Hawk siting

A gorgeous sunny morning with a real nip in the air but great to walk home across a quiet Central Park from an MD appointment on the East Side. I was watching for signs of spring -- saw none but heard a lot of birds in the trees but did not see them -- if I were a real birder I'd know where to look.

As I neared my street, walking on Broadway I saw a sidewalk congregation with binoculars, cameras and mouths agape -- casual, incidental birders? Yep. On an window air conditioner just one story above street level was one of NYC's increasing population of hawks, apparently having an early lunch. I did not see what it was tearing into, possibly a pigeon -- hope it wasn't a rat, not for the rat's sake but for the hawk's. Anyway the crowd grew and a man, possibly to whom the air conditioner belonged was leaning out the next window with a camera virtually in the hawk's face. Mr. Hawk was too busy eating to give the guy the time of day but I imagine he got some wonderful photos. To see many photos our our hawks Google "hawks in NYC" -- that's where the above picture of Pale Male came from. A hawk siting makes one's day.