Curious hawk relationship

This last Saturday, I lucked out and found the elusive Cooper's hawk perched in plain sight in Tompkins Square.



It didn't sit still for long, however, and took off almost immediately after I saw it.  It's a juvenile, and note the interesting tail.  It looks like at least one tail feather is still growing in.



I saw the Cooper's again on Sunday, scaring up pigeons along First Avenue and 5th Street at 10:45am.  I believe it's likely the same hawk Roger_Paw spotted over Washington Square Park that same morning.

Anyway, as the Cooper's circled over Tompkins Square on Saturday, Dora, the resident red-tail, came to check it out.



To my surprise, she seemed to look at the Cooper's for a minute or so, then flew south, out of the park.  Fellow hawk-watchers and I have noticed that Christo and Dora have been pretty tolerant of the Cooper's being in their territory, but they are not so accepting of other red-tails.  What could be the reason?

As soon as Dora was out of sight, the Cooper's reappeared, making two swoops at birds on the grass along the Avenue B side of the park.  Coming up empty-taloned, the hawk settled in a tree near the 8th Street park entrance.  It appeared to have a full crop.



If I hadn't seen the Cooper's land, I might not have known it was there at all.  The hawk is very camouflaged, blending in with the trunk of the tree.



The hawk stayed in this one spot for at least an hour.



After some time, the 'owner' of the tree appeared to check the situation. Cooper's hawks prey mostly on birds, but squirrels are not necessarily off the menu.



This squirrel showed no fear.



The Cooper's watched a Golden-crowned kinglet zip around the leaves for a while before deciding to fly off towards Avenue A.

After the Cooper's left, Christo appeared.



At about 4:30pm, Christo caught a pigeon near the chess tables, then ate it in the big elm to the northeast.



As Christo ate, the Cooper's was spotted zooming up Avenue A towards 10th Street.  At 4:40pm, I saw Dora flying from Avenue A, straight across the park heading east.  She had something in her talons and the Cooper's hawk was chasing her.  It all happened so fast, I couldn't get a photo.

I followed them to the east side of the park where Dora was in the locust near the 9th Street park entrance eating a pigeon.  The Cooper's was nowhere to be seen.

This was the first time I've ever seen Christo and Dora each eat separate meals simultaneously on opposite sides of the park.  I'm not with them all the time, but I mostly see Christo catch the food and then they share it.  The last time I actually saw Dora catch and eat something on her own was October 19, 2014.  This not to say she doesn't do her own hunting, but I rarely see her in action.

However, something didn't seem right about the Cooper's chasing her and Christo not reacting to the commotion.  Could it be that the Cooper's caught the pigeon and Dora stole it?  That would explain the chase.  Unfortunately, despite several people observing the hawks at the time, no one saw which hawk actually caught the pigeon. 

I would like the Dora-stealing-the-pigeon theory to be true, because it's not the first time I've seen it happen.  In January 2015, I witnessed Christo and Dora steal a starling from a Cooper's hawk in the park.  Could they be allowing the Cooper's to hang out in their territory so they can steal prey from it?  It's an intriguing idea, but can't be proven at this time since we missed those crucial seconds when the pigeon was caught on Avenue A.

I hope to be able to figure out this relationship the red-tails have with the Cooper's.  For me, it's really fascinating.

Fall spectacular

The fall foliage in Tompkins Square is especially spectacular this year.  The bright yellows of the elms is absolutely mesmerizing.  Below are a few of my favorite images from the park.  Click on each one to see it bigger.















See more photos here.

Christo and Dora, taking care of business

This last weekend, I found Christo perched among the fall foliage in Tompkins Square.  I love this time of year when the color of the leaves compliments the plumage of the hawks.



I also love the this time of year as the sun casts a warm light over everything.  Christo savored the last golden spotlight of the day.





As the sun disappeared, the rats came out.  Dinner time!





Farm to table...



Meanwhile, there has been at least one Cooper's hawk visiting the park over the last couple of weeks.  The Cooper's flies extremely fast and is difficult to see when perched in the trees.  A juvenile was terrorizing pigeons along the west side of the park on Saturday afternoon, and I managed to get one shot of it.



Looking back at my past posts on Cooper's hawks in the neighborhood, it seems I usually see them in January, so it's nice to see one at this time of year.

