I did not see Bobby until heperched at the Red Roost Inn for the night. But Bobby’snew potential mate was back in Washington Square Park.
She familiarized herself with the whole park and surrounding buildings. She flew all over and hunted nearly constantly. She ate one mouse and one rat during my two and a half hour visit. The park is full of mice, rats, squirrels, and pigeons so she has a limitless feast ahead of her should she stay and become Bobby’s mate.
She is incredibly peppy, fast, and agile. She had us running ragged chasing her from area to area. She is bold, too. She flies very low to the ground and just over people’s heads. She flew directly over my head twice. At one point she was flying with a rat in her talons and was so close, I instinctively ducked to get out of her way (she was that near!).
Seeing her up close helped so I could learn her coloring and marking patterns. She’s slimmer than I thought. I’m no expert but I’d gauge her at being about 3-4 years old based on her tail (it’s a full red which puts her easily over 2 years old), eye color (it’s not the very deep brown of an older hawk), and spritely energy (my personal take).
It was eerie to see her on the same perch Violet was on just several days earlier:
She then flew north toward 8th Street with her prey and was not seen again.
While outside the Red Roost Inn I thought the hawk at the roost may be the new female. But after looking at my photos when home and doing photo comparisons between them and clear photos of Bobby in the roost, I now believe it was Bobby who was in the roost tonight.
