The Washington Square Park Red-tailed Hawks switched nest duty while I was in the park today. A fellow Hawk-watcher watched one of the adults feeding the babies and both adult Hawks in the nest at one point earlier in the day.
I checked NYU’s Silver Center for Bobby when I arrived but he wasn’t there. I glanced over again a couple of minutes later and there he was!
It’s always fun when they sneak up on you.
Watching over the nest:
A House Finch perched near him, as usual:
Bobby flew to the nest 15 minutes after I first saw him:
He moved into the nest bowl and sat down on/warmed the hatchlings. Sadie had slipped out of the nest while I was watching Bobby on Silver.
Sadie returned to the nest 15 minutes after he had relieved her. She tucked into the nest and Bobby flew out.
Bobby:
He returned to Silver:
The adult Hawks have been keeping very close to the nest since the baby Hawks are only a week old. The adults can watch the nest closely from Silver.
Bobby preened and faced the nest for only 4 minutes before he leaped off, circled over the park, then circled higher and higher to invisibility.
My fellow Hawk-watcher and I waited to see if Bobby would return but he didn’t during our visit. We checked the Con Ed tower but he wasn’t there. He was off on some high-flying adventure.
Sadie remained in the nest bowl. A pair of House Finches joined the Hawk mom and kids:
They just sat there not bothering Sadie.
It’s curious that the Finches pal around with the Hawks so much but they do and it is pretty cute in my book regardless of the reasons.
My better half and I visited the Tompkins Square Park Hawks later in the day while we were running errands. I was cameraless which was a nice break. We sat on a bench and watched as both Hawks stood in the nest. One was feeding their hatchling(s) while the other looked on. The non-feeding Hawk then flew northward while the other continued feeding the babe(s).
The adult (I think it was Christo) then circled over the southwestern corner of the park before heading west. The Hawk family is doing great which was really nice to see.