I write to you as my better half and I are self-quarantining ourselves for a couple of weeks in our new home outside of New York.
We have moved away from New York and I will no longer be documenting the Washington Square Park Red-tailed Hawks.
As you can imagine, this was an extremely difficult decision to make because these birds have pretty much been my life the last 9 years.
I had always predicted I would stop blogging about the Hawks once Bobby died (he meant so much to me). But when he did disappear I had to stay on and find out how dear Sadie would take care of the youngsters on her own.
I knew I’d eventually leave New York to pursue a more quality way of life and would have to leave the birds behind.
So here I am in a beautiful environment with a whole new chapter of adventure and discovery ahead. I mostly welcome the quiet normalcy ahead of me.
My departure is tinged with heartbreak over the mystery of Sadie’s demise. I boarded my plane the morning of the 26th a little sad to be leaving New York but glad all looked well with the Hawks; they were going to have three babies to take care of and would teach the fledglings the ‘city ropes’. Little did I know that tragedy had already befallen the Hawk family.
Being unable to look for or help Sadie from afar has been torturous. If I do receive any substantive updates on Sadie I’ll add them to my previous post linked here.
As to why I didn’t mention my move sooner; the Coronavirus situation in New York was rapidly changing and new restrictions were suddenly being placed on New Yorkers. It got to where there was a risk domestic flights would be grounded, preventing us from flying when scheduled. I didn’t want to send a heartfelt goodbye only to be grounded for another couple of months or more.
I do not know if or when I’ll return to visit New York. It won’t be any time soon (especially now that we have a failed nest on our hands this year).
I’ll keep this site up and will preserve it but I do not anticipate I will chronicle a nest in my new area. The Washington Square Park Hawks are special and deserve to have this site kept just for them.
You know me to be a very private person so I won’t say where I have relocated to but I’ll tell you it’s been delightful to have the ability to encounter Bald Eagles, Killdeer, Red-tailed Hawks, and Sandhill Cranes in one sitting.
I will sticky this post regarding who to contact in a Hawk emergency since I will no longer be a hub of info or assistance: https://rogerpaw.com/2019/06/hawk-emergency-contact-information/
I hope you all know how much your support has meant to me all these years and how much joy it has given me when you’ve told me that you have enjoyed my blog. We learned so much about these amazing birds together, didn’t we?
Take good care, my dears!
thank you. thank you. thank you for all you’ve done on behalf of our enjoyment of these birds. I appreciate it so much. Good luck on your next chapter in life. You will be missed.
Thank you, Kristy! It was a pleasure to keep the company of these birds all these years and to be able to share my sightings with you and everyone else.
So sad for Sadie I cannot believe how sudden it happened so fast. Sad to realize we will not follow what is going on in Washington Square! I thank you for all your photos and blog! May be you will send us beautiful nature and animal pictures from wherever you are. Take care and give us some news once in a while! We all grew accustomed to your news if not your face!
A former NewYorker who moved toParis France!!!
Same; Sadie’s disappearance has been awful to bear. Thank you for your kind words, MacCarthy.
Oh, no! We lose Bobbie, Sadie & now YOU!!! TOO much loss for us to endure. We’ll never find out what happened to Sadie! Or the star-crossed RTHs at Tompkins Park, or even if NYU, without your constant ‘eye’ on them will destroy that nest now!! Your window into the living world around us, so close and yet impossible for us to experience without you – is gone! Dover!? Squirrels! small birds! The entire cycle of urban life has vanished along with you.
Yes, one wishes you well, safety, health and a productive new life – but really!!! Abandonment – on top of the CoVid-19 misery?? It is too much to bear.
It just may be that Juno will find a new lass and will keep the nest for next year. I hope that’s what happens.
You can follow Laura’s great site about the Tompkins Square Park Hawks here: http://www.gogginphotography.com/
I got to see Dover doing well the last day I was in the park so that was some good news.
Thank you so much, Susan.
