There was a good amount of Hawk activity during my two hour visit to Washington Square Park today.
The two hatchlings were awake but not particularly active at first.
I looked around for the parents and found Rosie circling then landing at the eastern side of the park.
Atop one of NYU’s Silver Center flags:
Nice finial:
She headed north and out of sight so I went back to watch the kids.
They started to run and hop and flap across the length of the nest ledge:
Sunning:
Interrupted preen:
Rosie was back on Silver.
She briefly preened, shook herself off, then shot right off her perch:
The tree cover was thick above me so I couldn’t see where she was headed.
After a few seconds I saw her back on Silver:
Jump-flap time:
Although the babes did flap a few feathers out of their wings, nearly all of the floating bits you see in these photos were of tree pollen/seeds:
Hello:
I peeked through the trees and spotted Rosie atop construction material diagonally across from the nest:
As I watched her, two Finches glided toward her in an undulating flight then landed near her:
She eventually flew off her perch and toward the nest. The Finches followed her for part of her flight. I lost sight of her when she flew south.
I found her atop One Fifth Avenue several minutes later:
All of a sudden Bobby rose up from the tops of the low buildings below her. He was toting a pigeon. That particular area is home to a big flock of pigeons which the Hawks regularly hunt.
He first brought the pigeon to the purple Silver Center flag pole then to another campus building’s antenna:
He spent a while plucking the pigeon, preparing it for the babies.
He then brought the meal straight to the nest:
The two babies rushed like mad to the meal:
Bobby took off:
Rosie then flew from her One Fifth Avenue perch to the nest and began to feed the two:
She then took the scraggly remains away:
The two then had some post-meal jump-flapping and a run down the ledge:
They met up at the far corner then promptly conked out.