I visited Washington Square Park around lunch time today. I had a bad feeling that I was visiting during the regular ‘witching hour’, the lull in the day when the Hawks are typically out of the park. Well, unfortunately my hunch was correct and the Hawk babies were lying low in the nest napping and Sadie was away from the park (probably hunting).
Even the park pigeons were snoozy. This one was catching a few quick Zs on an eastern lawn:
This lawn is a popular one for pigeon naps. I posted about this nap spot a couple of times last autumn.
The sidewalk below the Hawk nest is well spotted with Hawk baby poop. That section is a no-go area until after the babies fledge!
One woman walking beside a big spot:
The Hawk babies woke up and started stirring. Two of them backed up and pooped over the nest ledge.
One girl inspecting her arm after a partial hit:
Hawk baby exercising its wings:
Looking out onto the world:
A fellow Hawk-watcher got to watch Sadie return to the park, visit the nest, then perch on a nearby building a few hours after I left the park for the day.
Waiting for Mom …Sadie is no longer a stay at home hawk mom .
She works two jobs as provider and keeper of the nest w/ three adorable babies.
The babies are growing larger and stronger…
“Well Done, Sadie”
It’s hot in New York City, the kind of heat that puts pigeons to sleep in the soft, cool grass, and baby hawks to dose high in the humidity. Yesterday I watched a mother pigeon collecting twigs for her nest. She was very particular, carefully selecting only the twigs that were not too long or too thick.
Summer is here and the air is laden with the sweet scents of flowers and baby birds. The nest at 100th Street and Third Avenue has three baby red-tails, and there are two eyasses at 164th Street, one eyass at 310 West 72nd Street, St. John has two baby hawks on the nest, and Washington Square has three beautiful baby hawks for Sadie to care for. Happy summer everyone!!
I concur and was watching this morning as they work up. This is somewhat bittersweet as these are (likely) Bobbie’s last kids. How many has these been since Pip in 2011 (when I first started watching)?
I researched the numbers and here is the breakdown by year and number of surviving Hawk babies:
2011: 1
2012: 2
2013: 3
2014: 2
2015: 2
2016: 1 (Three eggs were laid but only one hatched and survived)
2017: 1 (Three eggs were laid but only two hatched. Of the two hatchlings, only one survived)
2018: 3
2019: 3
So all told, Bobby successfully sired 18 Hawks!
Thank You. I miss him every day.
Me too. He was my favorite Hawk of all time and losing him has been terrible.
I remember the videos you posted of him trying to feed Violet before she died when one of her legs was infected. He is that great. Sadie is my new heroine as what she currently doing by herself is amazing.
Is it possible Bobby is only missing, not deceased. I was just reading some previous comments made by Roger_Paw in 2014, and she stated that she did not see Bobby from September 07 to September 30th, a period of 23 days. I understand the hawks have tended to disappear in September, and this is May of course. But it makes me hopeful.
Bobby would not disappear like this during breeding season. He would be here hunting meals for the babies and for Sadie sometimes too. He and the other females would leave the park on extended breaks after the breeding season was well over. I do not believe we will see Bobby again.