Wishing you all the best in this new chapter! You and your chronicling will be sorely missed! Thanks for all you’ve done! Best wishes, Genia
Thank you, Genia! It was fun looking for the Hawks with you. Keep looking up. You never know when one will pass overhead. 🙂
Dear Roger Paw,
I had not heard about Sadie’ disappearance so that coupled with your departure from NY is distressing. Of course it is terrible that something has befallen Sadie!
However, you’ve chosen the right time to leave NY. I hope your new life provides you with all the happiness and connection that you’ve given us all these years. Congratulations and be safe. I hope you might start another blog full of humor, observation, and grace.
All best of luck, Roger P.
Carole
Thank you, Carole. Sorry for the double whammy. I had been planning this move for some time but it was strange to have to leave under such urgency health-wise. All the best to you and thank you for following my site all this time.
You’ve been a faithful and dedicated chronicler of the Washington Square red tail hawks, and I hope you end your endeavors knowing your efforts were SO appreciated! Following them just won’t be the same, or perhaps even possible. Good luck in your new surroundings, and good health!
That means a lot to me. Thank you, Lisa! Do take care.
I am sorry to see you go but wish you all the best in your new home base. Thank you for the enjoyment (and sorrows) that you have provided. It is just devastating to lose both Bobby, and now, apparently, Sadie. Your wonderful photography has provided so much enjoyment to all of use that love the NYU hawks. Thank you!
The painful times were enriching in their own way but never get easier. Thank you, Cathy.
Thank you so much for your great blog .I enjoyed it so much .I will miss the blog all the best .
Thanks, Michael! I’m glad you enjoyed it, I appreciate it!
I have been quietly watching all of your posts for years. Your devotion and photos are incredible. Your talents will be greatly missed. Good luck! Stay healthy!
I’m glad you wrote, Jenn. Thank you for your well wishes! And you please do the same!
Dear Rogers Paw. I am heartbroken to read this posting. My life in recent months has involved so many emails (political ones) that I am way behind in reading yours and not until today did I realize that Sadie had disappeared and that the nest had, therefore, failed.
I am sad that we are losing you for NYC, but also grateful for everything you have given to me and others for the past wonderful hawk watching years. Be well and enjoy your new life and surround. Send posts if you can – they are so wonderful to have.
Love to you
It has been very sad to say goodbye on such terms but I appreciate your kind words. It’s tough to accept Sadie’s disappearance but I thank you, Susan.
Dear dear RP –
First of all, let me wish you and your better half (and Roger Paw) much happiness in your new location.
I have to say there was quite a twinge in my heart when I read your farewell message. You probably don’t remember but years ago, 2013 or so – I met you while walking through the park while visiting my daughter who was at Columbia. Being a Boston viewer, it was so exciting to meet you and actually see the hawks in their environment.
But, most wonderful has been your loving coverage of park life and the nest, and the years of wonderful photos that have brought Bobby, Violet, Rosie, and Sadie to us. A very sad end to so many wondrous years.
Thank you!
And again, very best wishes to you in your new home!
You’re a sweetheart, thank you! I wish I were leaving in happier times. But the good memories will outlast the sad. All the best to you.
Oh dear Roger Paw, how we have grown through this journey with you. From the first moments of Bobby, Violet and Pip, we have experienced the cycle of life through your lens and your thoughtful insights. What a gift you have been to us and to the hawks whose lives you have lovingly protected and brilliantly displayed. I will be eternally grateful and wish you a life of happiness with many wonderful birds. It has been life altering for me to have had this experience with you. Thank you so very much.
It truly was an amazing journey we all took together. If those birds only knew how beloved they were by so many. 🙂 Thanks so much, Bev.
Dear RP…I will miss your posts but I am very happy for you. Everything ends, and this is particularly poignant given recent events. Bless you for all you have done over these years.
May you and yours have a long and happy life!
