Night hunting and sun bath – November 23rd, 2019

I had searched for the Washington Square Park Hawks near sunset on November 20th but didn’t spot one for nearly an hour. A Cooper’s Hawk chased some pigeons then continued flying northwest.

I was in Sasaki Garden (located a block south of the park) when the resident pigeons flew in a tight, defensive ball together. It was a tell-tale sign that a raptor was around.

The pigeons swooped and swooped but there was no raptor! All of a sudden Sadie glided over the garden, circled near the pigeons, then continued on toward the park.

Night glide:

I caught up with her as she perched on the northwest building outside Washington Square Park:

I walked over to get nearer but she disappeared on me.

Today’s outing started pretty much the same as the one from the 20th. A Cooper’s Hawk made the pigeons panic before it disappeared west of the park.

A Peregrine Falcon then circled above the park for a little while:

The pigeons would panic now and then and fly in their tight ball but a friend and I weren’t seeing what was spooking them.

It was almost an hour later when I spotted Juno sitting on a 2 Fifth Avenue terrace railing:

I had to wonder how long he had been sitting there. The whole time? Only in the last 2 minutes? I know I had scanned his building but didn’t really look at it. The Hawks can sneak right up on you!

You can see him as he sits on the 2nd terrace from the top in the picture below. He could watch the pigeons assembled on top of the park arch (foreground) quite easily from his perch:

But Juno was not in hunting mode. He basked in the sun for 8 minutes then dove off and skimmed the park tree tops, circled above the arch, then did some acrobatics as he dove at something now and then:

I lost him when he zoomed northeast of the park. I walked as far as Union Square Park to look for him (and Sadie) but didn’t spot them there today.