See more Very Important Pigeons here.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Monday, January 26, 2015
Nest update
I finally caught Christo and Dora engaged in nest-building activity this last Sunday. I had reports as early as last Tuesday (January 20) that the hawks were seen carrying sticks up to their nest site.
Here is the busy pair resting in the tall gingko tree at the 8th Street entrance to the park. Christo is on the left, Dora on the right.
Christo cuts sticks from their favorite honey locust near the Avenue B & 9th Street park entrance.
Dora helps with the stick-cutting.
Christo carries a branch from the central area of the park...
...over to the Christodora building...
...home sweet home.
This afternoon, I trudged through the park around 3:45 to see if anything was going on during the snow storm. The only animals crazy enough to be out there were people, so I'm hoping the birds were sheltering somewhere safe.
Christo has a lot of shoveling to do!
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
Here is the busy pair resting in the tall gingko tree at the 8th Street entrance to the park. Christo is on the left, Dora on the right.
Christo cuts sticks from their favorite honey locust near the Avenue B & 9th Street park entrance.
Dora helps with the stick-cutting.
Christo carries a branch from the central area of the park...
...over to the Christodora building...
...home sweet home.
This afternoon, I trudged through the park around 3:45 to see if anything was going on during the snow storm. The only animals crazy enough to be out there were people, so I'm hoping the birds were sheltering somewhere safe.
Christo has a lot of shoveling to do!
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Stolen lunch
Saturday in Tompkins Square...
This Cooper's hawk caught a starling in-flight near the central lawn.
It didn't stay still very long before taking off and heading south. This was the best I could do as this bird is so fast. I might start calling it Zipper as it zips around so quickly.
As the Cooper's shot past me, Dora appeared out of nowhere in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, I missed the next two crucial seconds, so I don't know exactly what happened, but when I caught up with them on 7th Street, the Cooper's hawk was gone and Christo and Dora were on the rooftops.
And Christo had the starling!
He flew the stolen prize back into the park.
It's not visible here, but Christo (left) has the starling in his talons. Both red-tails shared lunch.
Today, I caught the pair cutting and carrying sticks up to the nest site. I'll post pictures in the next update. In the mean time, fingers crossed that all three hawks weather the imminent blizzard safely.
See more photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
This Cooper's hawk caught a starling in-flight near the central lawn.
It didn't stay still very long before taking off and heading south. This was the best I could do as this bird is so fast. I might start calling it Zipper as it zips around so quickly.
As the Cooper's shot past me, Dora appeared out of nowhere in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, I missed the next two crucial seconds, so I don't know exactly what happened, but when I caught up with them on 7th Street, the Cooper's hawk was gone and Christo and Dora were on the rooftops.
And Christo had the starling!
He flew the stolen prize back into the park.
It's not visible here, but Christo (left) has the starling in his talons. Both red-tails shared lunch.
Today, I caught the pair cutting and carrying sticks up to the nest site. I'll post pictures in the next update. In the mean time, fingers crossed that all three hawks weather the imminent blizzard safely.
See more photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Christo takes up tree-trimming
It seems each day I go to Tompkins Square, there's more hawk activity than the last.
Here's Christo getting his afternoon dose of bullying from a blue jay.
Meanwhile, Dora perches in her favorite tree along Avenue A at St Mark's.
She was a busy bee this day, flying all around the park and up and down 9th Street.
While Dora patrolled the neighborhood, Christo went to work gathering sticks (inspired by Mulchfest?).
This is the first stick-gathering activity I've seen from him this season and this first stick is a doozy!
In the photo below, you can see he has one end of the stick (branch?) in his talon and the rest of it stretches all the way to the left edge of the photo. I'm estimating it's about three feet long.
Needless to say, the stick proved too much to handle. He might have held onto it if it hadn't gotten tangled in the tree, so he wasn't able to carry it far.
Last year, I first witnessed Christo gathering sticks on February 14, so he's getting an earlier start this year.
Coming in for a landing...
Dora, still on patrol, keeps an eye out from atop the cellphone towers on Avenue A & St Mark's.
Later, the pair circled high over the Krishna tree area. Dora is on the left, Christo on the right.
In other hawk news, there's been a lot of activity over at Washington Square Park. Check out these fantastic images of the resident male Bobby having an argument with a juvenile over at Roger_Paw's blog.
