In the East Village, red-tails Christo and Amelia have been spending more time closer to home and Tompkins Square. I recently found Amelia perched in the park, catching the last rays of light.
![Amelia](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48834815657_8945304824_b.jpg)
About ten seconds after I took the above photo, Amelia surprised me by diving over my head to catch a rat on the ground behind me. She flew it right past the faces of three girls on sitting on a bench, then into the trees where Christo suddenly appeared. The two of them flew off together with the rat, and I lost track of them in the dark. I was so caught off guard, I missed capturing the action with my camera!
Meanwhile, young red-tails have been seen in East River Park, which is a popular migration route each season. The hawk below was hunting around the Lower East Side Ecology Center near Grand Street.
![Immature red-tail](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48746301346_7d8d809276_k.jpg)
![Immature red-tail](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48746483402_029561ecf3_k.jpg)
![Immature red-tail](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48745966428_ab65ae6a67_k.jpg)
Last weekend, just after sunset, I came upon another young red-tail in Central Park at the Shakespeare Garden.
![Immature red-tail in the Shakespeare Garden](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48862958002_3f1204dea7_h.jpg)
![Immature red-tail in the Shakespeare Garden](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48862755121_0e0f2a5357_h.jpg)
Central Park is home to the king of all NYC hawks, Pale Male. I spent a couple of hours with him on a recent sunny afternoon as he hung out in the Ramble. He really is distinctively beautiful.
![Pale Male](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48834419128_c918966517_h.jpg)
Pale Male has a commanding presence, and it was great to see passersby stop to admire him. Everyone who stopped to have a look walked away smiling.
![Pale Male](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48834960652_1f297ec059_h.jpg)
Although Pale Male rules the park, there are other hawks in living in his realm. The pair below were perched on a building along 59th Street at the south end of the park. I don't know much about this pair other than they've been around a while, but have not yet successfully nested.
![Red-tailed pair](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48862756711_0642a5473e_h.jpg)
We should now start seeing hawks other than red-tails, such as this young Cooper's hawk, who was flying around Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
![Cooper's hawk in Green-Wood Cemetery](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48702621481_336c49509c_h.jpg)
![Cooper's hawk in Green-Wood Cemetery](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48702621526_6fd987619d_b.jpg)
I always enjoy this time of year because it's a good opportunity to see raptors, especially now that the leaves are falling from the trees and the birds become more visible.
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