One or more of the Washington Square Park Hawk fledglings would fly here and there atop the buildings east of the park the first half hour of my visit. It/they cried as they flew so that helped me play along in my personal game of hide and seek.
Fledgling during one of the flights:
Papa Bobby Hawk sat on the flag pole closest to the nest the first hour of my visit.
Preening:
One of the fledglings finally flew close enough overhead for me to get a decent shot. It landed on the NYU building across the street from Bobby. It cried as it flew:
It flew off its perch, turned the corner, then traveled alongside the park. It went out of view. Due to the markings I believe it was the same fledgling that then flew to and landed below Bobby’s perch 4 minutes later:
Bobby looking down at the fledgling:
A Hawk flew to the building across from the fledgling 9 minutes later. It was Sadie! I was happy to see her because the last time I saw her was 5 days earlier.
She flew to and sat next to the fledgling 5 minutes later:
She flew diagonally across the street a minute later and landed on the corner of the Bobst Library (the building that houses the nest):
She stretched out and rested on the roof:
The fledgling cried as it watched mom:
The fledgling’s perch would have been visible from the live nest cam:
Bobby flew east then came back and swooped around the corner to land on NYU’s Silver Center (building along the east side of the park):
The fledgling dove off its building half an hour after first landing there:
It had flown to the red NYU Pless building below:
Sitting near one of the regular white Pless corner ‘dinner tables’:
Scratch:
Bobby was still on his Silver Center perch:
The fledgling tucked further back on its roof after half an hour so I went over to get closer to Bobby:
I looked away for a second to miss him diving off his perch but caught him descending toward the park arch area:
I couldn’t see where he went but I heard him making his ‘I have food’ chirping sounds nearby. I then spotted him a minute later sitting across the park square from me:
It looked like he had a freshly-caught sparrow:
He traveled low alongside the Bobst library with it:
I had a feeling Bobby delivered the meal to the crying fledgling because I didn’t hear the little one cry again for the rest of my visit.
I was half and half looking for the fledgling on the red Pless building and scoping out the park trees near me for the other youngsters. A Blue Jay started ‘yelling’ loudly in the trees so I closed in on it and found one of the other fledglings zipping from tree to tree.
It landed so low in one of the trees I was almost unable to focus on it with my telephoto lens:
It flew out of the trees and to one of the windows of the red Pless building:
It promptly landed on the terrace. It all happened so quick and the sparrows that were nesting under the terrace flew into a major panic at the fledgling’s presence:
The flock of sparrows flew together to a bush near me and were chattering loudly.
The fledgling hopped up onto the railing, jumped to the window again, then back to the railing:
It then flew back across the street and into the trees, passing by me so closely I could have touched it if I jumped up with my arm raised. It chirped when it reached the trees.
Scratch:
A fellow Hawk-watcher and I followed its movements over the next 20 minutes until it flew east on Waverly Place.
The fledgling was getting harassed by Blue Jays but it found time to relax and preen.
I was watching the tree fledgling when a park-goer kindly pointed out a fledgling on the white Pless ‘dinner table’. Thank you!
I think it was the same fledgling I had seen earlier on the red Pless building.
Scrunch and spring:
It flew east on Washington Place:
I lost it for good when it moved further back on the roof.
Back to the tree fledgling who was now crying in a tree outside the nest building:
It went to the northern area of trees before finally disappearing east on Waverly. Meanwhile, Bobby was sitting relaxed, back on his flag pole:
I left the park with him still in place.
Is it my imagination, or is this clutch of fledglings more adept and skillful than some earlier young birds? I remember heart-stopping moments in the street with a fledgling on a car or slipping off a window ledge…these guys seem to have learned to fly immediately, zipping around the trees and buildings as if they had lived there forever. What gives? BTW, the first picture of Sadie’s shadow against the red of Bobst is simply stunning…if I were you I’d submit it to some NG contest or something! Best wishes – Rena
Yes, it didn’t take long at all for these youngsters to learn the ropes of flying around the buildings. They are still learning (a few slips here and there) but overall they’re doing well. Thank you!