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
Here's Christo getting his afternoon dose of bullying from a blue jay.
Meanwhile, Dora perches in her favorite tree along Avenue A at St Mark's.
She was a busy bee this day, flying all around the park and up and down 9th Street.
While Dora patrolled the neighborhood, Christo went to work gathering sticks (inspired by Mulchfest?).
This is the first stick-gathering activity I've seen from him this season and this first stick is a doozy!
In the photo below, you can see he has one end of the stick (branch?) in his talon and the rest of it stretches all the way to the left edge of the photo. I'm estimating it's about three feet long.
Needless to say, the stick proved too much to handle. He might have held onto it if it hadn't gotten tangled in the tree, so he wasn't able to carry it far.
Last year, I first witnessed Christo gathering sticks on February 14, so he's getting an earlier start this year.
Coming in for a landing...
Dora, still on patrol, keeps an eye out from atop the cellphone towers on Avenue A & St Mark's.
Later, the pair circled high over the Krishna tree area. Dora is on the left, Christo on the right.
In other hawk news, there's been a lot of activity over at Washington Square Park. Check out these fantastic images of the resident male Bobby having an argument with a juvenile over at Roger_Paw's blog.
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Cooper's hawk in Tompkins Square
I caught this Cooper's hawk zooming around Tompkins Square on Saturday.
It flew so fast through the park, I almost missed it if not for its acrobatics. Its agility makes the red-tails look like flying manatees by comparison.
It perched long enough for me to snap this picture, then went back to diving after pigeons.
Flying down Avenue B...
In front of St Brigids...
Frolicking over 7th Street and Avenue B...
It chased some birds east on 7th Street, but didn't catch anything. A short while later, it reappeared on Avenue A, then disappeared again in a gap between buildings just north of St Marks.
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
It flew so fast through the park, I almost missed it if not for its acrobatics. Its agility makes the red-tails look like flying manatees by comparison.
It perched long enough for me to snap this picture, then went back to diving after pigeons.
Flying down Avenue B...
In front of St Brigids...
Frolicking over 7th Street and Avenue B...
It chased some birds east on 7th Street, but didn't catch anything. A short while later, it reappeared on Avenue A, then disappeared again in a gap between buildings just north of St Marks.
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previously.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Thursday hawks and a surprise visitor
I was met by Christo and Dora as soon as I entered Tompkins Square this afternoon.
Dora is on the left, Christo on the right.
I got the feeling I was interrupting a quiet moment. For the first time I can recall, Dora paid me a lot of attention. She usually gives me a glance, but today, she kept staring and seemed to react to the sound of my camera.
She took off first, so I followed her as I don't get to see her up close that often. She proceeded to lead me all over the park, making me run repeatedly back and forth between Avenues A & B. Forget the gym, Dora is my new personal trainer!
She finally settled down atop the Boys Club on Avenue A & 10th Street, but didn't seem very interested in all the pigeons flying around.
After a time, she took off soaring and I noticed both hawks were circling around a third bird that was passing over the park.
A raven!
The hawks escorted the raven out of the park, west towards Broadway where it made a sharp right turn and seemed to dive towards Union Square. I've only ever seen one other raven in the neighborhood, so I was really excited to see this.
A while later, the hawk pair reunited atop the Christodora building. Dora is on the left, Christo on the right.
Christo twists his head all the way upside-down to watch Dora fly by. I don't think any amount of yoga could enable me to do this.
After four hours of flying around the park, Christo caught a pigeon and proceeded to eat it in the big tree near Avenue A &7th Street, where they'd been sitting when I arrived. Dora sat patiently on an upper branch and watched him intently. When he was apparently done with half the meal, she swooped in and ate the rest. I never saw her attempt to hunt herself. If she is my personal trainer, then maybe Christo is her personal chef.
Dinner over, Christo took to a fire escape on Avenue A above Ray's Candy.
It looked to me like he was settling in to roost.
I had such a hard time walking away from him at this point, but the sun had gone behind the buildings and my hands were frozen.
As I left him there, Dora perched three blocks up the street atop the cross of St Nicholas of Myra.
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previous hawk posts.
Dora is on the left, Christo on the right.
I got the feeling I was interrupting a quiet moment. For the first time I can recall, Dora paid me a lot of attention. She usually gives me a glance, but today, she kept staring and seemed to react to the sound of my camera.
She took off first, so I followed her as I don't get to see her up close that often. She proceeded to lead me all over the park, making me run repeatedly back and forth between Avenues A & B. Forget the gym, Dora is my new personal trainer!
She finally settled down atop the Boys Club on Avenue A & 10th Street, but didn't seem very interested in all the pigeons flying around.
After a time, she took off soaring and I noticed both hawks were circling around a third bird that was passing over the park.
A raven!
The hawks escorted the raven out of the park, west towards Broadway where it made a sharp right turn and seemed to dive towards Union Square. I've only ever seen one other raven in the neighborhood, so I was really excited to see this.
A while later, the hawk pair reunited atop the Christodora building. Dora is on the left, Christo on the right.
Christo twists his head all the way upside-down to watch Dora fly by. I don't think any amount of yoga could enable me to do this.
After four hours of flying around the park, Christo caught a pigeon and proceeded to eat it in the big tree near Avenue A &7th Street, where they'd been sitting when I arrived. Dora sat patiently on an upper branch and watched him intently. When he was apparently done with half the meal, she swooped in and ate the rest. I never saw her attempt to hunt herself. If she is my personal trainer, then maybe Christo is her personal chef.
Dinner over, Christo took to a fire escape on Avenue A above Ray's Candy.
It looked to me like he was settling in to roost.
I had such a hard time walking away from him at this point, but the sun had gone behind the buildings and my hands were frozen.
As I left him there, Dora perched three blocks up the street atop the cross of St Nicholas of Myra.
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previous hawk posts.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Catching up with Christo and Dora
There's a lot of hawk action in Tompkins Square. Christo and Dora are spending more time in the park and with each other. The last few days have been a thrill to watch them hunt and interact with each other.
Here's Christo on one of his favorite lamp perches near St Brigid's.
He sits on the lamps quite often, but I don't think I've ever seen Dora perch on one.
The same can be said for the fences - Christo seems to have no fear being down low and near people, but I don't think I've ever seen Dora sit on a fence or bench. That's not to say she doesn't do it, but she seems to stay above head level.
Christo leaps from a fence in the late afternoon sun.
Here they are together and you can see the difference in their coloring - Dora is on the left and Christo is on the right. He has a very golden head while Dora is darker. She is also larger and has a rounder face.
I watched Christo actively hunting one afternoon, but after failing to catch anything, he took a break and dug up some leftovers in the snow. After snacking on what looked like frozen jerky, he resumed swooping around the park. Later, as Dora ate a rat on a branch, Christo cleaned up the scraps Dora dropped on the ground. I love how neat and tidy he is.
Meanwhile, Dora takes a rat on a sight-seeing tour of St Brigid's.
And Christo nabs another rat near the men's room.
Playing around on a fire escape on 7th Street...
Christo has been roosting in the trees along 7th Street between Aves A & B. I'm not sure where Dora goes at night, but I saw her settle into a tree late one evening near Ave B & 9th Street.
A parting shot of Christo....
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previous hawk posts.
Here's Christo on one of his favorite lamp perches near St Brigid's.
He sits on the lamps quite often, but I don't think I've ever seen Dora perch on one.
The same can be said for the fences - Christo seems to have no fear being down low and near people, but I don't think I've ever seen Dora sit on a fence or bench. That's not to say she doesn't do it, but she seems to stay above head level.
Christo leaps from a fence in the late afternoon sun.
Here they are together and you can see the difference in their coloring - Dora is on the left and Christo is on the right. He has a very golden head while Dora is darker. She is also larger and has a rounder face.
I watched Christo actively hunting one afternoon, but after failing to catch anything, he took a break and dug up some leftovers in the snow. After snacking on what looked like frozen jerky, he resumed swooping around the park. Later, as Dora ate a rat on a branch, Christo cleaned up the scraps Dora dropped on the ground. I love how neat and tidy he is.
Meanwhile, Dora takes a rat on a sight-seeing tour of St Brigid's.
And Christo nabs another rat near the men's room.
Playing around on a fire escape on 7th Street...
Christo has been roosting in the trees along 7th Street between Aves A & B. I'm not sure where Dora goes at night, but I saw her settle into a tree late one evening near Ave B & 9th Street.
A parting shot of Christo....
See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.
Previous hawk posts.
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