It was a sight-filled visit to Washington Square Park today even though I was only in the park for just over an hour. I saw Bobby, Sadie (probably), and a Cooper’s Hawk.
Workers were on the Judson Memorial Church cross tower so it was safe to assume one of the Hawks wouldn’t land on the cross:
I checked the ConEd tower and saw the light brown hump of a Hawk’s back on the top:
I was debating heading over to get a closer look when all of a sudden Bobby surprised me by standing up and flying off One Fifth Avenue to zoom over the park and continuing southward.
He soon returned to the park then swooped into his favorite tree of late:
It wasn’t long before he flew south out of the park again.
An antenna theme for the next two photos:
Returning to the park:
He circled the east side of the park before disappearing southeastward.
The red stone library (location of the Hawk nest) in the foreground:
At this point it became clear the workers were removing the cross!
I can’t wait to see what cross they replace it with.
I was Hawkless so I checked on the ConEd tower again. The Hawk was still there but in a new spot:
I was about to leave and search for Bobby when all of a sudden I noticed a bright big bird in the trees:
It was a Cooper’s Hawk!
It made a go at the pigeons that sit on the arch. It didn’t catch any though:
It turned, flew through the trees, then circled above the park for a little while before flying south out of the park:
Pigeons and Starlings fled the area the Cooper’s Hawk flew to.
It was so strange to see the church without the cross. It only took several minutes to remove it:
A Starling looked startled to discover it couldn’t land on its regular perch. It hovered for a second in mid-air where the cross used to be before collecting itself and moving on:
I decided to look for the Cooper’s Hawk. I checked the ConEd tower before leaving. The Hawk was still there. The heat waves from buildings made for difficult focusing at times:
Pigeons were panicking a block and a half south of the park so I had a good feeling the Cooper’s Hawk was still around (or even Bobby). I found the Cooper’s Hawk on a water tower:
Unfortunately it flew while I was resting my arms from holding my heavy camera and lens up in a raised position for a while in anticipation of its flight.
Oh well, back to the park.
The Hawk was still on the ConEd tower:
A second Hawk appeared on the perch to the right without my seeing it land there:
The new Hawk jumped down and moved closer to the first Hawk:
The first Hawk soon flew away:
The second Hawk sitting more to the left now:
I then saw the second Hawk leave the tower and start circling toward the park.
It was joined by the other Hawk and for the next several minutes they circled together; flying closer and closer to the park and putting on a dramatic air show:
They eventually separated. One Hawk flew northwest and the other Hawk dove back toward the ConEd tower:
I left with the Hawk still on the tower. The Cooper’s Hawk was nowhere to be found at the time either so it was a good time to leave for the day.