Red-tailed Hawk landing on nest, Bobst Library, NYU, New York City

Bobby basks in the sun then has a mouse lunch – December 4th, 2014

A fellow Hawk-watcher notified me that one of the Washington Square Park Red-tailed Hawks was in a tree west of the park arch so I came over and got to watch Bobby for a little over an hour.

A squirrel in a neighboring tree was on duty, vocalizing the squirrels’ warning call that the Hawk was nearby:

Bobby’s relaxed foot hanging over the branch:

It’s a shame I didn’t get the following shot in focus but I thought it was pretty nice to show how low Bobby flew across a park path with his catch. The two people had gasped when he descended into the brush to catch his rodent:

Licking his beak after a swallow:

Blinking his nearly-transparent eyelids (nictitating membranes) as the tip of the mouse’s tail goes down the hatch:

Wiping up:

Pigeons scattered like mad when he landed in their tree. He’s left of center in the photo below, on the middle horizontal branch:

Heading straight toward NYU’s Silver Center:

He looked as though he’d stay a while and rest as he digested his meal so I left him for the day.

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