Saturday, February 28, 2009


This is a continuation of Mrs. Hawk's lunch from Monday. Part of the fun was seeing how this beautiful bird coped with a damaged beak. The other pleasure was dealing with the challenge of the lighting and position of the bird. The sun was glaring into my eyes. I couldn't exactly ask Mrs. Hawk to change position, so had to make do with the situation as it existed. I'm so glad that she dropped pigeon rump practically on my head or I never would have looked up and been able to enjoy this gory glory. Maybe "gory" is the wrong adjective. Think "pigeon tartare".

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Beaks intact

Mrs. Hawk in Riverside Drive park is a skilled hunter even with her broken upper beak. Central Park youngsters with intact beaks are still inept hunters. The stare, the chase, the curiosity, search..... but it's very hard for them to catch what they see.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Cheeky Chickadee

From the large birds to the small bird, specifically the sweet chickadee. They're very hard to photograph, because they are fast and because their little dark eyes blend into the black cap. Trying to get pictures is an exercise in patience and concentration. I have lots of blank-nothing images, space where the chickadee had been a split second earlier. First there's the call, not musical, then there they are... observing everything. They know what they want, namely food, and they'll check it out carefully before moving in for the snatch. Speedy chickadees.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Hypothermic and worth it

The Riverside Drive hawks are building a new nest. I decided to go check this out. Dumb, dumb, dumb! It was beyond cold, arctic wind blowing in off the river, bone-chilling cold. I met a mockingbird. Nice. We had a chat, a couple of pictures, paid for with nut bits. Met a cardinal, a very wary cardinal, hid in the bushes, but finally appeared, click-click, paid for with a couple of peanuts. Onward up to 93rd street. I'm not sure if I saw the right nest, a couple of possibilities, no hawks in sight. By this time I was frozen. Time to head home. Keep moving or freeze.
Suddenly a feather cluster fell at my feet, like the whole rump of something with new flesh attached. Big clue. It meant only one thing, somebody eating over my head. Glory be!!!! The female red tail hawk with pigeon. This hawk has a broken beak, no hook. Here was an opportunity to see how she eats. No hook could be problematic. I've seen hawks dine before. The pigeon feathers get plucked and then the hawk eats the flesh neatly. Not this lady hawk. The feathers don't get plucked. She rips right into the flesh and ends up with a messy face. Thank God she was dining fast, because I was turning to ice faster. Rip off a hunk and eat it, - feathers, bones, meat. And when the face mess got too bad she cleaned her face with her talons, fancy "toothpicks". At one point a huge bird soared overhead, either a larger hawk or an eagle,..... I don't know what....., and hawk saw this and mantled over her food, so that the only view from above would be her speckled brown back which looks just like tree bark. After the potential danger passed she resumed gorging. Finally she carried the remains further North possibly to stash it for later dining. This was worth getting hypothermia. I'd do it again.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Early morning hunt

I was strolling listening for bird songs, turned right on a path and there in the bushes was pal hawk on the prowl. Ground hunting. The squirrels know how to scurry and the little birds know what to do, but that didn't stop this young hawk from "running" all over the area. Eventually the hunt continued down in the Oven. Something may have been snared, but I didn't see a catch.