Sadie watches over Union Square – January 24th, 2020

I was searching through Washington Square Park for the banded Hawk but no Hawks were to be found.

A fellow Hawk-watcher saw Sadie up at Union Square Park just a few minutes earlier so I made my way up there. Union Square has been part of the Washington Square Park’s northern territory ever since they arrived in 2011.

Sadie was still sitting where my friend last saw her; on the corner of Zeckendorf Towers.

The Con Edison tower in the background:

Sadie has used these towers as perches for a while now. Here’s a post from September where she had a nice sun bath there.

I watched Sadie relax for half an hour. She spent her time preening a little but mostly spent her time sitting still in the sun.

Up and off:

She flew right over Union Square and headed west toward 5th Avenue:

I did my best to find her but she was nowhere to be found. It was perilously close to “the witching hour” (when the Hawks disappear mid-day for their siesta or whatever other mysterious activies they do).

I gave up and returned to Washington Square Park to look for the banded Hawk again.

A decoy fooled me for half a second:

It had red tail feathers but a Peregrine’s face?

I searched for close to an hour but the park and surrounding areas were totally empty of raptors.