It was a good day at Washington Square Park today. Violet reappeared after not being seen by me since November 27th. There were a couple of questionable sightings in early December but no absolute confirmation. I say “questionable” only because those who were with the hawks weren’t sure themselves if they were looking at Violet or an interloper.
I was not entirely shocked to see her considering she has been known to disappear for a couple of weeks at a time. But it was great to see her today considering the worsening condition of her leg.
She got around as usual and seemed her normal self which was bittersweet indeed.I think just about everyone who was with me in the park today watching her shared similar sentiments.
She did have trouble balancing from time to time as expected but no worse than in the recent past.
The day started with Bobby swooping around the park and landing on a lower ledge of Judson Memorial Church. What was funny was I had just reached the park with a friend and heard nearby squirrels doing their creaky warning vocalizations. I looked around but saw no hawk at first until -whoosh- Bobby flew overhead and toward a far group of trees. It is so much fun to learn the park creatures’ “language” and know when a hawk is in the area thanks to them ‘saying’ so:
I gasped when I saw Violet fly onto the scene, past Bobby, and land on one of her favorite buildings:
Bobby kept watch:
Violet then flew toward Bobby’s perch…
…and onto the church cross.
The perched birds scrambled out of her way:
It took her a few seconds to settle in on her one good foot:
Bobby stayed on his lower ledge perch:
You can see Bobby on the lower left:
One of the ways Bobby indicates he’s about to fly is to stand, take a poop, straighten up, then take his flight:
He flew north (seemingly out of the park but I lost sight of him because of some trees in the way). Violet watched him leave but stayed put:
Pretty easy to tell when the boiler at One Fifth Avenue is turning on:
Pesky birds harassed Violet. She had a tough time fending them off due to her debilitation:
There were many planes using a low flight path overhead:
The sun was almost completely set by this point. The Freedom Tower, still under construction, looked cold and dark:
The Washington Square Park Christmas Tree all alight:
More planes.. it was pretty fun to see them so low and loud.. at least for me. Thanks for my telephoto zoom, I could get good snaps of them:
It was finally time to get to bed. Violet flew with hardly a wing flap across the park and to the evening roost:
