Central Park in The Snow and News of Pale Male

Snowflakes falling in Central Park by Inga Sarda-Sorensen

It was my intention to go out and explore Central Park on Tuesday and share my findings with you on Wednesday. Tuesday turned out to be a dreadfully rainy day and except for the long walk to work and back, I wanted nothing to do with the outdoors. The rest of my week being a busy mess, I have to postpone my walk to the weekend. I shall tell you all about it next week.

In the mean time, I thought I should share the new development with Pale Male, NYC resident Red-Tail Hawk (you can read more about him here and here).

Via Palemale.com

The story goes that for the past 9 years, Pale Male and his mate Lola have ruled the skies of New York. In this picture taken on January 3rd 2010, you can see the happy couple perched together in a regular spot. Pale Male being the paler on on the right and Lola the beautiful red head on the left.
Pale Male has had 10 successful nests since he established himself in Central Park in 1991. However, since 2005, none of the eggs have hatched.

Lola disappeared in the beginning of the new year, a bad omen as mating happens very early on in the season. She has not been seen since December 18th. Although no body has been found, hawk expert John Blakeman strongly believes that Lola has met her maker. "It's pretty clear that Lola has met her demise, probably from a poisoned prey animal [such as a rat or pigeon] or by injury[.]This is not the season that experienced [female hawks] cavalierly absent themselves from their established territories." Blakeman is quoted in The New York Post.

Faithful hawk watchers still hope that Lola will return but if she does, it's not to an empty nest. Pale Male has already found a replacement, in a younger dark colored female. Whether Lola returns or not, we can all hope to see hatchlings in 2011. "A new partner may increase the chances of a successful clutch", Blakeman comments on a BBC Radio interview .

That's the NYC Hawk News, if you would be so kind as to follow me into a minute of silence for Lola.

...

Take Care!
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Sources:
Winn, Marie. "Pale Male's Dynasty". April 7th 2006. Pale Male Stats. [Online] Jan 20, 2011. <http://www.palemale.com/feb2305.html>
Kaplan, Don. "Lola Flies Coop; Pale Male's New Gal". Jan 18th, 2011. The New York Post. [Online] Jan 20th, 2011. <http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/lola_flies_coop_0LNNMtq3nrruyY6y5sduwJ>