Tuesday, March 4, 2014

More things I hadn't seen before.

Every time I go out birding, I see something I haven't seen before. Monday, there was a Cooper's Hawk around at Evodia in the Ramble. It was pretty restless, kept switching perches every few minutes. Eventually it moved off past Azalea Pond toward the pin oak swamp.

A little later, a Red-Tailed Hawk flew in, a little east of Evodia. He was a very pale morph, possibly Pale Male himself, though he seemed like a younger (and even paler) bird. he sat fairly low in a tree, giving a good view.

After a few minutes, I saw the Cooper's flying low and fast north from Azalea Pond. The Red-Tailed took off after him! I got my binoculars on the Cooper's and saw it had a bird in it's talons--probably a Starling, maybe a small Grackle. The hawks disappeared over Tupelo Meadow, heading toward Belvedere Castle. The Red-Tailed was in surprisingly close pursuit.

I think the Red-Tailed figured the Cooper's would be slowed down from carrying off prey, and the he had a chance to harass it enough to make it drop its meal. Anyway, I'd never seen that before.

There was a Carolina Wren at Evodia--I'm not sure if the rescued wren was released already or if this was another bird. Word is the rescue was just dehydrated and will be fine. Another Carolina was near Willow Rock; didn't spot the Woodcock in the Oven. I was told the Pine Warbler was over at the Upper Lobe in the morning, but I didn't see it, though two Black-Capped Chickadees and a Brown Creeper were there.

later, I saw two Red-Tailed Hawks soaring over Central Park West around 81st Street. I thought it might be a mating flight, and watched for a while. Suddenly the male dove toward the building on the corner, flushing out another male Red-Tailed. It looked like he might actually have hit the third hawk. The female joined in the pursuit, and the three disappeared southwest behind the Museum of Natural History.

So that's two new things.

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