We’re in the middle of a rainy streak in New York City so there isn’t much Hawk-watching to do for another day or so. But a fellow Hawk-watcher who lives near Washington Square Park has seen Bobby out and about and Rosie either warming the babes or sitting at the edge of the nest the last couple of days so all is well with them.
A friend and I, knowing we were due for a few days of rain, took our chance to visit Central Park our last sunny day to see how Spring migration was going.
Without even intending to, we soon wound up at Pale Male’s nest.
We had good timing because he appeared soaring in the sky before we could reach the best place to view his nest from. He was toting food for his new hatchlings. He and Octavia have two babes this Spring.
Octavia feeding one of the kids:
We headed deeper into the park after a few minutes.
A Sparrow was hanging out by a nest:
We visited the bird feeders in the area known as Evodia Field in the Ramble.
American Goldfinches having lunch:
Red-winged Blackbird:
Red House Finch with a Goldfinch:
We moved on. All of a sudden there was a flurry of birds flying low through the trees from west to east, crying out madly. They were essentially saying, “Look out!!”
A Cooper’s Hawk was soaring right above the trees:
The birds all around then fell silent. We saw the Hawk follow a sizeable bird (perhaps a Grackle) for a little while.
Splashy Starling:
There were lots of Black-and-White Warblers:
And Yellow-rumped Warblers:
Nice whiskers:
I liked the underside pattern of this Black-and-White Warbler:
Yellow-rumped:
Yellow-rumped after a bath:
I didn’t notice it at the time but this Yellow-rumped Warbler had fishing line caught on it. We were by the Loeb Boathouse/Central Park Lake when I took this photo, where fishing is allowed:
Yellow Warbler:
A Yellow-rumped Warbler skedaddling:
Palm Warbler:
Peeking at me while foraging on the ground:
Grackle jumping off a rock to take a bath:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet:
Lovin’ the ‘whiskers’:
Back at the bird feeder station.
Downy Woodpecker:
It had to do some gymnastics in order to right itself into a proper eating position:
Cardinal enjoying a seed:
Red House Finch and American Goldfinch:
Robin in her nest:
Double-crested Cormorant at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir:
A few Common Grackles would fly in and drink water at the edge of the reservoir:
The last bird we saw when leaving the park was a Red-tailed Hawk soaring in low circles above a building at 86th Street and Central Park West. I had already put my camera away at that point so I didn’t get a shot of the bird but it was a nice and fitting cap to our day.