I had only been in Washington Square Park for 5 minutes when I noticed a Red-tailed Hawk on the distant Con Edison tower base:
I walked closer but of course the Hawk was gone by the time I was a couple of blocks from the tower.
I returned to Washington Square Park and looked around for anything interesting to photograph when I spotted a Hawk circling over the eastern buildings!
I couldn’t identify it due to its distance but the bird may have been Juno because one of its wings had a slight feather gap like he has.
The Hawk circled higher and higher then joined up with a second Hawk:
They would at times circle separately then zoom over to each other and make contact with their talons. They may have been fighting but I’m not sure.
Flying and looking up at its visitor:
One of the Hawks flew southward while the other flew to the Hawks’ One Fifth Avenue perch:
Oh no! My camera lost focus on the Hawk while I was panning!
Barely getting focus again as the Hawk came in for a landing:
The Hawk tucked down low on the ledge and became impossible to see anymore. It’s safe to say this Hawk was either Sadie or Juno considering its familiarity with that perch as a resting spot.
I waited around for about 25 minutes in the hopes it’d pop up again.
A crow rushed over, circled above the building, cawed at the Hawk, then retreated:
I had to leave but it was great to see Hawk activity back at the their home base again.
Thanks, Roger_Paw for the great pictures.
It seems as if this is such a different year for our Hawk family.
Missing Bobby and the time spent elsewhere by Juno and Sadie, sometimes returning to WSP.
As we do in our own lives, we accept the new and grieve the lost and familiar.
Is the park foliage dressing up for Autumn yet? That brings a cheer.
Hi. Yes, there is some color change in a few trees but we’re not yet in full peak. Juno and Sadie are visiting the park a little more frequently but nowhere near as often as Bobby and Sadie did.
I am so happy to see today’s post. I have my own set of RTH’s here in GA. The other day about 3 black birds, crows by their sound, were tormenting the RTH, who I think was one of our recent fledglings.
Perhaps not, as it was still in the area of the nest, more or less. The crows were relentless. Kept dive bombing the hawk, who kept evading, then eventually, it flew off. The entire time it was ‘crying out’, which is why I thought it was a fledgling.
My poor old deaf and blind dog was trying to walk up to the garage, while I kept her leash in-line so that I could watch the sky happenings. Eventually, my poor dog was about to suicide if she threw herself forward one more time, so I reluctantly went in. Unleashed her, went right back out, all the birds were gone.
Thanks again for your watching of ‘our’ NYU RTHs!
Hi! The fledgling you saw might be a fall migrant (as some Hawks travel from the northern US to further down south) or a local fledgling. Crows can be relentless!
I always enjoy your anecdotes. 🙂