I had a pretty rough go of it trekking from Washington Square Park to Union Square Park, then back to Washington Square Park in the swampy heat and humidity in search of our WSP Hawk family. My favorite season is autumn so I feel the summer weather we’ve been having is for the birds!
Finding no Hawks during my stays at WSP and USP, I ventured a little further to Father Demo Square. It’s a few blocks southwest of WSP. The fledglings had been spotted there in the past so I took a gamble and looked there too. No luck.
I went across the street to Winston Churchill Square (a postage stamp-sized park in comparison to WSP) to have a look as well. That square has fabulously tall London Plane trees a Hawk would feel at home in. But there were no Hawks there either so I headed back in the direction of WSP.
I finally found Bobby (thanks to following the sound of annoyed Blue Jay cries) in all his preening, flying, hunting, eating glory:
Panting from the heat:
The Blue Jay kept harassing him with yells and dive-bombs:
A squirrel taunted Bobby as well so he charged it to drive it away from him:
Squirrel at bottom of photo:
Blue Jay on the lower right-hand side:
Blue Jay flying around Bobby (squirrel at bottom):
Bobby in a new tree:
Another new tree:
He dropped to the ground and in a flash, brought up a rat:
Another squirrel challenged Bobby:
Bobby flew away from the challenging squirrel who investigated the branch:
Bobby soared in the sky several times with his rat catch. He was calling out as he flew. I had to wonder if he was trying to attract Rosie or one of his fledglings and let them know he had leftovers. He eventually flew out of sight thanks to the trees blocking my view.
