Hawk fledgling south of the park, Bobby totes food for his kin – July 9th, 2018

I had been searching through Washington Square Park for any of the Red-tailed Hawks for half an hour when Bobby appeared. He was flying high above the street a block south of the park, flying from east to west. I lost sight of him as he flew behind some buildings.

If you see a parent Hawk, it’s worth any trek to get closer to it because chances are you might see a fledgling either near its perch or below the adult Hawk’s last flight path. This is because the adult Hawks will often sit and watch over the youngsters or circle above them.

Bobby was long gone so I searched for a fledgling under Bobby’s flight path. It paid off this time because I found a fledgling sitting in a tree under where Bobby had flown. The youngster was tucked on a tree a block and a half south of the park:

It was almost completely hidden from view depending on how you positioned yourself:

A deep preening:

Relaxed foot dangling:

The Hawk was watching pigeons that were walking on top of and near the edge of the low roof near its tree:

The fledgling disappeared on me. It had been sitting in its tree for 17 minutes. I searched all over for it for half an hour but wasn’t finding it. The roof was mostly obscured from view so I returned to the park grounds.

Bobby was sitting on the southeastern flag pole, preening:

He dove like a bullet toward the base of his building 10 minutes later. I then saw him circling high above the area where I last saw the fledgling. A fellow Hawk-watcher and I went over to look for the Hawks there.

My friend spotted the fledgling circling just west of us. The fledgling flew in the direction of the park so back we went.

I saw a fledgling diving from the direction of the One Fifth Avenue apartment building and to the western buildings.

We saw it sitting on one of the decorative urns when we got closer to the park:

I was not sure if it was the same fledgling I saw south of the park.

It sat for 20 minutes before flying back in the direction of One Fifth Avenue:

A Hawk was on One Fifth Avenue but it turned out to be Bobby with some food:

He leapt off his perch with food in his talons:

We then watched Bobby and the fledgling circle east of One Fifth. The fledgling appeared to land on a terrace but we couldn’t find where it landed. Fledgling on the left, Bobby on the right:

Bobby still toting food:

I had to run anyway so the Hawks’ disappearance gave me the chance to leave. A fellow Hawk-watcher saw all three fledglings together yesterday so that was great news.