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Friday, May 07, 2010

Brooklyn Hawks Update

I had time this afternoon to check on the Brooklyn hawk nests, plus one reported new nest site.

Big Mama and Junior, the Green-Wood Cemetery pair, appear to have hatchlings, although it's difficult to tell how many. Marge and I watched Big Mama feeding at least one chick. The nest it extremely high up in a linden tree, so until the chick(s) get a bit bigger, they are very difficult to see. At one point, it did appear that Big Mama was alternating between two points within the nest, so it's possible that there are two hatchlings.

Nelly and Max, the Prospect Park pair in the pine tree at Nelly's Lawn, have three young. They appear to be between 1 and 2 weeks hatched. This is their second year with triplets.

Ralph and Alice, the Prospect Park Ravine pair have become impossible to view in their pine tree nest. I've seen them flying into and out of the nest, so I presume there are hatchlings, but the surrounding trees completely block the view. I'll wait a few weeks when any young might be climbing around and report back.

Marge and I also went to McCarren Park in Williamsburg to look for the reported nesting hawks. There were definite signs that nests were attempted in the lighting structures above both the baseball fields and across the road at the outdoor track. The track's lighting seemed a bit more substantial, but neither were complete enough for raising young. We spoke with a young couple who saw us checking out the incomplete nest on the baseball field. They said that they see "the falcon" around the park fairly regularly, but also suggested we check closer to the water. There are several large oak trees around the park, but nothing big enough to support a Red-tailed Hawk nest (or to overlook one, if they did build it). There are also several incomplete condos around the area that could have been selected as a nest site. I'll keep you posted.

Here's a video of Nelly feeding her brood:

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