I visited Tompkins Square Park in the East Village early Saturday afternoon in the hopes of seeing its resident hawks Tommy or Evie. The male was nicknamed Tommy as a take on the name Tompkins. I nicknamed the female hawk Evie in honor of her being a resident of the East Village.
I stayed at TSP for about an hour before venturing to Washington Square Park to look for its resident red-tailed hawks. I spotted Evie easily since the sky was bright and there were hardly any leaves left on the trees. I believe it was her anyway because of her large size and lighter feather coloration. I overheard one park visitor tell another that he saw her eat a rat a few minutes beforehand.
Evie’s nice full cropbulging out, showing she just had a big meal:
Talon on her left foot gracefully draped over a little twig:
I then saw what looked like a very small version of Tommy hawk. Its eyes were light-colored, its chest feather pattern more regular than variegated, and its tail was heavily-barred so I was confused as to whether it was instead a juvenile red-tailed hawk or not. It turns out it was a Cooper’s Hawk:
Evie seemed to glance at it once in a while but paid no more attention to it. She must have figured it was not a threat to her territory so she rather ignored it:
The Cooper’s Hawk:
Evie:
Eyes in mid-blink:
One eye winking:
A turkey vulture soared overhead:
It found some friends to soar with:
Evie:
Cooper’s Hawk:
It was freezing cold out and time to head to Washington Square Park to find Bobby and/or Violet so I left the two mellow hawks behind.
