Birds of Inwood - Visit Teri's new blog about birds!

Birds of Inwood - Visit Teri's new blog about birds!
A visual journey exploring the birds of Inwood and Northern Manhattan

The Continuing Adventures of the Washington Square Hawks

Update 4/10/12. 8 p.m. The second egg hatched earlier this evening. NYT story here.

Update 4/10/12. According to the NYT, a baby hawk made its debut in the world last night.

Update 4/09/12. According to a NYT report, one of the eggs has a pipped shell, meaning a hatch is coming.

Update: According to expert Glenn Phillips, we can start looking for the eggs to hatch beginning on April 4. See story in City Room, April 4, 2012

This past Sunday, the TV drama Mad Men returned for a new season, but another dramatic show popular in New York also resumed this month. The New York Times' livestream coverage of a pair of red-tailed hawks perched on a 12th floor window ledge outside NYU's Bobst Library provided plenty of drama in 2011, and now the Hawk Cam is up and running again for the 2012 nesting season. Last year, the Hawk Cam's window into the nesting habits of dutiful raptors provided as much melodrama as a Douglas Sirk motion picture. It's pretty good for an unscripted show.

The nest is located on the window ledge near the top of the rust-colored building, NYU's Bobst Library.
It's the second window from the right. The library is located on the south side of
Washington Square Park. Photo by WOTBA from 8:30 a.m. March 29, 2012.

We fretted over Violet, the brave mother hawk with the injured leg, and we worried at first she was sitting on unviable eggs. And then miraculously an egg cracked open, and there was Pip, the spunky lone offspring and the cutest thing ever. Pip's fans gathered around the digital hearth in chat and in person in Washington Square Park to talk about the Pipster. Our hearts soared when Pip fledged, although many of us cried, too. Pip learned to fly from building to building and slowly learned from Bobby and Violet how to fetch dinner.

Sadly, Violet died in December of 2011 due to heart complications following a foot amputation. Long story. In the meantime, Bobby has returned to the nest with a new friend, Rosie. While he is named after the Bobst Library, I tend to associate the name Bobby with the lead character in Stephen Sondheim's musical, Company, the suave bachelor afraid to settle down. For now, though, Rosie is his pretty companion, and I like watching her feathers flutter in the wind.

The drama on Hawk Cam 2012 this season is just starting. That's because we can see two eggs in that basket. Bobby swoops in regularly with meal deliveries and to share in the egg-sitting duties. What a good hawk.

 
Watch live streaming video from nytnestcam at livestream.com

Follow the NYT reporting on the happenings in the nest at this link on City Room. Special kudos to NYT reporter Emily S. Rueb. Several blogs follow the events in detail, but Roger_Paw does a particularly good job with the photo documentation.

One more thing. The hawks are efficient in catching prey for dinner, so be prepared when their mealtime comes around.

This post will be updated as necessary with new major developments or plot twists.

Comments

  1. Thanks for this Teri. Our breeding season just took a gigantic knock; last week students in beachwear and BBQ's (in England!? In March!!!!?). Back to normal today. Cold Artic winds and snow trapping off guard motorists. Good luck "hawks"!

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  2. What erratic weather we're having, Anton. Now it looks like NYC is heading into a somewhat normal stretch of temperatures, but it's too dry and the wind is fierce.

    ReplyDelete

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