St. John's and NYHQ Nests 6-1-12

I visited the nests at St. John's University and New York Hospital of Queens(NYHQ) this past Friday (6/1) to check on the eyasses progress. The St. John's nest is in a great spot on stadium lights overlooking a natural grass stadium. The nest and the surrounding platform that supports it provides lots of space for the eyasses to move about and practice their flight skills before they fledge. There are many trees around the area and the spring semester has ended so there is high level of safety compared to many of the other nests in NYC. The eyasses look well and appear to be less than two weeks away from fledging.

The NYHQ nest is also well situated within 50 feet of Kissena Park Corridor. The nest appears to be of adequate size for one the eyas currently inhabiting it. While visiting Friday I witnessed the mother feeding her offspring while the father chased away an intruding Red-tailed Hawk.

IDCNY Nest

This past Wednesday (5/30) I was finally able to confirm that there is an eyas in the IDCNY nest in Long Island City, Queens. The eyas appears to be a few weeks younger than many of the other nests I watch here in Queens. I was only able to confirm the one, but plan to keep watching to see if there are others.

Queens Nest Updates

Here are some updates from this past week:

Astoria Park: I haven't gone to Astoria Park for some time, mainly because the nest is in a place that is very difficult to get quality photos of. I usually wait till the time the eyasses are near fledging to get pictures. But word from hawk watcher Jules Corkery is that there are two eyasses this year.

Flushing Meadow Park: I visited FMP this past Friday and was able to confirm two eyasses for this year. Both Bobby and Cathy look well and I was able to witness two feedings, both appearing to be baby birds, possibly poached from other nests. The eyasses appear to be between 4 and 5 weeks of age.

 Cathy bringing a baby bird to the nest

 This years brood

 Cathy bringing another baby bird

IDCNY Nest- This new nest, on the IDCNY building located in Long Island City, Queens, is still a mystery to me. Food is brought back to the nest and it appears feedings may be taking place, but I still have no evidence of eyasses. This nest is located 8 stories up and the street below it descends steadily south, making it difficult to see into the back of the nest.

 Female on the right, male on the left

 The nest is over a vent in the center of the picture

 The nest is two stories down beneath the Y

 The Female

 Female on the left, Male on the right

 Female bringing a half eaten Squirrel to the nest

The pair together on the IDCNY scaffold

NYHQ Nest (New York Hospital of Queens)- I got an email from Jeff Kolbrunner on Friday stating there is a confirmed Red-tailed Hawk nest on the Former Booth Memorial Hospital which overlooks the Kissena Park Corridor. As far as anyone knows this is the first time Hawks have nested here, so I decided to check it out. I was able to confirm the nest is there on a hospital sign located over the Oncology center on 56th avenue in Flushing, Queens. A maintenance worker who was making repairs to the air conditioning unit on the roof claims he looked down into the nest and saw one eyas. I was able to confirm this later with a photograph.

 Female

 Eyas in the middle below its mother's head

The male has very light eyes and he does not yet have the uniform brick-red tail

St. John's University Nest- The same pair has returned to use the same nest as last year, the stadium lights above Belson Stadium. Two confirmed eyasses for this year. 

 Two eyasses confirmed for this year

Female under attack from a Mockingbird

Woodside Nest- The Woodside pair are in their second year now using a different set of stadium lights than last year, but still in the same park (St. Micheal's Park). I plan to visit this nest soon to confirm, but I've seen other photographers pictures which show 2 eyasses for 2012.

New Hawk nest in Long Island City, Queens

Some pics of the new nest and the pair who inhabit it:

I don't know much about this pair yet, hope to learn more soon.

Queens Nests 2012

Made the rounds over the last few days to see what was happening with the Red-tailed Hawk nests in Queens.
Here's the report-

Queens College- the QC female is still around, but it doesn't appear she has a mate. I followed her around for a few hours and didn't see another Hawk or any signs of nesting building. Last years nest was taken down at some point over the winter.

St. John's University- The St. John's pair is still around, but I couldn't confirm whether or not they were using last years nest or if they found a new one.

Woodside- The Woodside female is most likely sitting on eggs at this point. She sat on the nest for over an hour and a half before receiving some relief from her mate.

Flushing Meadow Park (Unisphere)- Bobby and Cathy are ready for another of nesting. They are using the same nest as last year, right near Indonesia on the Unisphere.

Flushing Meadow Park Update 2-14-11

After Monday's hawk release I paid a quick visit to the Flushing Meadow Park nest in the evening to find that Bobby and Cathy are in full swing, and have decided to use their nesting spot from 3 years ago above Indonesia on the Unisphere. I also managed to get a picture of Cathy sleeping on the inside of the Unisphere, a common occurrence for her.