When I arrived at Washington Square Park, a fellow Hawk-watcher informed me that both Bobby and Rosie fed breakfast to the two fledglings on the building west of Judson Memorial Church. The fledglings and Rosie were hanging out at the church by the time I got to the park. The fledglings used to spend all their time on the eastern side of the park. Now, nearly two weeks after fledging, the babies have expanded their area of comfort by hanging out at the opposite end of the park as well.
There were leftovers still on the building top from earlier in the day so I got to watch one of the fledglings eat lunch during my stay.
Fledgling on a church railing:
It was pretty easy to find the Hawks since the baby was crying so much. It wasn’t hungry. The babies just cry a lot whenever a parent is around even if they’re not hungry.
Rosie seated above it:
One of the fledglings got some exercise:
Bobby was on the nearby cross. He had a good view of his whole family from there:
I could hear the second fledgling crying but couldn’t see it from my vantage points so I kept my eye on the fledgling I could see, the one that was exercising/playing:
Hello:
It flew to another perch:
Rosie flew off her perch:
She swooped below and past Bobby and continued flying south behind the church. The fledgling I couldn’t see until then flew up into view and followed her.
Bobby still on the cross:
The exercising fledgling went to a nearby food drop table and started eating:
I saw a hawk fly into the nest in the distance. It was probably Rosie:
She flew toward the higher church cross:
Bobby was soaring in wide circles above the eastern side of the park:
Rosie on the cross perch, watching Bobby:
Bobby soared closer to the family:
Youngin still eating:
Rosie joined it:
The other fledgling appeared on a railing across the street, atop the Catholic Center (Kimmel Center in the background). Rosie saw it too and went over to it as well:
Rosie moved from one railing level to another:
The other fledgling continued to eat and eat:
That fledgling began to exercise/play too:
Rosie jumped down to either a stashed pigeon or killed it there. I could not tell. In either case, she had a feather in her beak. Her activity interested the fledgling so it approached her:
I don’t think Rosie realized how close the fledgling was to her at first because when she turned around, she jumped in surprise:
She eventually walked further down the railing:
She then hopped up on the railing:
She flew away. The fledgling then hopped on the railing too (in almost the same exact spot she was on):
It was starting to rain at this point (you can see some of the rain drops in the photos below during the shower).
I then saw Rosie fly just above the tree line and eventually land on Judson Church, by the lower green cross. I thought I saw her with a caught pigeon but when I zoomed in, I saw that she had some tough paper in her beak. It was either roofing paper or part of a paper bag. It wasn’t as flimsy as writing paper.
She probably wanted it for nesting material.
She had trouble keeping hold of it while in flight so had to move it from her beak to her feet while in mid-air:
She brought it to where the first fledgling was eating.
Rosie then left the perch without the material.
Rosie circled around the back of the church and then landed on the main cross:
The second fledgling had flown from the Catholic Center railing eastward and was found seated on an old, familiar spot:
It was obviously full from eating and was digesting in its near comatose state.
I went back to the first fledgling to see what it was up to.
It too was resting and digesting, nearly comatose. Its crop was huge! It was obvious it too would not go anywhere anytime soon.
Sleeepy:
I packed up my gear and left the park. When I was a block east of the park I saw Bobby fly to a potted evergreen on an apartment building terrace. He wasn’t able to get a firm hold of the branches so he flew off and headed toward the park. He descended to the top of Shimkin Hall to perch but never landed. Instead, he rose into the air again, flew westward, and sat on the southernmost corner of the Bobst Library.
After several seconds he flew off that perch and headed toward Rosie who was still on the top of the Judson Memorial Church cross. He landed on a lower level of the cross.
It was nice to see the two parents together. They were obviously about to tuck in and relax for a bit. It was also comforting to know that the two kids were accounted for and that they were tucked in to relax for a while as well.