nest, to use as a back-up if necessary, or for other reasons no one can know for sure but this is not unusual behavior and it doesn’t necessarily mean Bobby and Rosie will lay eggs there. The window ledge is wide and deep so if chosen, it looks like it would be a good alternative to the current nest location.
Because the new potential nest is on NYU campus, I notified NYU officials who have assured me they would make sure the people who use the space behind the window will get notified of the activity and let the Hawks go about their business undisturbed.
– Pale Male’s mate Zena had been reported missing/absent from Central Park since late July! Pale Male had then been seen with a partner since August 20th (in the nest and on buildings in the area) but Lincoln of Pale Male dot com and other local Hawk-watchers weren’t completely sure if it was Zena who had returned to the park. It turns out that the Hawk is not Zena after all but perhaps a new mate for Pale Male. No one knows what happened to Zena or if she’ll make an appearance again. If the new Hawk does stay with Pale Male, she would be his third mate this year (Lima, Zena, now ???). Stay tuned to http://palemale.com/ for updates.
– Regarding Pale Male’s two offspring in the care of WINORR, they are still recovering nicely but there is a question as to where they should get released once they are well enough since museums and businesses around Central Park still use the same rodenticide as usual and the wildlife rehabilitators do not want to put the little Hawks in danger again.