There was lots of exciting Hawk action in Washington Square Park today. Bobby chased a juvenile Hawk away from the park, flew around a lot with Sadie, then rested on a building with Sadie before I left for the day.
A squirrel rushed over to me to beg for food when I paused to briefly look at something (they are so used to being hand-fed!):
Pigeons sitting on the back of a bench at the west side of the park:
I had seen Bobby in a particular patch of trees near one of the children’s playgrounds last month so I thought I’d check that patch and wouldn’t you know Bobby was right there!
I had been watching Bobby for several minutes when all of a sudden he turned, looked up toward the sky, and screamed:
The tree cover was too thick for me to see what Bobby was upset about. Bobby leapt off his branch, flew through the trees, exited the park, then landed on a building right outside the park:
I heard Bobby screaming north of the park. I got there in time to see him and a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk circling.
The juvenile:
The interaction lasted only a couple of minutes. I last saw the juvenile flying further north.
Victorious Bobby returned to the park:
I found him sitting on a southeastern building’s satellite dish:
The current look of the library facade renovation (the Hawk nest is in the window furthest on the right):
Bobby left the satellite dish and landed on another regular perch a few buildings north:
Bobby was only on his perch for a minute before flying above the park again:
Bobby flew south of the park. I went to the street south of the park and watched Bobby return to the park 11 minutes later.
Another 10 minutes passed before I saw a Hawk again. This time it was Sadie flying over the park:
She landed on the flag pole above the satellite dish Bobby was on earlier:
She had a full crop which indicated she had recently eaten. She flew off her perch 5 minutes later and disappeared when flying east of the park.
Bobby appeared a few minutes later and did something interesting; he flew very close to his One Fifth Avenue perch but kept going. He did this a couple of times. I looked at my pictures later and saw what looked like a bit of food sticking up on the perch. Bobby looked down at it as he flew by:
Bobby flew to the Hawks’ favorite southwestern building perch:
Sadie followed Bobby and landed right near him:
I watched them preen and relax for a while before I left.
ohhhh, the sixth picture from the end , showing Bobby landing , is just spectacular and shows the size of this Hawk. Viewing the Hawks sitting in the trees and on the nest…even flying in the skies ,seems to minimize Bobby’s size, but this photo showing Bobby’s wings curl in the landing mode is just wondrous.
Thanks Roger_Paw for this picture and story of Bobby living his own “Winged Victory”
Was the juvenile one of “ours?”
Thank you! Bobby is gorgeous, isn’t he? There’s no way to know if that juvenile was a WSP kid. There have been a few successful broods around Manhattan so it could have been any of those nests’ offspring. It could even be from a nest in say New Jersey or beyond.
Looking at the squirrel photo reminded me of a visit a friend and I made to Washington D.C. to see the Vietnam Memorial. There is a large park there, and it’s filled with squirrels. I sat down on one of the benches, and within minutes I was covered with squirrels. They were all over me, and my companion took several photos of this. It was cold so I had a long coat on, and there they were parked all over my coat and legs. If you ever go to the Vietnam Memorial remember there are LOTS OF SQUIRRELS THERE!!! Carlene
It sounds like you had fun but I think I’d be more freaked out than charmed if so many squirrels were on me. 🙂
It was a weird experience and I’ve never seen behaviour like this anywhere else and not in New York City. I noticed people feeding them but I had no food for them so I’m not sure what was going on. Sorry to dwell on the squirrels and not on Bobby who truly is gorgeous. Thanks. Carlene