Welcome to Hawk Season 2025! Our local red-tailed hawks, Christo and Amelia, have been busy working on nestorations in Tompkins Square Park. Something new this year is they are working on two locations within the park, so it will be interesting to see which one they finally choose. Over the last several years, they have built nests in two of the park trees, so perhaps they are looking to change things up a bit this year. We will know in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, here is a photo of Christo on a recent sunny afternoon in Tompkins.
After resting in the tree, Christo relocated to the roof of the Christodora building, where he was dive-bombed by a kestrel. Even when they're not nesting, the kestrels can be very territorial.
Christo wasn't having any of it, so he took off and that was the last I saw of him that day.
As for other winter raptors around the city, here is a Northern Harrier patrolling a snowy field in Brooklyn.
This is a young red-tailed hawk in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
The hawk was chilling on a branch right above a pathway. I had no choice but to pass underneath it, but the hawk didn't seem to mind. Even so, I didn't want to bother it, so I quickly moved on.
Here is another young red-tail soaring on a bright wintry day.
This curious young Cooper's hawk perched quietly in a tree over an East Village sidewalk.
A young Cooper's hawk shooting through the air:
In winter, Cooper's hawks often roost behind my building and call to each other in the early morning. I love being awakened by their vocals. Back in 2018, I managed to capture a conversation between two Cooper's hawks on Houston Street, which you can see/hear below.
Cooper's hawks sound much different than red-tails, so keep your ears open for what could be mistaken for a dog toy squeaking.
Yesterday, I participated in the NYC People's March, standing up for human rights and democracy. The march began with a rally at Foley Square before making its way up to Washington Square Park. More people joined in as the march went on and I was happy to see so many people spontaneously showing support along the way. As we are about to enter a terrible time in this country, I was encouraged by the show of strength and reminder that we can never give up.
Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Jr Day, and I will be paying my respects to the great civil rights leader. Meanwhile, here are some photos and a video from the march:
This video clip shows a short segment of the march. Note how calm and normal everyone is - no violence, no threats, no insanity.
The parks crew arrived early in the morning and wasted no time getting the chipping started.
We had a pretty good sized tree pile this year. Below is some video of workers tossing trees into the chipper.
I circled around the pile to get another view.
Video from this angle:
A small crowd began gathering to watch the spectacle and, I'm sure, to enjoy the aroma of freshly chipped evergreens.
Bonus action video:
We can look forward to the wood chippings perfuming our park for a few weeks. The fresh mulch is in a pile next to the Krishna Tree and everyone is welcome to take some home. Get it before the dogs pee on it!