Catching up and posting photos from the last week.
December 28th:
I visited a colleague who works in a building overlooking Central Park and took some snaps of the park and surrounding views.
North and east sides of Central Park (Metropolitan Museum of Art on the left):
Central Park Zoo:
Bridge over The Pond:
Wollman Rink (now called Trump Wollman Skating Rink):
Pierre Hotel:
Further east from the park:
George Washington Bridge, west side of the park:
Since I could see the buildings in Pale Male’s vicinity, I zoomed in a little on his nest and neighboring buildings:
A Hawk in the nest! I can’t be sure if this was Pale Male or Octavia:
I can’t believe this was the first time I thought of looking for them from that view.
I left the building and went to the park. I didn’t see any of the Southeastern Central Park Hawks at first so I went to The Pond to have a look at the water birds.
I was glad to see the Wood Duck was still there:
One of the Hawks soared overhead:
Since one of the Hawks likes to land in the trees of Hallet Nature Sanctuary, I took a shot of one of its signs:
Another flyby:
The Mallards and the Wood Duck got pretty vocal at one point:
I could hardly believe the sound that came out of his mouth! Click on this link and scroll down to the Male “jeeb” call to hear the call he was making.
Off with his companions:
Geese flying overhead…
… and over the city and beyond (The Plaza on the right):
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Visit from December 31st.
I scanned the regular building perches for the Hawks but found none. The buildings included The Plaza and Sherry-Netherland Hotels. I also scanned the sky all about but saw no Hawks in flight either.
I was just about to enter the park via a staircase when woah, I saw one of the Hawks sitting on a low branch right in front of me:
It was scanning the ground for prey.
In a tree further away (past a foot path) but with the same lawn as before in sight:
The Hawk was obviously still hunting but from a more secluded spot.
It spotted something:
I had to adjust my camera settings to the new view so took my eyes off the Hawk for a moment to do so.
I looked again but the Hawk was gone! I looked all around the ground, trees, and sky in the immediate vicinity but didn’t see it.
After a couple of minutes, the other Hawk flew overhead and landed on the side of The Plaza.
The Hawk settled in. Since I lost the hunting Hawk, I headed into the park.
I spotted the hunting Hawk sitting near my staircase, still hunting above the same lawn as before!
A successful rat snatch:
Cleaning up:
Oh boy. The guy who wears the Big Bird costume at times was back, suiting up.
I’m not sure what his deal is but he carries that light blue bag around and talks with passersby from time to time.
The Hawk was hunting the same lawn.
Success again:
The Hawk seems quite nervous on the ground around people. It wastes no times gathering its prey and taking it to higher ground.
Spot the Hawk:
