I spoke with a contractor who was checking the rat traps inside Washington Square Park today. I asked him if the traps still contained snap traps or if they had rat poison in them again.
I don’t remember the exact phrasing but he said that the traps still contain snap traps and that they (the contractors) won’t revert to using rat poison in order to protect other wildlife.
He mentioned birds and I said, “Yes, Hawks live here” and he said yes, that they would keep using snap traps until the Hawks move away or stop using their nest.
I asked if the rule was ordered by Sarah Neilson, the administrator of Washington Square Park and he said no, that it was his chief who told him and his colleagues to use snap traps until it’s clear that the Hawks have stopped visiting the park for at least a couple of weeks.
Of course, as we know, the WSP Hawks live there year-round so it’s safe to say the secondary anticoagulant rodenticides will not be used ever again as long as a pair of nesting Hawks live in the park.
I was pretty happy with the news and he added, “Don’t worry!” (referring to the protection of the Hawks).
This update was most excellent news and was a long time coming!
***
I saw Bobby for six minutes after my conversation with the contractor.
I first spotted him from where I was looking on Broadway. I was at the corner of Broadway and Washington Place, looking toward the buildings just east of the park.
He was on the purple NYU flag’s pole on Silver Center (one of the buildings outside the eastern edge of the park).
He was looking over the park:
I searched for him for a long time but didn’t find him again.
The nest hasn’t changed much lately:
This is a view of the building Bobby perched on a couple of days ago as seen from the park:
That building is a few doors east of the Bobst Library nest. As you may remember, its rooftop terrace’s potted plants have been the source of a lot of the Hawks’ nest material over the last few years.