My first birding location today was the Lower East Side where I went to see what became of the pigeon a Red-tailed Hawk had been eating yesterday.
The pigeon body was in a pretty bad state. I had to wonder whether it was the wind or the Hawk that moved the body around the air conditioner a bit:
I looked for the Hawk for a few minutes but didn’t see it anywhere so I left.
My next stop was the Broadway apartment building Bobby and Rosie have been perching on often lately. They weren’t there so I looked for them in Washington Square Park.
You can see the back of the Broadway building from the park. It is seen in the distance between One University Place on the left, NYU’s Silver Center on the right:
I saw a bunch of pigeon feathers on a lawn at the western side of the park:
I looked up and saw the source of the feathers. It looked like a fresh pigeon kill:
Bobby and Rosie weren’t visible so I took in some park sights. And they were pretty depressing! The park was filthy from litter.
Drugs were in plain view on the ground:
Newer rat trap I finally got a chance to photograph:
I would have photographed it a few days ago when I first saw it but I didn’t want to disturb the people who were hanging out near it that day.
Another newer rat trap at the eastern side of the park:
Some happily eating and singing birds gave me some cheer:
The park workers I saw during my visit weren’t regular maintenance staff. I only saw them raking leaves.
Break time must have commenced at one point because staff seemed to up and leave their tools behind for a while:
The man seen entering the porta potty had just tripped on the rake:
Trash littering the park every few feet:
I was at the park for two hours but never saw Bobby or Rosie.
I tried calling Washington Square Park Administrator and Executive Director of the Washington Square Park Conservancy Sarah Neilson at 212.408.0297 to ask about the rat traps but the line just rang. There was no machine or voicemail box turned on to take messages.
She was interviewed by The Village Alliance on September 30th about the Conservancy and its goal:
VA: What can we expect from the WSP Conservancy?
WSPC: Our goals are straightforward – clean, safe and beautiful.
I hope Ms. Neilson and her Conservancy stay true to their simple pledge. Washington Square Park can be so beautiful when it is nicely maintained. I was shocked to see what a deplorable state the park was in today and hope it won’t become the norm.