Call of the wild: Seems like old times for Christo and Dora in Tompkins Square Park

There had been talk this past week that Christo and Dora had started mating in Tompkins Square Park.

And yesterday, the two shared a private moment in front of a group of photographers ... including Steven, who passed these pics along...





Well, you get the idea!

And afterwards... Christo, in the front, takes off for parts unknown...







Now a lot has been made about Christo's relationship with Nora/Not-Dora, the red-tailed hawk that entered his life when Dora was off in wing rehab.

Goggla has an excellent theory about all this now. She spotted Christo and Nora/Not-Dora on the Baruch Houses south of Houston several days ago.

In addition to Christo and Dora, there has been a second pair of red-tails on the Lower East Side for quite some time, at least a year. I don't know if they nested last year, but they were definitely around. A few months ago, there were reports of a dead hawk on an air-conditioner at PS188 on East Houston. I think that hawk may have been Nora's mate.

Around the same time, or a short while later, Dora went into rehab, so Nora and Christo were suddenly single neighbors. I think they were close enough to be acquainted and it was convenient for them to team up. This would explain Nora's odd behavior, being so uninterested in spending time in Tompkins Square and her reluctance to participate in building the ginkgo nest with Christo. She already had her own territory in the Baruch Houses and preferred to spend her time there.

It makes sense ... read the rest of her post here.

Goggla has also suggested a new name for the admittedly confusing Nora/Not-Dora moniker. "I'm thinking of calling Nora 'Barucha' since it reflects her territory. She is much more than 'Not Dora'" ..." (Make your voice heard on that matter at Goggla's poll.)

To date, Christo and Dora have had 10 hawklets together. Perhaps some more will be on the way this summer.