The frenzy after the storm

Despite the dismal weather this week, it's been a busy one for hawks.  On Tuesday, we believe Dora laid at least one egg in the new nest in Tompkins Square.  Since then, she and Christo have been making regular nest-exchanges.  That same day, there was the big winter storm that was mostly blowing sleet and a pretty crummy day to be outside.  Dora looked wet and miserable, as did I.  Yesterday (Wednesday), the temp was still below freezing, and the wind made it feel worse.

But I was worried about Dora, so I ventured out at lunch time to check on her.  When I arrived at the park, a rat ran over my foot and Christo swooped over my head.



He ended up catching a different rat and took it to a tree near the Temperance Fountain where he called for Dora to come eat.  She responded and flew out of the nest just as I reached the area.



I tried to get another look at the mark on her left cheek.  As I can't get very close to her, it's hard to tell whether she has an injury or if it's just a patch of matted feathers.  Her eyes looked fine and she hungrily ate the rat, so her behavior seemed normal.



While Dora ate lunch, Christo suddenly appeared with a second rat.  In the photo below, he's flying in on the right.



Dora had a two-course meal!



While Dora was busy feasting, Christo took off and chased this young Cooper's hawk that flew right over the center of the park.



As I stood in one spot by the fountain, I also saw a crow fly right over the hawk nest, then a kestrel stirred up some pigeons along the St Mark's entrance to the park, and then a third red-tail soared over Avenue A.  Christo chased the Cooper's and the red-tail west towards First Avenue.

He quickly returned and wasted no time returning to hunting.  I moved closer to Avenue A when a second rat ran over my foot.  To my surprise/terror, Christo went after it!  The photo below is the last I saw of him before he got too close and he gouged my eyes out my camera lost focus.



He missed the rat and perched just a few feet away.



Less than a minute later, he made a second attempt and dove right into the snow.



He caught a rat up against a fence.  A bench was blocking my view, so I only caught him as he carried the rat away.  I'm not sure if it was the one that ran over my foot or not.



Christo flew the rat towards 7th Street.



He then delivered the rat back to Dora, who was already full after eating two rodents just minutes before.  He ate some himself, stashed the rest, then went and tore a huge chunk of bark off a tree near the ping pong table.  I couldn't believe how active he was - by contrast, I was absolutely frozen and barely able to move.

Christo took the bark to the nest, where Dora was brooding.  I guess she wasn't having any of it because she kicked him out and he had to fly around the park with that giant piece of wood.  Eventually, he convinced her to take a break from the nest, so she took off and he settled in with his new decorative item.



As it's impossible to see the hawks when they're sitting down in the nest, I decided to go see what Dora was up to.  To my dismay, I found her tap dancing on some bird spikes on a fire escape on Avenue A.  Aaa!



Her feet were actually gripping the spikes.



Zoomed in:

More to worry about!

This building has had a problem with pigeons for years, so the spikes were put up to deter them.  The pigeons now congregate on the corner of the building where there are no spikes.  I had to wonder why Dora chose to perch on that particular fire escape and not another one that isn't covered in danger.  I think it may be that she has a clear line of sight to the nest from this one spot.  If she were to perch on a neighboring building, trees would block her vision.

With this in mind, I then wondered why the hawks didn't decide to reuse their nest from last year on the east side of the park.  At that location, the hawks could perch on the cross at St Brigid's and have a clear view of their nest.  It seemed perfect.  Why they would abandon that setup and go for the current one is a mystery.

Anyway, Dora spent an hour behind bars on this air-conditioner looking back towards Christo and her nest.



This evening, I just happened to come across this immature red-tail at the City Marble Cemetery on 2nd Street.  I think this might be the same red-tail Christo chased away yesterday.  Normally, this hawk would have migrated by now, but for what ever reason, s/he is still hanging around the area.

The frenzy before the storm

Backtracking a bit, below are some photos of Christo and Dora taken this last Sunday.  After weeks of difficulty tracking them because they were spending so much time out of the park, I was finally able to spend a full afternoon with both of them and they were very active.

Christo appeared first, looking rather sinister atop the men's restroom.



One way to tell him apart from Dora is the pattern of rusty brown color on his legs.  Dora has solid cream-colored legs. 



Even as Christo dives, you can still see the brown barring above his bare leg where it meets his tail.



He also has a prominent white throat, whereas Dora has a mostly brown throat.



Christo took a break from hunting to go meet Dora atop a fire escape on Avenue A...



...and commenced mating.



Soon after, he caught her a mouse, which he took to a tree, only to be confronted by a squirrel.



Dora answered Christo's dinnertime call and went to retrieve her meal.  Note her solidly colored legs and dark throat.



It was at this time that I noticed a reddish-brown rough patch on Dora's left cheek, extending from her eye to the corner of her mouth. 



I wasn't sure if it was just mussed up feathers or blood.  Other hawk-watchers also thought the mark looked red, so I became very concerned.  Dora has been doing battle with so many other raptors lately, it would be easy for her to get hurt.  Then again, the blood could have come from eating a messy meal.  I confirmed the mark was there on Saturday and is still there today (Wednesday), but she has been behaving normally and eating a lot, so I'm assuming she's ok.  Nevertheless, it's worth keeping an eye on.

As Dora ate her mouse, Christo went on another hunting trip. 



