"There is no historic preservation district or landmarks commission for hawks' nests. But if there were, the red-tailed hawk's nest at 927 Fifth Avenue, overlooking Central Park at 74th Street, would surely have qualified. Until Tuesday, the nest stood on a 12th-floor cornice with a sublime aerial view of the urban forest in our midst. Since 1993, 23 young hawks have been raised there, sired by a bird called Pale Male. Thousands and thousands of bird-watchers over the years have followed the lives of the hawks in that nest. But this is not an homage to bird-watching - it's an homage to birds.
On Tuesday, workers took down the nest and, apparently, the metal anti-pigeon spikes that had helped hold it in place. So far, no one from 927 Fifth Avenue has spoken up to defend the co-op board's decision to remove the nest. Perhaps residents were annoyed that the hawks didn't do a better job of cleaning up after themselves by using a pooper-scooper or putting their pigeon bones in the trash, the way a human would. Perhaps they simply wearied of the stirring sight of a red-tailed hawk coming down out of the sky to settle on its nest.
It's always tempting to think that a city like New York has utterly effaced the natural ground on which it was built. Most of the creatures that lived on Manhattan Island several centuries ago would stand no chance of doing so now - not in these new canyons of steel and glass. But the presence of a nesting pair of red-tailed hawks, sequestered on the edge of an apartment building, feels like a memory from a past this city has long since forgotten.
The hawks have gone out of their way to learn to live with us. The least the wealthy residents of 927 Fifth Avenue could have done was learn to live with the hawks."
-nyt op-ed pg 12/9/04
I was just going to post this:
The Fifth Avenue hawks are the latest victims of the Bush administration’s ongoing efforts to de-claw environmental protections by any means. The birds and their nest are supposedly protected, but the Fish & Wildlife Service now says it’s ok to destroy their nest as long as there aren’t eggs or young in it at the moment, despite the fact that the birds use the same site every year. Birds don’t live in a nest the way you live in a house, they only raise young there, but it’s a little like saying it would be ok to destroy your house as long as you weren’t home at the time. There should be more follow-up on this story; check the site of Marie Winn, author of Red-tails in Love, the book that made these birds into world famous celebrities.
but it’s a little like saying it would be ok to destroy your house as long as you weren’t home at the time.
"them birds was terrarist. youre just lucky we didnt level the whole city. needs to flush them liberul hawks out so we can sow dissention in the democratic party."
who's who at 927 5th av....
http://www.curbed.com/archives/2004/12/09/whos_who_at_927_fifth_avenue.php
May a plague of pidgeons follow them unto the seventh generation.
except MTM.
protests in front of the building all weekend. including two guys in hawk suits. theres meeting today with co-op board. nest may be reinstated ? pr npr news item, but no web presence yet.
pr damage controll
Since Tuesday, the birds have brought twigs to the cornice in an attempt to rebuild the nest. But they have had little success because the spikes that had been placed there to ward off pigeons and had anchored the nest since 1991 were also removed by workers on Tuesday.
The whole thing is moving fast; eventually I’ll write something for Arboretum, but the Marie Winn site linked above is good for keeping up. She and my friend Rebekah Creshkoff were there dressed as Cardinals yesterday (birds, not prelates.) The building board severely underestimated the backlash, but it’s not clear whether they really want to make amends, or are stalling in hopes that the birds find a new spot in the meantime. The hawk-watchers will not be satisfied with less than the rehab of the old site, not without practical reasons, but also because any other location would be likely to ruin the public show that has gone on for the last decade, in which many have a great emotional investment.
the condo board wont cave until it dawns on them that its adversely effecting their real estate value.
So, speaking of red tails. Yesterday morning I'm gazing out the bedroom window into the little patch of woods and these two hawks coming swooping around opposite sides of a pine tree, fly straight into each other, sort of kiss, and then fly up and out, making, you know, hawk noises.
quick pale male now 13
So, it looks like they will try to lure the hawks back to the original site. If only they can devise a system to catch all those pesky pigeon carcassses.
