Month: January 2013

Much of the northern United States is in a deep freeze thanks to winds coming in from the Arctic.

It was a cold, breezy, 21 degree high in New York City today. The ‘real feel’ temperature was 7 degrees Fahrenheit.

I ventured out to the southeastern corner of Central Park to check on the Plaza Hawks. Referring to them as the Plaza Hawks is accurate in two respects; they hang out mostly around the park’s Grand Army Plaza and seem to still be building their nest on The Plaza Hotel/apartment building.

Nest site with new twigs:

Continue to the full post… “Plaza Hawk then roosting WSP Hawk – January 22nd, 2013”

I took a walk around the Lower East Side section of Manhattan with a friend before visiting Washington Square Park on Sunday the 20th.

I had only meant to explore and perhaps take photos if anything struck my fancy. The walk wasn’t especially bird-focused.

My camera wasn’t even out and available when I stopped in my tracks and asked my friend if the bird sitting on an antenna in the distance might be a raptor. He replied yes it could be and, “Hey, there’s a Red-tailed Hawk flying near it”.

I saw the Hawk he was referring to but by the time I had my camera out of my bag and ready, the bird was gone. No worries, though. I was optimistic I’d see maybe one or two more Red-tails during our walk since they are actually more and more common in that part of town.

The bird I originally spotted:

Continue to the full post… “Lower East Side walk raptor fest”

Today was a raptor-filled day (Kestrels, Cooper’s Hawks, and Red-tailed Hawks) and I’ll post photos of them in another post soon. This post will entail my visit to Washington Square Park today.

I was walking with a friend through the western side of Washington Square Park during our search for Bobby and/or Rosie. My friend saw what looked like a Cooper’s Hawk chasing a flock of pigeons outside the western border of the park. Fun stuff to start our visit.

Squirrels giving their Hawk warning cry alerted me and my friend to the presence of one of the Washington Square Park Red-tails.

I looked up and saw Bobby flying over the park trees and then landing on a regular air conditioner perch on a building at the southwestern corner of the park:

Continue to the full post… “Bobby on his own this evening – January 20th, 2013”