Fledglings fly through the trees, dive for prey – June 30th, 2018

Today was the first time I saw the Washington Square Park Hawk fledglings diving for prey. There were a couple of other firsts today (such as one of the youngsters sitting on a park bench).

Today’s visit started early before it got too hot (we’re expecting to have several days of 90+ degree weather in NYC). One of the fledglings was on the roof of NYU’s Silver Center, the building outside the northeast corner of the park. Mama Sadie Hawk soon flew to and landed below it:

Looking up toward the fledgling:

The fledgling would cry sometimes. It would stare at the park trees below it and make motions like it was going to dive down into them but then it’d retreat.

I heard another fledgling crying on the white NYU Pless ‘dinner table’:

That fledgling flew to its neighboring building, disappearing out of view.

The Silver Center fledgling made its way down the side of the roof after an hour and 15 minutes to a tuck-away spot I’d never seen a Hawk sit at before:

I focused on Sadie now that the little Hawks were out of sight.

Stretch:

After a few minutes I heard a Blue Jay giving out what sounded like Hawk warning calls. One of the fledglings soon flew from west to east, closer to me and the Silver Center building:

I then spotted its sibling fly to a higher part of its tree:

I was hoping that I was with three fledglings now. I returned to Silver to check on the fledgling that had been in that tuck-away spot but did not see it. I suspect that it flew to the trees when I wasn’t looking.

The two fledglings then spent the next 20 minutes flying from tree to tree. They met up and stayed in one particular eastern tree (on separate branches) for a good 50 minutes.

One fledgling on a low branch:

The other hopscotching on a few other branches much higher up:

Their tree was in a fenced-off area for seeding so they were well separated from people. The fledgling on the lower branch would watch the squirrels passing underneath its tree intently.

The fledgling that had been in the higher part of the tree surprised me and a fellow Hawk-watcher by diving over a few trees to prey on the ground:

The fledgling did not catch anything. It flew to a tree and turned around and faced us again. All of a sudden Sadie came rushing through the trees and landed nearby:

This set off both fledglings to cry and beg loudly at her. The diving fledgling flew to Sadie’s tree, crying. Sadie moved to a tree closer to the other fledgling. The diving fledgling chased after her:

Sadie on the left, fledgling on the right:

Past fledglings have rushed parents like this in the past to snatch whatever meal the adult had for them. But Sadie had nothing so the fledgling calmed down and relocated.

Squirrels came to investigate this fledgling:

Sadie:

Both fledglings continued to cry. A group of park-goers and tourists stopped to watch and film the three Hawks. It must have been a shocking sight and sound experience for those not expecting them.

The fledgling that had sought prey earlier apparently took matters into its own hands. It stopped begging from mom and dove into tall grasses:

It did not catch anything but it was a good effort because rats and other critters can be found in such grasses.

A few of the tourists that saw the fledgling drop to the ground rushed over to try to get close to it. The fledgling flew to a bench:

The tourists kept heading toward the fledgling but it then flew several feet and ascended to a tall tree (the man on the bench never noticed it):

Both fledglings now flew through the trees again. One of them even flew over the park square to a tree near the arch:

They both eventually returned to the trees close to Sadie.

They started to beg again. Their cries were very loud. I took video of their crying but please excuse the footage’s shakiness (I don’t normally take video so I had no tripod):

The two fledglings then dove toward prey again before perching in a couple of trees near each other:

I left the park with all three Hawks still in their respective trees. Two of my Hawk-watching friends later reported seeing them dive to prey again and soaring near One Fifth Avenue.