I set out on my Hawking visit during “The Witching Hour”, the time when the Washington Square Park Hawks routinely take a late morning/early afternoon break from the park.
I looked throughout the park for the Hawks as a matter of custom for 35 minutes but was not surprised they were absent.
On Saturday afternoon around 2:30 I spotted one of the Hawks on a chimney on a building at 3rd Avenue and 10th Street.
That building is marked with the red dot northeast of the park here:
We’d spotted Bobby on that building before in years past. The Hawk flew north, heading toward the Con Ed tower. I didn’t have my camera with me so I lost it quickly.
Because of that sighting on Saturday I walked over to that building to see if one of our Hawks was there today and there was Sadie!
She was quite relaxed and even nappy:
Because I was standing on 4th Avenue and 9th Street I could see Sadie’s regular Spanish tile roof perch due west:
I moved further east on the block to get a closer look at her and just caught her about to lift off:
I had watched her on her perch for 5 minutes.
She circled pretty low and around buildings at 3rd Avenue and 10th/11th Streets. She chased a local flock of pigeons.
Pigeons scattering:
She circled for 6 minutes then pleasantly surprised me by zipping to and landing on the base of the ConEd tower:
I watched her preen and rest for about 35 minutes before I headed back to the park for one last round to see if I could find Bobby.
Not a sharp photo but she’s got her eyes closed:
It must be very quiet and peaceful up there away from most of the city din.
I was a block from the park when I checked the tall apartment towers east of the park and spotted one of the Hawks circling low in front:
Nice view if that’s your terrace:
The Hawk circled some more above Greene and 8th Street (a block east and north of the park) when all of a sudden a second Hawk arrived. So here we had who was probably Bobby and Sadie circling together. They followed each other to the park:
I saw one of the Hawks as it flew over the park and southward. I couldn’t find it again so I left for the day.
A Hawk buddy told me he saw three Hawks flying all over above and south of the park Saturday. They were calling out and flying close and clipping each others’ wings. It sounded like perhaps Bobby and Sadie were chasing an interloper out of the park what with all that commotion. He described the action so well, it sounded awfully exciting and it’s a shame I missed it! 🙂