Thank you, Ann! I will miss my Hawk life but I have hope for my new future. Thank you!
thank you so much for your dedication and I am happy for you! Life is full of adventures and I have enjoyed having you a part of my life for I have no idea how many years! It has been since pip fledged and his mom died, right? That you took to doing this for us? I started watching pips nest as my VERY FIRST NEST EVER in 2010 as I moved from SO Cal to marry my husband and move to GA. I was so depressed and bored with GA omg and we came back to CA but that nest and these Washington Sq Park red tailed hawks have meant so much to me. I have a funny story. In my boredom in GA I would groom our beloved pure white (fur like soft wool, warm and cozy) every Friday. Never have I seen a dogs fur grow that fast so I maintained him beautifully. I would put the fur in a pile on the outskirts of the yard bfore our wooded area. One day I saw a fledgling red tailed hawk on our grass from the kitchen window. My husband, an avid wild life photographer and I went into the woods a week later, giving the babies a chance to just be and do. We looked up at the nest they built!!! It was full of Jammie’s fur! The coziest, fluffiest pure white nest did they make!!!!!! Love these birdies. Love love love your contribution to my life but so excited for you.
What an amazing story! Those birds had such a luxurious nest. I watch a live sheep cam and the people who run the place (Farm Sanctuary) leave the shorn wool in the field every spring. Animals and birds collect the bits of wool to take to their nests and dens. Just wonderful.
Thank you for being there all this time following the Hawk story, Jennifer!
Best to you. I miss you already!
You’re sweet. Thank you, Jennifer!
Dear Roger Paw, though we have moved to Maine I have followed your posts since the days of Bobby, Sadie and Pip and so appreciated your faithful loving and expert chronicle. Best of wishes to you in your new world… PipPipPippa….
Thank you, Julian! I’ve had such a rollercoaster of emotions the last few days and appreciate your well wishes. Thank you!
And another goodbye w/ all the best wished for you , your partner in your new home.
From Boston to California, I would watch for your updates and be so happy in the simple world you depicted in all your beautiful pictures of the “Life and times w/ the Wsp birds and critters”. You are missed and another lesson, the fact ,that life goes on…must go on.
Happiness and Thank you Roger_Paw, for all the happiness and peace you offered to us all in viewing your wondrous pictures. You may , indeed, find a bit of homesickness for your stomping grounds of WSP, but pull up your pictures , sit back, and enjoy, as I have these past 19 years.
Smooth sailings always. I have learned in my ancient 83 years, each goodbye brings new adventures.
You don’t replace the past , but just keep adding to the happiness and JOY waiting for you. Bon Voyage
It’s been a pleasure having your company all this time, Jeanne. Oh yes, I miss the park as it was; full of vibrancy and Hawk action. These memories will sustain me forever. Thank you for your friendship and presence all this time, dear Jeanne!
Since the very first camera on the Nyu Hawks this has been a great journey. Your coverage will greatly be missed. I wish you well on your next adventures
It has definitely been a great journey despite all the heartaches. Thank you!
I have always greatly appreciated your work. I will miss you.
Please have a great life.
Thank you! I promise I will do my best. 🙂
Such a great discovery to have learned of your coverage and marvelous photography of the Washington Square Park Red-Tailed Hawks over the past years! So much to learn about, and so much to appreciate and to wonder.
The fondest wishes to you and your partner in your new surroundings, Roger_Paw, with many thanks from all of us fans!
What else can I add that hasn’t already been said? Good luck to you and your’s as you begin your next chapter in this journey we call life.
I too began watching when the NYT was running the cam. Then LiveStream had it for awhile, and I used to love chatting with the same people almost every day.
Then your beautiful photography and prose re: the RTH’s everyday life. It’s too much to bear, now that you will be leaving. Perhaps with all the wild-life in your new location, you will be able to post the odd picture, when you get settled of course!
Please keep us informed if you hear anything about Sadie.
Have a great life, and thank you! God bless!!
Thank you! I’m sorry to disappoint with my leaving. I acknowledge a lot of people were depending on me for such detailed Hawk news. But I thank you for the lovely send-off. In answer to your other comment: I’ll be keeping the site up so no worries, all the old content will stay where it is.