Christo and Dora have been fairly tolerant of the Cooper's being in their territory.  This was not the case Saturday when I spotted Dora aggressively escorting a juvenile red-tail out of the area.



In the photos above and below, Dora is on the left and the intruder is on the right.  Note their size difference.



At first glance, it may look like they are engaged in a friendly soaring session, but Dora was anything but amiable.  She kept nipping at the other hawk and, at one point, had feathers on her beak.  They were very high in the sky, so I couldn't get very close with the camera, but in the photo below, you can see Dora on the right with her talons out.

We've previously seen her engage in this behavior with a Peregrine falcon.



Who was this juvenile red-tailed hawk?  Could it have been one of Christo and Dora's offspring?  Was it a migrating stranger?  Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing.

Back in the park, drama subsided, Christo digested his meal before going to roost for the night.

Golden-crowned kinglet

One of my favorite birds is the Golden-crowned Kinglet.  They are the definition of cute.

Hello!



This last weekend, I found one hunting tiny insects in the cobwebs that dwell in the crevices of the fences in Tompkins Square.



You can see in the photo below that Ms Kinglet wears a cobweb beard.  Perfect for Halloween.



The bugs were too small for me to see, so I don't know what exactly the kinglet was eating (spider eggs?), but she enthusiastically explored every nook on the fence.





The cobwebs wrapped around her feet like tiny fuzzy slippers, but didn't slow her down.

This week in Tompkins Square

It's been a busy week for Tompkins Square hawks, Christo and Dora.  They've been working on a second nest, and dealing with intruders who trespass in their territory.  Fellow hawk-watchers have seen at least two Cooper's hawks and a Sharp-shinned hawk in the park over the last several days.  I have spotted a juvenile red-tail in the area as well.

Dora being vigilant:



Christo:



Here is how the new nest looks this week.  Both hawks still seem to be working on it.



Sunday was very windy, and I caught Christo atop his namesake, the Christadora, allowing himself to be blown from one pole to another.  He went back and forth across the scaffolding several times.  I'm not sure if he was having trouble hanging on in the wind, or if he was just enjoying himself.



While Christo was fooling around on top of the building, this Peregrine falcon casually cruised low over the park.  There was no reaction from Christo.



A short while later, Christo paid a visit to St Brigid's church.



And then to his flagpole outside the park offices.



He can't seem to get through a day without being pestered by someone.  On this day, it was a blue jay.



And what was Christo looking at?



A little while later, Christo caught a rat in the same area where the one above was hanging out. I don't know if it was the same rat, but I hope this cute little guy lived to see another day of paper-chewing.

Meanwhile, outside the men's room, this giant yellow fungus has erupted from the side of a honey locust tree.



The consensus over at EV Grieve is that this is a chicken of the woods mushroom.



Where's the chicken?!?

 

 If Christo was vegetarian, I'm sure he'd go for it.

More fall visitors in Lower Manhattan

What creature resembles a toasted marshmallow with two eyes and a beak?

A Winter Wren:



This little guy was in Tompkins Square Park for a few days, hiding out in some shrubs on the east side of the park.  To the delight of gleeful admirers, it popped out of the shadows just as the sun went down.



Aside from hummingbirds, this might be the smallest bird I've ever seen.



The wren had an equally tiny friend in the underbrush...



Below are a few more favorite bird sightings from this fall migration season.  I was obsessed with the Black-throated Blue Warblers.  It seemed they were always in the deep shade, making photographing them difficult.  One day, I lucked out when a handful of them visited a vegetable garden in Battery Park.

Male:





Female:



This young Northern Mockingbird was happy to pose.





In the same area, I found this little Ruby-crowned Kinglet.



It was busy feeding on insects in the tree.  Below, the kinglet is in action, hanging upside-down from a leaf stem while snatching bugs off the leaves.



A year ago (October 20, 2015), I found a kinglet engaged in the same activity in nearly the same location:



On the topic of eating bugs, I caught this Palm Warbler feasting on flesh flies in Tompkins Square.  Mmmm!

 

Meanwhile, a Hermit Thrush hunted insects in the grass. 



Seeing these guys always makes me happy - they have an enthusiastic air about them.