Red-tailed Hawk landing on nest, Bobst Library, NYU, New York City

Pip and Bobby – Union Square Park – August 4, 2011

It was a fine evening of hawk-watching tonight. At first, a friend and I searched Washington Square Park for our bird friends. After having no luck, I suggested we try to find them in Union Square Park. I managed to spot Bobby atop of the ConEd building at 14th Street and Irving Place. Notice he was being harassed by a bird at the time. He was not bothered and went about his calm perching:

View of Bobby’s perch from afar to give some perspective. Zeckendorf towers are on the left:

Bobby preening:

Within several minutes, Bobby flew to the other side of the building top’s structure:

Bobby then flew behind his perch to some unseen spot on the top of the building. We walked all around the building but lost sight of him. We went to the Broadway and 14th Street entrance of Union Square Park. I had texted a couple of other nearby hawk-watchers to let them know Bobby had been spotted so my friend and I waited for them to arrive. Bruce Yolton was one of them and upon his arrival, he told us he had seen a hawk on the top of the building but on the north side. Following his lead, we were soon at the north end of the park and looked back at the ConEd building. The hawk he had seen had moved. But! He saw a bird sitting on another outcrop of the building and lo and behold, it happened to be Pip!

After about 45 minutes of watching Pip, one of our crew noticed another arrive on the scene. It was Bobby!

He was being harassed yet again by other birds:

He landed on a nearby water tower:

He had just delivered a fresh kill to Pip, who took it up and began to eat:

Pip enjoys a brief flight to another perch:

Bobby moves to another perch as well:

Bobby then flew to the remains of his kill to enjoy his portion. The building roof was a bit slippery so Bobby had to balance himself a bit:

After having eaten, Bobby joined Pip at her new perch for a few seconds before flying off again:

It grew too dark for me to film or photograph anymore so I called it a night. It was great to have a full evening of hawk-watching after long last!

(I managed to take a lot of Pip and Bobby flying videos which I will edit and upload in the near future)

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