Thank you! I never would have learned photography if it weren’t for the Hawks. They were the perfect muse for me. Thank you for your fond wishes.
God Bless you both, Roger – your work here has been inspiring and loving…I have followed you from Bobby and Violet and Pip through the sadnesses and joys of all of our red-tailed friends today. Much love in your new venture…be safe, and strong, and as wonderful as you have been to us all and as life will allow. Rena and David
I’ll never forget your great friendship, Rena and David. Thank you for being there for us following Hurricane Sandy! All the best to you two. Big hug.
Dear Roger Paw: Your dedication and protective umbrella for the WSP Hawks and wildlife will be sorely missed. You have contributed so much to enlighten and inspire so many to follow the RTH adventures over the past several years, sharing the happiness and sadness that always comes with Mother Nature and wildlife. It was a joy to know you so deeply cared about the Hawk families. And now, it’s time for you to chart a new course. There’s always a degree of pain to leave the past, one that you’ve loved and built on, and move to something new, but, it sounds like you have some new adventure opportunities of your own to explore. Wishing you the very best. We’ll miss you.
You summed up my thoughts and feelings perfectly. Thank you so much, Sue.
This has been such a beautiful journey from the day the cam came on. Bobby, Violet and Pip. They changed our lives forever. Thank you for always keeping us up to date.
Have a wonderful life! JoyAnn Sea
Thanks for being there all this time following the Hawk saga. You are right; they have changed our lives forever!
Saddened to hear that you will be leaving the City. I always looked so forward to your updates especially when the eyesses fledged. The nest and your updates provided such great joy and sadness too,the loss of some of the hawk family members, and your leaving is bittersweet. I wish you such Joy and success in your relocation.
Thanks, Susan. I dreaded writing this post and saying goodbye because of that bittersweetness. But it’s all for the best and I look forward to my new life. Thank you!
I am so sad to be losing you! I don’t even remember how long I’ve been watching these hawks with you ❤️
We’ve been through a lot! Violet was our first loss. I’ll miss you and the camaraderie of the early days especially! Good luck in all that is ahead for you and Thank You for all these years
Thanks, Dottie! It’s been a pleasure conversing with you in the comments about our beloved Hawks. Thanks for being there all this time and all the best to you!
Dear RogerPaw, Oh no! I have tears in my eyes. Your account of the goings-on since the early days of Violet, Bobby and Pip–like for so many of your fans– has been a touchstone to me of Mother Nature surviving the big city. Your love and devotion to the hawk family has been inspirational. You’ve had a profound influence on many more followers than you know.Best wishes on the beginning of your next chapter. I have a feeling, you will adopt another avian family in the wilds of wherever you settle and predict you will chronicle them in as loving a manner. I’m feeling very sad and will miss your posts but also happy for your new adventure. All the best, Mimi (Look up Julie Zickefoose and her fantastic bluebirds)
Ah Mimi, thank you! I’ve had a few good cries myself over the last few days over everything. Many thanks for all your kind words. It means so much to me!
Roger. You know how I feel.
Sad for me but happy for you.
I loved the elegant and appreciative tributes to you. All different, all true.
You touched a lot of lives on the ground as well as virtually- and all over the world !
Ya did good kid.
Enjoy your new space and I hope to see future photos and a new blog…
I will never forget my first meeting with Rosie.
What a day ! We were all heady with excitement. This girl was auditioning for Bobby with 4 quick kills in 15 minutes and we were running, watching, and impressed. Some very good times hawking on the ground with you.
Virtual hugs to you both. Til we meet again xo
Irene
That first day with Rosie was truly unforgettable. Thanks for this lovely comment, Irene. I’m pretty struck by everyone’s response. It’s all making me feel much better despite the circumstances.
I will miss you and your blog so much. I’m an expat NYer and reading your blog got me my fix of NY in addition to RTHs. As difficult as this is for your many long-time readers I imagine how hard it must be for you. All the very best to you, stay well, and thank you for all the years.
