Happy New Year! It was a bit chilly in Washington Square Park today so I only spent an hour and a half Hawk-watching. In that time I saw Bobby on One Fifth, he and Sadie perch about the park, and them working together to chase a Turkey Vulture away from their territory.
Silver Center (along the eastern border of the park):
What I assume are NYPD surveillance cameras housed in a mock bird house. The lenses face the northwest corner of the park, the long-time hangout for drug dealers:
Bobby on One Fifth (he wasn’t there a few minutes earlier):
A Turkey Vulture/Buzzard flew past the park, heading southeast:
What might have been the same Turkey Vulture returning 20 minutes later, flying right by Bobby (who’s still up there on his corner perch):
It flew around the back of Two Fifth Avenue:
I heard a loud Hawk shriek and saw Sadie flying behind me (Bobby was off his perch by now):
She landed on the southwest corner building:
Bobby headed back toward One Fifth but then disappeared northwest:
Sadie flew northwest too:
It was only then when I realized they both flew northwest in order to chase the Turkey Vulture together (which flew right over the park):
The two Hawks on the right, Turkey Vulture on the left:
They circled with the Turkey Vulture for three minutes:
There was no fighting or ‘yelling’ between the birds. It appeared very businesslike from what I observed.
The Turkey Vulture rose high in the sky and headed away, due south:
The Hawks then followed each other to just south of the park. I soon saw Bobby perched on a building along the southern border of the park. I hadn’t seen him there in ages:
Sadie circled him then flew back to the southwestern corner building:
Bobby:
Sadie disappeared from her building around this point.
It was getting darker out as the sun started to set. Lots of rats appeared and were running among the bushes on an adjacent lawn from where I was standing. I was hoping Bobby would hunt them but he flew northwest instead:
He had been on his latest building perch for 22 minutes.
He followed relatively the same flight path as the Turkey Vulture did earlier:
