They'd been checking the place out for a few months now and things looked good. Plenty of food around - corn-fed pigeons and garbage-fed rats. A lake to bathe in. Protection available from wind and storms. Time to get the show on the road. On March 17th the hawk pair began to build a nest in Central Park. It was a historic event, for in the 119 years of the park's existence, no hawk had ever nested there before.
-Red-Tails in Love
Central Park is one of my very favorite places in New York City. I love to walk around there on sunny days and perhaps pick out a spot at Bethesda Terrace or along the mall where I can read. I have been many times, but I have to say I'd never given a lot of consideration to Central Park's birds, or birds in the city in general. I mean, I'd noticed a fair amount of pigeons, but I would have to say my observations stopped there.
Enter Red-Tails in Love, not only the story of the hawks' improbable urban nest, but also of all of Central Park's avian inhabitants and the people who love to watch them. The central saga, which details the life and loves of hawk Pale Male, is undoubtedly charming, but I was also taken with the community of birdwatchers. I love books that let you inside quirky, single-minded groups. (Word Freak is a favorite that immediately springs to mind.) I can't imagine knowing so much about birds, but I find it rather impressive. Being able to identify birds seems to be such a concrete, relevant thing to know, and I often wish I knew more of those sorts of things and fewer commercial jingles and actor C.V.s.
After finishing the book, I was inspired to go to Central Park today and have a look around. Now, I don't have binoculars and, as I already mentioned, my knowledge of birds is limited. That being said, I definitely saw pigeons (shock!), house sparrows, starlings, robins, blue jays, grackles, and mourning doves. I also saw something that may have been a female downy woodpecker (a common bird, but not one I'm familiar with), and possibly a gray catbird. All of this, and all I'd ever seen before was pigeons. They're all common birds, but that's still quite a variety.
On my walk, I started off at the Met, then walked south to the Inventors' Gate before heading west. I skirted the southern edge of the Ramble, which I've always been a little leery of - it's lovely and secluded, but the latter aspect makes feel a little less safe than the rest of the park; of course, it also has quite a reputation for illicit activities. There ended up being quite a few birdwatchers, however, so I'm glad I explored a bit. The Ramble definitely had the densest bird population, although I saw birds (granted, mostly pigeons and house sparrows) continuously as I walked over to Strawberry Fields and then south to Columbus Circle.
I also looked for the hawk nest, which is on a building on the corner of 74th Street and 5th Avenue. I could see where it probably was, but it is pretty high up to see clearly without assistance. The hawkwatchers were there, but I am not the kind of person who is good at sauntering up and asking to use someone's telescope. Besides, as no one was looking in the telescopes, I have to assume that the hawks were not at the nest at that point.
I realize this review has been about 25% about the book and 75% about me in Central Park. I think, however, that that is actually a mark of how much I enjoyed the book. I had a film professor in college who said that one of the aspects he considered in judging a film was its rewatchability factor; I think rereadability is an important aspect of books as well. Red-Tails in Love reminded me of an another important factor, which is a book's capacity to change the way you see the world. Now, I don't imagine I'll be taking up with the hawkwatchers any time soon, but if I learn a few more bird names and pay a bit more attention to the natural world around me, so much the better.
Next up: I borrowed Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks and The Battle of the Labyrinth (the 4th Percy Jackson book) by Rick Riordan from the library; Sacks is up first.
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