Thanks, Peggy! Yes, leaving the Hawks behind was extremely difficult. I have tons of fond memories to keep me going though. Thank you!
Wishing you all the best in your new life. It’s been such a pleasure following you and the hawks all these years. There have been many dramas and some very sad events, but mostly your blog has offered readers a chance to slow down and share up close the beauty of the city hawks you chronicled. Really, a great achievement, & I’m glad you’re keeping the blog online. Leaving the city is a huge decision, but it sounds like you’ve made the right choice. It sounds wonderful.
Thanks for the lovely words. Oh yes, the site will remain just as it was. The Hawks must be remembered and honored and it’s the least I can do to keep their memory alive. I’m glad I left the city for what it’s worth. Thanks again and good luck to you and your wanderings around town.
RP,
I can’t believe how I’m choking up reading this page. I started watching your blog after I met you in the park several seasons ago and you handed me your beautiful card. Your page has given me many pleasures. I really admire your devotion and beautiful photos. I don’t doubt that you’ll discover a project worthy of your time and energy. Maybe if it becomes a blog you could notify your fans.
Stay well, and thank you.
Thanks so much, Meredith. I remember you and your calming demeanor quite well, dear! I’m so glad to hear you’ve followed the Hawk adventures ever since. Thanks again and take good care.
Oh, Roger_ Paw…our hawks are missing and presumed dead….you have moved on to greener pastures and a new adventure….now, I just read the Bobst camera site is off air and the chat room has been disbanded.
I know we are all hardy stuff and will survive, but this is a wallop to my heart ,as I sit in the world of social distancing. Knowing my fellow hawk lovers remain constant and you are happy ,does lift some of the sadness from this time.
Love to you and all the names in the blog, I have become to “almost” know , but surely I love you all.
It’s truly intense how all these things have come to a close (if only briefly) all at once. But you’re right, we’ve all been in this together and will be forever bonded thanks to these wonderful birds.
Dear RP,
I was walking through Washington Square Park on an exercise expedition with my wife and kids on Thursday, and we saw two Redtail Hawks patrolling the zone. I am not an expert, but maybe we should not necessarily assume the death of the nesting pair? Best wishes for your new adventures and thanks!
Thanks, Jonathan! You may have seen the two right before Sadie disappeared.
If it was after her disappearance, the odds are that one of the Hawks you saw was not Sadie but miracles are known to happen. Every time we’ve had one of the adult Hawks disappear they have not returned (either they died or were driven out by another Hawk). It would be wonderful if that were Sadie you saw. A fellow Hawk-watcher I know could confirm. The likely scenarios would be that you saw Juno flying with Sadie before she disappeared, he was flying with a new female, or was escorting another Hawk away from his territory.
It’s very bittersweet. I’ve followed you for years and will sorely miss your posts. At the same time I wish you good health and a good life. I have a lump in my throat.
Be well, always.
Teri
Thank you, Teri. I really appreciate it. It makes me glad folks enjoyed my site so much but sad to say goodbye. Thank you! All the best to you.
Wishing you and yours health and all the best in the next chapter of your lives. It was always a pleasure to see you in the park. Your presence and storytelling will be missed. -Georgia
Thank you, Georgia! I wish you the best with all your projects. It was lovely to meet you and watch the Hawks and other critters in the park with you!
Oh my, you will be dearly missed. Have relied on you & the cam for so many years. I miss Bobby still….am not sure I could get through Sadie’s disappearance.
Thank you for so kindly posting your wonderful pictures and thoughts these many years. Roger_Paw is my favorite blog! You will be missed.
Live long and prosper,
Patricia
I’m honored, Patricia! I am sad to say goodbye but I thank you for all your support and well wishes. Thank you!
I’ve follow you from the very beginning and cannot tell you how much enjoyment I got out of your work. You will be sorely missed, but I’m very happy that you have so many good things ahead of you.
Thanks so much for all you did for the entire WSP hawk community.
Regards, Bill
Thank you, Bill! It really makes my day to know that I was able to bring the Hawks to you guys in a meaningful way. Thank you!