more bird news

There may be eggs in the nest!

The red-tailed hawks known as Pale Male and Lola, having endured the destruction of their Fifth Avenue nest in December and the ensuing media storm before rebuilding with thousands of twigs from Central Park, appear to have crossed another critical threshold in their unlikely battle for turf in the center of Manhattan.

According to several naturalists and bird watchers who monitor the hawks' behavior closely, there are eggs in the nest.

If so, New York's most celebrated birds have entered a new chapter, fraught with its own peril, in an unlikely saga that has melded raw nature with urban life and captivated bird lovers around the world. [More here.]

expecting?



pale male stands guard

In animal news closer to home, our struggle to save Buster's eyesight continues, and I'm starting to feel like it's a losing battle. Two problems are under control - at an extremely high maintenance cost - but a new problem has appeared. That makes two mysterious and untreatable conditions. We're starting to discuss how a dog copes without vision.

Interesting note. Buster's "intra-species aggression" (as his craziness is known) is set off by the sight of other dogs, not sound or smell as is the case with most canines. When he had to wear a funnel collar after some minor surgery, and so had no peripheral vision, he was the calmest he's ever been, happily trotting down the sidewalk, blissfully unaware of other dogs within his usual meltdown range. So ironically, a blind Buster could be advantageous... But we're going for a second opinion.