I visited Washington Square Park on the 22nd but found no Hawks. Today however was the kind of Hawk outing I have been waiting weeks to enjoy. It had been two weeks since I’d seen Bobby so today’s visit was especially nice.
I was searching through the western trees when I noticed the west side pigeons flying frantically around their favorite tree. I looked closer and saw one of the adult Hawks there:
It wasn’t until I was under the tree when I saw that it was Bobby.
Scratch:
He was scanning one of the smaller lawns he’s hunted in before. There were a few times when it looked like he was going to leap off his branch but they were false alarms at first.
A few park regulars stopped by to admire him and chat about him with me.
Bobby turned around, shortly saw prey to his liking, and was off (I had watched him in his tree for around 50 minutes):
He soared directly toward a pair of squirrels cavorting on a branch:
He grabbed one of the squirrels and toted it to a tree further west:
Pigeons went crazy as Bobby flew. It’s always fascinating to watch how the other park animals react to the Hawks.
A fellow Hawk-watcher pointed out which tree Bobby had landed in:
Bobby coughed up a pellet:
I was tempted to gather it to investigate its contents (bones, feathers, fur, etc.) but there was non-stop action afoot so I left the idea alone.
Bobby flew to a new tree after 3 minutes:
He started to eat the squirrel on one branch then moved to another branch to finish:
A couple of Blue Jays created a scene by ‘yelling’ at him and diving around him a few times while he ate. Bobby was undeterred.
He spent 35 minutes on his meal when all of a sudden he scooped up the hind quarters and swallowed the tail and hind legs in a few careful gulps:
He wiped his beak on his branch then flew to a tree further north:
He hopscotched among different trees. The Blue Jays followed him around.
Hello!
Off to another tree, stalker Blue Jay in the background:
More cleaning up:
The pair of Blue Jays made fascinating call and response sounds with each other as they surrounded Bobby.
Bobby settled down to digest in his new tree. I had been with him for close to 2 1/2 hours and had to leave anyway so I tore myself away.