Seems the biggest issue is really privacy. The rich folks in the building don’t like the ongoing observation. That’s mostly ego; birders may be voyeurs, but they're into hawks, not people, and someone in the next building is just as likely to be a rear window peeping tom. Still it’s a scientific fact that observation affects things, and there are a lot of high-powered lenses pointing in that direction. And some observers are obsessive. A guy who regularly brings in an enormous celestial telescope with a big video monitor just got himself arrested for harassing Zahn and Cohen and their kids. The adults deserve to be reviled up to a point, but this seems to be crossing the line into counter-productive behavior.
so you wont be joining the red tail hawk liberation army anytime soon? mary tyler moore as che guevara? you could have her iconic hat tossing moment morphing into a hawk, etc.........
Is this a media circus thing now, with camped out reporters, etc?
anyone watch the film last night? whats with the pigeon guy ?
"Two celebrated red-tailed hawks whose eviction from their nest high atop a chic Manhattan building sparked protests from bird watchers will be allowed to rebuild their home in the same spot."
"endangering the welfare of a child"? a bit of a stretch from overreaching, rich-protecting law enforcers?
Are they going to install a catch net for squirrel carcasses?
The Hawks made the front page of the Post today as the "other" Central Park story. The nest is largely rebuilt, and mating season has begun. As ever, Marie Winn has more info.
|
On Tuesday, workers took down the nest and, apparently, the metal anti-pigeon spikes that had helped hold it in place. So far, no one from 927 Fifth Avenue has spoken up to defend the co-op board's decision to remove the nest. Perhaps residents were annoyed that the hawks didn't do a better job of cleaning up after themselves by using a pooper-scooper or putting their pigeon bones in the trash, the way a human would. Perhaps they simply wearied of the stirring sight of a red-tailed hawk coming down out of the sky to settle on its nest.
It's always tempting to think that a city like New York has utterly effaced the natural ground on which it was built. Most of the creatures that lived on Manhattan Island several centuries ago would stand no chance of doing so now - not in these new canyons of steel and glass. But the presence of a nesting pair of red-tailed hawks, sequestered on the edge of an apartment building, feels like a memory from a past this city has long since forgotten.
The hawks have gone out of their way to learn to live with us. The least the wealthy residents of 927 Fifth Avenue could have done was learn to live with the hawks."
-nyt op-ed pg 12/9/04
- bill 12-09-2004 3:18 pm
I was just going to post this:
The Fifth Avenue hawks are the latest victims of the Bush administration’s ongoing efforts to de-claw environmental protections by any means. The birds and their nest are supposedly protected, but the Fish & Wildlife Service now says it’s ok to destroy their nest as long as there aren’t eggs or young in it at the moment, despite the fact that the birds use the same site every year. Birds don’t live in a nest the way you live in a house, they only raise young there, but it’s a little like saying it would be ok to destroy your house as long as you weren’t home at the time. There should be more follow-up on this story; check the site of Marie Winn, author of Red-tails in Love, the book that made these birds into world famous celebrities.
- alex 12-09-2004 4:47 pm [add a comment]
but it’s a little like saying it would be ok to destroy your house as long as you weren’t home at the time.
"them birds was terrarist. youre just lucky we didnt level the whole city. needs to flush them liberul hawks out so we can sow dissention in the democratic party."
- dave 12-09-2004 5:08 pm [add a comment]
who's who at 927 5th av....
http://www.curbed.com/archives/2004/12/09/whos_who_at_927_fifth_avenue.php
- anonymous (guest) 12-10-2004 6:50 am [add a comment]
May a plague of pidgeons follow them unto the seventh generation.
- mark 12-10-2004 9:25 am [add a comment]
except MTM.
- bill 12-10-2004 3:43 pm [add a comment]
protests in front of the building all weekend. including two guys in hawk suits. theres meeting today with co-op board. nest may be reinstated ? pr npr news item, but no web presence yet.
