A pair of Turkey Vultures circled over Washington Square Park soon after I arrived today. They flew high above for a couple of minutes then traveled further east.
Sadie zipped to the top of One Fifth as they were leaving:
She circled around One Fifth and appeared to land on a mystery area toward the back:
I was going to investigate but then I noticed Bobby was in the nest (but not for long):
I heard bagpipes and saw the lights of an FDNY vehicle on Washington Place on a block east of the park. They reminded me that it was the annual memorial for the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
I headed over to the ceremony and got there just as the FDNY truck was lowering its ladder. I interpreted the raising and lowering of the ladder as a way of both commemorating the efforts of the firefighters back then and also a regret that the men on that day could not reach all the victims (ladders could only reach the 7th floor at the time). It’s a truly heartbreaking part of our city’s history.
You can see the building from the live Hawk nest cam:
***
The congregants dispersed so I returned to the park grounds.
It wasn’t long before I saw Sadie fly to one of the NYU flags. She was calling out as she flew:
She only perched for two minutes before flying to the area the Hawks like to hang out a few blocks north of the park.
Bobby circled over the park but was a bitty speck before disappearing east.
Sadie then flew over the park and headed behind One Fifth again. I didn’t see her fly out the other side so I knew she must have found a new perch there. I found her sitting on some construction scaffolding:
Bobby landed above her:
He was gone within a minute. Sadie too:
She had been on that scaffolding for about 20 minutes.
She then landed on the corner of NYU’s Silver Center building (next to the flag she was on earlier):
She called out again and again:
She and Bobby then flew above the east side of the park together. I lost where Sadie went until I saw Bobby descend and mate with her:
He landed on a building across the park from her. They both perched for another 20 minutes until Bobby flew to the nest. Sadie flew in seconds later:
Bobby flew out after a minute. I left the park with Sadie still in the nest.