Bobby was quick to come to Rosie’s defense when she was being aggressively harassed by peregrine falcons. He and she spent time together on the nest ledge as well. They hunted, ate, and roosted separately but were obviously a strong pair already.
Bobby was the first hawk I saw on the 29th. I spotted him when I arrived at the park and was assembling my camera and lens. It’s always a rush when you’re trying to get ready to take a photo and worried if your subject will fly away!
A peregrine falcon harassed him:
Rosie flew to a tree a couple of trees away from me. I was standing between the nest and the trees so I was primed to take a photo of her entering the nest should I be so lucky.
Rosie:
She circled the sky a little bit:
Peregrine falcon waiting and watching on a perch overlooking the park:
Rosie entered the nest:
The peregrine wasted no time with its intimidation tactics:
Bobby kept watch:
Rosie left the nest but was soon chased by peregrines:
Talons up in defense:
Bobby flew off his perch and soared toward the assault. He allowed the peregrines to dive-bomb him as he led them away from her:
The air attacks were intense:
Rosie getting some reprieve while Bobby led the falcons away:
One of the peregrines:
Rosie descending quickly to catch prey in low brush:
She caught something and brought it to a tree:
Blue jays were very upset with Rosie’s presence:
One of them dive-bombed her, hitting her. It probably made as much impact as a balled sock may have when tossed at someone. Rosie was obviously not bothered one bit.
She had some fun diving into a flock of eating pigeons:
One of my favorite photos of Rosie from the day:
A blue jay yelled at her while on her new perch:
Feaking, or cleaning her beak:
She flew back toward the nest:
She hopped from window to window, eventually reaching the nest:
She flew out of the nest but it wasn’t long before she was harassed by a peregrine again.
She returned to a Bobst library window ledge:
Bobby appeared from nowhere and landed on the Judson Memorial Church cross:
Bobby on the move again:
He flew to the nest and joined Rosie:
He didn’t stay long:
Rosie left the nest again and circled around the area then landed in a tree:
Spot the hawk:
Back to the nest:
Bobby in flight:
It was Bobby’s turn to hunt:
One of my favorites of Bobby, zooming in and putting on his air brakes before snatching prey:
Bobby tried to eat his rat but Rosie flew to his tree and screeched a few times, begging for the meal. Bobby took off like a shot out of the park and toward 6th Avenue. Rosie chased him. I didn’t see where Bobby went to eat but I found her sitting atop a cross at a church by the corner of 6th Avenue and Washington Place:
She returned to the park area and sat on an air conditioner overlooking the park:
She circled low in the sky before landing on a water tower:
She then flew to the nest one last time and looked like she was going to spend the night there.
Bobby was seen roosting at the Red Roost Inn by JumpFlapper. I had already put my camera gear away and was on my way home at this point so did not take a photo of him at the roost but was glad to know he was nicely tucked in for the night.