The Once and Future King

For the past few days, the new male on the Cathedral territory has been forging a more intimate bond with Isolde. Yesterday I saw them again on the AC on St. Luke's. On today's stiff breeze, each bird hawked amongst the buildlings across Central Park North. At one point, I saw them wheeling together!

Later I saw Isolde kiting on the breeze.

She flew in on some starlings that had been driven up to the top of Wadleigh.



A female kestrel then flew in on another group of starlings. But soon departed.

shortly thereafter I spied another hawk!







He took a victory lap!

I barely had time to process the amazing sequence that I had just witnessed. No closer that 6 feet away, a large juvenile Cooper's swung past after some starlings! It was so fast I had only time to take a horrible blurry shot! However no faster than I had turned back to Wadleigh, when a second juvenile hawk crested over the building!



I wheeled directly over head!



I watched it glide effortlessly above the park, master of the wind. The nearby redtails watched intently, but did not intervene. I then headed out to Wadleigh to get some pix of them together.
When I got there, only the female remained.


But shortly the male flew down the street with prey in tow, and landed overhead.

He then flew out towards the Park.

After a time, the female also flew out. I walked through Morningside Park, and ran into the venerable Hedda Gobbler!


At St. Luke's I found the new male, and then ran into Bruce.

While we caught up, the male then flew off and headed directly for the stone urn where some starlings had gathered. As they bolted, he pivoted upward and snagged one of the birds! The others squeaked in terror while the hawk flipped over and then flew into the Park. We watched it wolf the bird down!

The hawk then spun around and flew directly into the nest.

It was soon joined by the second adult. They stayed on the nest for a few minutes and neither could be seen. They then flew out, one after the other and flew over to the railings on St. Luke's where they again copulated!

The male then flew off and surveyed his new domain!



Later while strolling through the Loch at dusk, a juvy redtailed hawk flew in with a fresh catch!

The King is Dead, Long Live the King! (Part 2)

The goings on at the Cathedral have been a dramatic and fascinating education. On the one hand is the passing of a great and noble creature. While the other reveals the resiliency and preseverance of nature. Rob had spotted another adult hawk on the Cathedral yesterday, so I have made observations to determine its identity. Early in the am I watched Isolde perch on the trumpet of Gabriel and then fly out high, high up and to the northeast. I lost her somewhere above 119th and 2nd Ave.

Later that evening I returned to the Park and again could find no trace of Tristan in the now bare and soggy ground. I caught up with Rob at the Cathedral and we witnessed the Cathedral female fly out from somewhere. She perched on St. Luke's

She almost reminded me of Lola on Linda 5. But she seemed to be looking intently out over Morningside. I pivoted around, but could not see what it was. After a few minutes, Rob again yelled hawk!

Soon after I saw it, I knew this was not Tristan. This was a much darker hawk!


At first she raised her hackles, but they settled into a silent tolerance of each other and watched the reflected sunset.

The male then flew over to an air conditioner, then to the stone urn that Tristan often used, then out eventually north over Morningside. I caught brief glimpse of it leaving down and to the north, out over Harlem proper. On the way back, I thought of the amazing resilience of nature while still silently mourning Tristan. That new hawk seemed to come from the Northeast and was much darker. I then began to think of the male hawk from 145th that I've photographed on CCNY for some time. I will begin a photographic analysis to see if I can make an ID.

888 7th Ave.

Cutting through mid-town today, I happened by the 888 7th Ave. nest for a few minutes. I was lucky in catching the male come out of then nest


He then circled around and

Whoa nellie!

Hopefully their will be a Ziggy 2.0!

Male back to nest.

The King is Dead, Long Live the King!

Since checking up on a report of an injured adult Red-tailed hawk in Morningside Park, its has become clear that it is Cathedral Male. Myself, the Urban Park Rangers, two fellow bloggers and myself have all scoured the park with no trace of the bird. Their reports can be found at both here and here
Fearing the worst, I followed the female, watching her fly to all of the neighborhood perches in a slow tour. Starting out at Wadleigh and continuing on to the Cathedral, then to 301 CPN, then the Verizon building and finally the Projects on 105th and Amersterdam, she searched furtively but there was no sign of the male.


A group of pigeons started up,

but the female showed no interest. A Cooper's hawk that I've photographed being chased by the female, crested over the buildings,

Again the female was resolute.
In this situation I find it hard not to anthropomorphize. It seems clear that she was desparately searching for her mate. Based on my own observations, the Cathedral male, also known as Tristan (so named by the Cathedral School), is missing and presumed dead. At one point I watched her attack a group of crows on 114th. Through the trees it was impossible to get pic, but I could see the crows soaring above the hawk and then diving down to slam into the hawk. She deftly evaded and then departed...but watching their cavorting, it almost seemed a celebration.


Based on this, I would make a crow attack the most likely reason for the male's broken wing. I have watched the male take on crows numerous times in the past, as has the female, always able to hold their own and then some. I guess his luck finally ran out...its a hard fact of nature, but all animals live in a balance.

Till now there were 7 known Red-tailed nests in Manhattan (six now) with a new nesting pair being discovered on the LES. The prevalence of hawks and the young they raise here exist in a system that has reached its saturation point. With the 2 additional nests I suspect on Manhattan--that would have been 9--with an average of 2 eyass per year, producing 18 new hawks each season in addition to the 18 represented by the parents. Its clear to see why there seem to be hawks in every part of the city I travel to. My point here is that while I am sad that such a beautiful and noble animal is now gone, Manhattan is a saturated raptor place, and crows and peregrines draw out a balance with the hawks. What will happen to this territory remains unclear. No mating was observed between the hawks, so its highly doubtful the female will lay productive eggs this year. I also suspect its too late in the season to find another mature male, so this years nest will probably lie fallow. I will continue to follow the situation and look for the remains of the hawk, but til then I would like to commemorate the life of a bird who gave so much to us all. I will always have the fond memories, pix and of course my wildlife short about these very hawks "Harlem on the Rise!" I will remember him as a devoted father and fierce defended who fledged at least 7 young in his short time on this plane.