There wasn’t much Hawk action during my visit to Washington Square Park today.
I saw one Hawk sitting atop the Con Edison tower when I arrived:
I stayed in the park in the hopes it or its mate would come over. My attention turned toward the park’s resident pigeons in the meantime.
There are a few black-and-white pigeons that live in the park and their markings are quite similar to one another’s. They are not banded and I don’t know if they are directly related to each other or where their forebears hail from.
This pretty-faced one walked near me:
Compare that one with the pigeon I nicknamed “Dover” and you see some similarities:
Eating on one of the lawns:
There aren’t many rooftop coops in the city anymore but the two pigeons look an awful lot like the ones you see in the third photo featured in this article.
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It was around a half hour later when I then spotted a Hawk on sitting on the base of the Con Ed tower:
The Hawk disappeared while I was checking my camera settings.
I left Washington Square and headed over closer to the tower. The base was still empty but you can see what a good set of perches the tower provides:
This tower is indicated by the orange star in the map below (Washington Square Park is the park at the bottom of the picture):
Union Square Park sits underneath the tower so I searched that park for either of the Hawks. Our Washington Square Park Hawks and other Hawks passing through the area have hunted in this park many times. But not while I was there today though. 🙂
Goodness, you do travel a bit ,Roger_Paw, to take in both parks , all in a run for camera clicking!
The pigeons are so different appearance , than the regularly seen pigeons…the “others” also appear larger…is it so?
Are rooftop coops still allowed by the city? I am surprised, if they are allowed.
Thanks for the pics today…is it too cold for the smaller birds and where are the pesky squirrels ?
The different pigeon breeds are pretty much the same size. You would be surprised but the park is chock full of squirrels and smaller birds like sparrows, Starlings, and Blue Jays. They do just fine all throughout the winter.
It is not illegal to keep pigeon coops in the city. What I found to be pretty great when I looked into this is that the city does not even accept complaints about people keeping coops or pigeons as pets. They only step in when there are complaints of abuse or mistreatment.
Wonderful!
Thanks Roger_Paw for the “Hey, Arnold” segment. I had never seen this show, only heard about Nickelodeon.
This segment of the show is fairly “deep” for kids…But, the big question for you Roger_Paw is…
Do you wash your berries before eating them and do you fly towards the sun?
I am hoping you say, YES!
I enjoyed the history of the rooftop coops and pigeon people , as well as, the Nickelodeon post so much…many thanks!
Ha! I had no idea what you were referring to about berries and the sun until I watched the end of that “Hey Arnold” episode. What a lovely story! And yes, I do indeed wash my berries before eating them. 🙂