fashion is love: February 2024

Saturday, February 24, 2024

portrait of a hawk, upon learning of the death of Flaco the owl

i woke to the news that Flaco the Eurasian eagle owl had died after striking a building late yesterday. the special bird had gone missing from his longtime Central Park Zoo exhibit a year ago and had since been seen mostly along the park from 80th to 104th streets. in fact, a small memorial is being set up for him today near a certain tree he liked on 104th, one he apparently first chose when he was newly exploring his freedom.

i never saw Flaco though encountered several Red-tailed hawks in the park on my work commutes to the East Side and on weekend walks to and from the MET Museum, and can remember a surprise sighting low in the trees over a playground in Union Square Park last January, but i followed all the beautiful photographs of him, many in which he was silhouetted against rooftop water towers, and relate to the genuine sadness being expressed by fellow New Yorkers to whom he brought a sense of wonder and joy.

i set out along Riverside Drive this morning hoping to find "my" hawk in his* preferred tree for 2024, the one i and others have seen him in regularly since late January (though i have observed him for several years elsewhere nearby in our park (even on my own river- facing bedroom window ledge). there he was, feathers unruffled as it were, gazing around and down as always with his piercing eyes, softly mottled chest set against the winter white sky, his silhouette simultaneously standing out from and blending into the tangle of bare, dark tree branches.

i like to stop and study my hawk each time i see him, knowing he is a robust bird of prey does not intimidate me, it merely fills me with greater awe -- sharp hooked beak and distinct tail completing his portrait, brownish eyes riveting.

though he did not move from his perch today, at times he quietly lifts his broad wings to fly, if only to land with a quiet rustle just a few yards away in another tree nearby, burnished red tail then on display. today his presence seems a particular symbol of power and grace at home in nature, in contrast to a determined Flaco making his way in the unknown, urban wild.

rest in peace, brave Flaco! New York will never forget you!