Flushing Meadow Park

I spent another interesting morning at Ridgewood Reservoir and will have a full report when Heidi finishing tallying our species count. Until then, here's an e-mail and some photos from Rich Fleisher, who visited Flushing Meadow Park yesterday:

Date: June 8, 2007 10:58:20 PM EDT
Subject: Flushing Meadow Nest

Given the very interesting discovery about the nest on the Unisphere from the 1964 World's Fair, I went to Flushing Meadow Park to check out the nest. Given the openess of the structure, it was real easy to find the two adults and the two eyases. One of the eyeases has fledged while it seemed to me that the other was still tied to the nest. Real interesting to watch them fly from one spot on the sphere to another. Very different from the other types of nests where it is hard to follow the adults when they leave the immediate nest area. Given the nature of this structure, it sure helps to know one's geopgraphy when trying to explain to someone else where on the structure they should look to find the Hawks.
Rich

Red-tailed Hawk family in Flushing Meadow Park



(Photo credit - Rich Fleisher)

I really like the 1960's "Modern" architectural elements surrounding the hawks in the photos. Very retro. ;-)

The more I learn about them, the more impressed I become by the tenacity and adaptability of the Red-tailed Hawks in New York City. An animal that had only been associated with the wilds of the back country has, in a mere two decades, become a mascot of sorts for the largest city in the country. If you look at the satellite image of the Unisphere location, it appears to be situated among lots of grass and trees. Click on the image to get a sense of the bigger picture.

Unisphere overview

(Photo credit - Google Earth)