A couple of Hawk-watching friends informed me that one of the fledglings had killed and eaten a rat in the park while I was at work. It was a confirmed killing. Parents Rosie and Bobby are lucky to not have to train the babes all that much. The kids are already becoming more and more self-sufficient!
I saw only one fledgling the first 45 minutes of my park visit.
A parent was on the back corner of NYU’s Kimmel Center:
Everyone enjoyed seeing the fledgling. Even the beat cops who were patrolling the park!
We hardly ever see the police in the park. Obama’s in town today so perhaps that’s why there was a show of force.
Someone told a friend of mine that there might be a Hawk on the other side of the park so we moved from the western side to the eastern side.
A large crowd gave away the Hawk’s location.
It was Rosie! She was downing a small rat she had just snatched from some brush. Apparently it was her third little rat in a span of several minutes.
She sat and preened for a long while. I headed back to the western side of the park to see if the fledgling was active again.
I saw a Hawk land behind the smaller Judson Memorial Church cross. It turned out to be the second fledgling.
Bobby was on the main cross, preening:
The fledgling flew to the trees at the western side of the park.
She suddenly raised one of her wings. In a flash, the reason why became apparent. Her sister was closing in on her during a playful, close flyby:
The two hung out together in the closed-off section of the park.
They hopped and flapped and flew around their secure hunting grounds.
From the tree to a tree guard structure:
Sibling on the ground:
She collected some leftovers from the ground and spent a while eating it.
Other fledgling on a new perch:
The fledgling that was eating on the ground flew to a higher perch:
Other sibling on a new tree:
The fledgling that was on the post moved to another post:
Bobby still on the cross when I went home:
