I spent about 2 ½ hours with a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in Washington Square Park today.
I had to wonder if it was the same juvenile I’d seen flying above the park with Bobby on October 12th and the 24th but it was not possible to know for sure.
October is one of the main fall migration months and there have been several juvenile Hawks passing through Washington Square Park over the last few years. Here are a few links to some of the past visits: September 10th & 11th 2011, October 23rd 2011, October 27th 2012.
I saw one of the adult Red-tailed Hawks perched on an NYU flagpole outside the eastern border of the park. I believe it was Bobby. He was facing southeastward:
I had to step away from my view of him in order to keep my eye on the juvenile. When I looked for him several minutes later he was gone anyway. I was tempted to see where he might have gone but finding out what the juvenile would do next instead was a more exciting idea.
Wiping up after its meal (the remains of the pigeon on the branch in the foreground):
It was right after sunset when I left the juvenile high in its tree. It’s likely it is going to spend the night unless Bobby or Rosie chased it out after I left the park.
A fellow Hawk-watcher informed me that one of the adult Hawks was tucked into the Red Roost Inn this evening.