He visited the same area seven times to look for rodents.  While I was there, he caught two mice and a rat.  Below, he carries a rat back to where Dora waited.



Here he is with one of the rodents in his talon.



Christo continued hunting as the sun went down.



He caught a mouse close to my feet.



About two seconds after the above photo was taken, Christo abandoned his prey in order to chase an invading Cooper's hawk down Avenue A.  He later retrieved the mouse and took it back to Dora.



The invader:



It's my theory that Christo and Dora have been spending so much time outside of the park this season because there are so many other hawks around and they are having to work hard to defend their territory.  In previous years, migrating hawks had already left the area before nesting time.  This year, there are still quite a few juvenile red-tails and Cooper's hawks in the neighborhood.  Now that Dora is brooding, Christo is doing double duty providing food and home security. I hope the other hawks decide to leave the city soon or, at least, leave Christo and Dora in peace.

I took a lot of photos on this day.  You can see the rest of them here.

Looks like Dora has an egg!

Thanks to the winter storm today, I was able to stay home and keep an eye on our hawks.  Around 1:15 this afternoon, I ventured into Tompkins Square where I found Dora in the nest.  She stood up for just a moment to readjust herself in the blowing sleet.  Below are some rather awful (!) photos I took of her.

After standing up, Dora looked down as if she was focused on something.

Then she hunkered down in the nest and was barely visible from the ground.

This afternoon, at 4:25pm, a fellow hawk-watcher confirmed that Christo flew in and they did a nest exchange.  So, at least one egg has been laid, either today or yesterday.  We can likely expect Dora to lay two more over the next couple of days, although it will be impossible for us to know exactly when or how many are actually there.  We will find out in a couple of months when the babies poke their heads over the side of the nest.

Congratulations, you two!


Christo and Dora relaxing on 10th Street on Saturday.

Meanwhile, over in Washington Square, Bobby and Sadie have two eggs.  I took the below screenshots earlier today.  The first shows Sadie holding a frozen rat around 11am.  She had a quick brunch before settling back down on the egg.



Just before noon, a second egg appeared.  This screenshot was taken at 2:15pm.

 

You can tune in to the live NYU Hawk cam here.  Also check out Roger Paw's website for regular WSP hawk updates.

Morningside Hawks is also reporting nesting activity at St John the Divine and Grant's Tomb.

Urban Hawks confirmed earlier this week that Pale Male and Octavia are brooding on 5th Avenue.


Back to Tompkins Square...

If we assume Dora laid the first egg today (March 14), we can expect hatch time to be in about 35-40 days (April 18-23).  Last year, we surmised she laid eggs on or before March 13 and there was at least one hatchling by April 23.  We will update when we know more.

Christo and Dora ease into spring

It's the first week of March, and the Tompkins Square hawks are putting the finishing touches on their nest.  Based on previous years, I'm expecting eggs to be laid by the end of the month.

Until then, Christo and Dora are going through their mating rituals in the park.  Christo catches food and offers it up to Dora as a gift.  Below, Dora swoops in on a squirrel that Christo has left her on the branch (lower left).





She picks it up and carries it off to eat in a different location.



In the photo above, it may appear that Dora is grasping a rat, based on the appearance of the rodent's bare tail.  However, I've noticed that Christo has an interesting habit—whether it's unique or not, I don't know—of scraping the fur off squirrel tails.  Here is a photo I took of him in May 2014 doing just that.  It seems to be the first thing he does after catching a squirrel and I have to wonder if he does it because the fur tickles his face as he eats, or if there is some other reason.  I'm also curious to know if other hawks do this.

Anyway, here is Dora looking pretty:



And being photo-bombed by a blue jay:



Dora in the nest:



Christo in the nest:



Dora leaping out of the nest:



Christo leaping out of the nest:



Dora springs off the roof of the Boys Club on Avenue A and 10th Street:



Dora:



At sunset, Dora and Christo perch together on the east side of the park before separately going off to roost.

This week's Tompkins Square hawk update

Hawk-watching has been a little slow this week.  Red-tails Christo and Dora continue to work on their nest in Tompkins Square, but they also spend a great deal of time away from the park and out of sight.

While I was waiting around in the park for them to appear the other afternoon, this adult Cooper's hawk circled right over my head.



I've seen more Cooper's hawks this winter than ever.  In years past, I was lucky to see one or two, but this year, I can count on seeing one almost every day.  They are not as easy to track as the red-tails, so I don't know exactly how many have been around, if the same ones have stayed in the neighborhood all winter, or if there have been several different individuals.  I've seen at least two distinct adults and the rest have been juveniles.

On Saturday, Christo was perched in a tall tree in the NE corner of the park.  He kept looking down, and I assumed he was watching a squirrel on the branch below him.  Suddenly, he tipped forward and dove straight down...



I thought he'd grab the squirrel on the branch, but he landed on the ground where half a rat lay in the grass.



Christo picked it up, flew it to a tree and called for Dora.  Nothing goes to waste!



When Dora didn't respond right away, Christo flew the half-rat around the park.



Finally, Dora swooped in and accepted the gift.



The second she was done eating, Christo jumped on top of her to mate.



I couldn't get a very good angle for gawking, so had to settle for this view from behind.  Below, Christo's tail is on the left, Dora's is in the upper right, and the rest is a tangle of wings.



Afterwards, the pair flew around in the sunshine, then left the park and were out of sight.