Today was a pretty good raptor-spotting day at Washington Square Park. I saw our two Red-tailed Hawks, Kestrels, and a juvenile Red-tail.
I found the first raptors by following Blue Jays’ distress calls. Sadie and a harassing Kestrel were circling above the western side of the park:
She flew behind and past One Fifth Avenue (one of the Hawks’ favorite buildings) a couple minutes later:
I looked along several blocks for her and finally spotted her at a building along Broadway and 8th Street:
I had seen Bobby and Sadie (and Rosie in the past) circling the street above this building in the past but this was the first time I ever saw one of the Hawks perched on it.
She jumped off and flew in my direction a minute later:
She headed toward the park:
I didn’t see where she went by the time I got there. I did see a Kestrel circling about one section but I couldn’t see if it was near one of the Hawks or not:
Bobby appeared north of the park nearly 15 minutes later:
He flew behind and past One Fifth Avenue like Sadie did earlier.
I saw a Red-tail soaring and circling very high in the sky a few seconds after I lost sight of Bobby so I assumed it was him.
I realized it was a juvenile Red-tail after I got home and looked closer at my pictures. That was ok though; the pictures were pretty terrible considering it was so high and my lens can only capture so much.
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Sadie appeared not long after the juvie flew south of the park. She flew over the park and landed on one of her favorite perches a block southwest of the park:
I watched her for a few before I had to leave for the day. In other news, a fellow Hawk-watcher saw one of the Hawks roosting at the Red Roost Inn the other night!
Picture of Bobby at the “Inn” from May of 2012:
