Bobby and Rosie did their fair share of soaring and hunting but also had time to relax and preen.
Rosie on one of the Silver Center flag poles:
She dropped into the park trees to hunt:
Flying past Garibaldi statue as she did yesterday. The hawks have regular flight paths to their favorite perches.
She soared above the park:
She was soon chased and harassed by a Mockingbird:
She found a wide perch to relax at on the face of Silver Center:
Bobby was nearby and soared above as well:
He landed on the perch exactly opposite of Rosie’s:
He did not stay long:
Rosie still on her perch:
Bobby soared all above and around the park. Near One Fifth Avenue (north of the park):
Rosie returned to the Silver Center flag pole:
Rosie getting chased by a Mockingbird again:
She landed on a lower cornice on Silver:
Testament to her amazing eyesight; she spotted prey in a grassy patch behind me and to my left. I was standing in an area of the park well back from Silver. She swooped down from her building perch, flew past me, landed on the ground, and successfully caught a sparrow (a very small and quick bird):
She hop-flapped her way up the branch:
She then flew to the top of a low building lining the northern border of the park (across the street):
The day took a morbid turn. A hawk-watcher spotted a juvenile on a sill at the side of Silver. It was not moving, was flat, and looked lifeless. I watched for several minutes for any sign of movement and saw none. I and a couple of friends who were with me were horrified at the sight. I and a friend took out our cell phones and called two different local wildlife rehabbers to tell them what we saw and to see if they might be around to have a look. They let us know they couldn’t get to us for at least an hour but to please keep them posted for updates in the meantime.
The second fledgling was spotted across the street. It was still and flat as well.
Thankfully it stirred and looked around.
Rosie flew overhead:
After several more minutes of waiting, the first fledgling stirred and got up. What relief! We watched the fledglings closely to ensure they didn’t appear injured or sick.
It seemed the fledglings had only been napping on those sills. But we had no regrets about contacting the rehabbers since it was better to be safe than sorry.
I’ll refer to the fledgling below as F1 in this post from now on and the other as F2 (since the one below was seen first and second fledgling seen second).
F1 scrunched down low as if about to fly off its perch:
Pause:
Flight!
It flew across the street and landed on a window sill a couple of floors above its sibling:
We called the rehabbers back to update them and let them know the fledgling was not dead and that we would keep an eye on it. The rehabber I spoke with asked me if the juvenile seemed to fly ok and if it got good lift. I said yes. He asked expert questions and was genuinely concerned about the health of the hawk.
F2:
Righting itself after almost losing its balance when getting up:
F2 flew across the street and to the building F1 had just been on:
F2 flew back and forth between buildings:
Back to the building across the street:
Narrow ledge between sills:
Bobby flew overhead with food and brought it to the building’s roof:
F2 still traveling down its path:
Once at the end of the road, F2 flew back to the building across the street:
Back to the other building:
Bobby flying from Silver to the fledglings’ building top:
During F2’s travels back and forth between buildings, F1 was enjoying traveling from window to window along the length of its ledge. F1 eventually made its way to the front of the building and perched looking out over the park:
F2 flew to a nearby park tree:
Although the rehabbers received the update that the little hawks appeared to be well, one came to the park anyway to observe and otherwise enjoy the hawks.
F2 perched in the same tree and stayed there overnight (as reported by friends who visited the park early the next day).