Today was a good fledgling-watching day. A fellow Hawk-watcher and I spent a couple of hours in Washington Square Park enjoying some good Hawking while almost everyone else around us were doing their own thing and were oblivious to the existence of the raptor(s).
Today was also special because it was full of the closest fledgling encounters I’ve had this season so far.
Note the tall stick-like branch closest to the fledgling:
When the fledgling finished eating I heard the noise of a terrific crack of wood snapping the instant before the fledgling flew off the branch and went to a new tree:
It was biting and holding a stick in its talons in the new tree:
I can’t say for sure but I think what I heard was the sound of the fledgling breaking the stick off the previous tree before toting it with him/her to the new tree. Unfortunately I didn’t see the fledgling jump off the tree so I can’t confirm this but the timing seemed accurate to me.