- bill 12-13-2004 5:19 pm [add a comment]
pr damage controll
- bill 12-13-2004 5:32 pm [add a comment]
Since Tuesday, the birds have brought twigs to the cornice in an attempt to rebuild the nest. But they have had little success because the spikes that had been placed there to ward off pigeons and had anchored the nest since 1991 were also removed by workers on Tuesday.
- bill 12-13-2004 5:42 pm [add a comment]
Something is wrong with the URL.
- jimlouis 12-13-2004 5:57 pm [add a comment]
Or,
this is a test
- alex 1-26-2000 11:24 am
- jimlouis 12-13-2004 5:59 pm [add a comment]
sorry here it is
- bill 12-13-2004 6:09 pm [add a comment]
The whole thing is moving fast; eventually I’ll write something for Arboretum, but the Marie Winn site linked above is good for keeping up. She and my friend Rebekah Creshkoff were there dressed as Cardinals yesterday (birds, not prelates.) The building board severely underestimated the backlash, but it’s not clear whether they really want to make amends, or are stalling in hopes that the birds find a new spot in the meantime. The hawk-watchers will not be satisfied with less than the rehab of the old site, not without practical reasons, but also because any other location would be likely to ruin the public show that has gone on for the last decade, in which many have a great emotional investment.
- alex 12-13-2004 7:31 pm [add a comment]
the condo board wont cave until it dawns on them that its adversely effecting their real estate value.
- bill 12-13-2004 7:58 pm [add a comment]
So, speaking of red tails. Yesterday morning I'm gazing out the bedroom window into the little patch of woods and these two hawks coming swooping around opposite sides of a pine tree, fly straight into each other, sort of kiss, and then fly up and out, making, you know, hawk noises.
- jimlouis 12-13-2004 8:09 pm [add a comment]
quick pale male now 13
- bill 12-15-2004 4:03 am [add a comment]
So, it looks like they will try to lure the hawks back to the original site. If only they can devise a system to catch all those pesky pigeon carcassses.
- jimlouis 12-15-2004 5:02 pm [add a comment]
You'd think they could just send the birds up some de-boned pre prepared specialties from one of the kitchens. Pretty hard to injure anyone with a foie gras terrine. Maybe they could sculpt it into the shape of a pigeon or something.
- jim 12-15-2004 8:06 pm [add a comment]
Seems the biggest issue is really privacy. The rich folks in the building don’t like the ongoing observation. That’s mostly ego; birders may be voyeurs, but they're into hawks, not people, and someone in the next building is just as likely to be a rear window peeping tom. Still it’s a scientific fact that observation affects things, and there are a lot of high-powered lenses pointing in that direction. And some observers are obsessive. A guy who regularly brings in an enormous celestial telescope with a big video monitor just got himself arrested for harassing Zahn and Cohen and their kids. The adults deserve to be reviled up to a point, but this seems to be crossing the line into counter-productive behavior.
- alex 12-15-2004 6:55 pm [add a comment]
so you wont be joining the red tail hawk liberation army anytime soon? mary tyler moore as che guevara? you could have her iconic hat tossing moment morphing into a hawk, etc.........
- dave 12-15-2004 7:04 pm [add a comment]
Is this a media circus thing now, with camped out reporters, etc?
- tom moody 12-15-2004 7:57 pm [add a comment]
anyone watch the film last night? whats with the pigeon guy ?
- bill 12-15-2004 8:05 pm [add a comment]
"Two celebrated red-tailed hawks whose eviction from their nest high atop a chic Manhattan building sparked protests from bird watchers will be allowed to rebuild their home in the same spot."
- bill 12-16-2004 12:30 am [add a comment]
"endangering the welfare of a child"? a bit of a stretch from overreaching, rich-protecting law enforcers?
- tom moody 12-16-2004 12:40 am [add a comment]
Are they going to install a catch net for squirrel carcasses?
- mark 12-17-2004 3:09 am [add a comment]
The Hawks made the front page of the Post today as the "other" Central Park story. The nest is largely rebuilt, and mating season has begun. As ever, Marie Winn has more info.
- alex 2-17-2005 6:54 pm [add a comment]