Mama Sadie Hawk was the first Red-tailed Hawk I saw in Washington Square Park today.
She was seated at her regular One Fifth Avenue perch:
From this perch she can look over the whole park and beyond.
In keeping with the resting pigeon theme of late, I saw a couple of pigeons relaxed on one of the eastern lawns as they do:
The pigeon I’ve nicknamed “Dover” walked right by me:
The Hawk babies had been lying low for the first 50 minutes of my visit. They finally roused and did some stretching and jump-flapping:
The young Hawks soon settled down again.
Sadie had disappeared from her One Fifth Avenue perch. I spotted her a few minutes later. She was sitting on the flag pole closest to the nest:
Off after 29 minutes:
Sadie then became pretty active. She first flew to a chain link railing she likes on NYU’s Silver Center. She then dove off, circled back, then landed on one of that building’s flag poles.
She got harassed by Blue Jays at one point.
Here she is screaming at one of them:
It was difficult to hear her over all the construction noise going on in the street below.
She flew off her perch, circled a bit, then returned to the same flag pole:
She flew off once more and that was the last time I saw her for the day.
The young Hawks got up again after a while:
This one got very bold and energetic:
It has distinctive chest markings I hope will help me distinguish it from the others after they all fledge (which should be soon!):
All settled down again:
Always unbelievable stop action photos
Thank you, Richard!
The wingspan in photo 17 is very impressive!
Love these shots. Thanks for sharing the action.
You’re welcome, Irene!
Interesting nest happening! Hopefully you’ll have the video!
6:56 another hawk on ledge!!!!
Fingers crossed!
No, I had no idea! I missed the action! How did the babies and/or Sadie react?
Hi, there! Today Tue June 4 at 6:56pm a visitor landed on the ledge just a few seconds after Sadie had flown in with prey. Is that something you might have captured or recorded? (and could post 🙂
As always, seeing your pics of off the nest goings on is a treat! Just invaluable. Thanks for all you do.
I had no idea about this other Hawk until I got comments here letting me know. Did this Hawk take the food? How long was it on the nest ledge? Thank you!
RP, visitor was on the nest for 1-2 seconds. Sadie had just flown in (with prey) and was against the wall with the kids, her back turned to the Park. She was there for maybe 5 seconds before he flew in, landed down on the other end of ledge but still in camera view (did NOT land in the nest) she took a beat then was in his face in a flash, sort of “pecked” at him in the face and he was gone from cam view, either flew off or further down the nest. She immediately returned to the kids. The kids didn’t seem to have much of a reaction, seemed focused on the food delivery.
As reported, it happened at 6:56pm. I was just lucky to see it, I hadn’t really been glued to the cam
Do you record video from cam? (crossing my fingers 🙂
Thank you for your excellent report! What a cheeky Hawk! I do record video from the cam from time to time but missed all of that action from last night.
Wondrous picture of dear Sadie “leaving” the flag pole. Thanks Roger_Paw.
In Sadie’s difficulty in “raising” her chicks alone, I find my respect for her knows no bounds.
They are being fed, protected and encouraged to mature into juvenile hawks.
Sadie, you have done it all …unfortunately alone.
When the nest is empty, I hope Sadie selects a hawk to become her mate.
Roger_Paw, I remember when Rosie was gone, Bobby seemed to mate quickly ,soon after.
Is this the same for both the male and female hawks? Finding/selecting a mate in a quick time frame?
It all depends on the Hawks really. When Violet was rescued Rosie showed up the very next day. When Rosie disappeared it took five months for Bobby to get a new mate.
Could this ‘interloping’ hawk, be attempting to take Bobby’s place? As you noted above, the ‘boys’ are quick to pick a new mate. Is this also true for the female hawks?
Love your pics. Been following you for several years. I so look forward to your updates on ‘our’ hawks!
Yes, it does appear that the new Hawk is trying to pair-bond with Sadie. I don’t know if there is any difference in timing between new males or females attempting to join an established Hawk. Thanks for your kind words, Karen!