I missed taking photos of a soaring Southeastern Central Park red-tailed hawk while rushing to work this morning. My few minutes seeing the hawks by the park during lunch more than made up for it.
First photo from my visit:
Diving toward its Crown Building nest:
The hawk left the nest and soared around the neighboring buildings:
Back to the nest:
By this time, a couple of the nearby carriage horse drivers came over to me and asked if I was photographing the hawk. They told me about their recent hawk sightings and were genuinely enthusiastic about them. One of the drivers told me one of the Central Park hawks had died (obviously referring to Lima). I told him I knew about it and we talked about her and her demise for a minute.
Twig in its beak:
The hawk's mate appeared, attempting to land on a window sill:
It's a real shame the subsequent photos I took of the hawk trying to land on the sill didn't turn out. It was pretty funny watching the hawk struggle to keep its balance while trying to cling to the little sill.
Instead, it decided to drop down to an easier perch:
The nest hawk above the top center window, the other hawk on a perch on the widest base ledge:
Hawk returning yet again to the nest while its mate sat on the ledge perch beneath it:
The nesting hawk left the nest with a bit of shredded plastic stuck on the end of a twig:
Adjusting the material in its talons:
The hawk's partner watched every move:
The plastic fell off the twig and floated to the ground.
Far left is the plastic in the air, the nesting hawk is above the top window on the left, and its mate is on the far right (perched on the seat it had been sitting on all along):
Falling plastic:
It almost seemed like the hawk was trying to get rid of the plastic but I doubt it. Flat plastic (as in from a bag) is soft, strong, and insulating. That's probably why the hawk chose the material for its nest in the first place (and which is why the Washington Square Park hawks choose bits of it for their nest as well).
Twig held in the hawk's talons:
Returning the twig to the nest:
Flying along the Solow Building (9 West 57th Street):
