One of the baby Hawks fledged this morning. NYU’s Hawk cam kept freezing so I missed the flight. The other two babies are still on the ledge at the time of this posting so hopefully I won’t miss seeing their first flights out.
Sadie was on the corner of NYU’s Silver Center building when I arrived. This is a regular perch of hers:
Sadie and the new male Hawk who’s been frequenting the park circled together over the park before heading north.
I believe this new male was the same Hawk I saw on May 9th when I first wrote about Bobby’s disappearance. I suppose it noticed Bobby’s absence and began to closely check out Washington Square Park.
Sadie chased this Hawk away from the park on June 5th but was more accepting of it today as you’ll see later in this post.
I had been in the park for an hour when I got the call that fellow Hawk-watchers found the fledgling!
The fledgling was sitting on one of the eastern building tops. It was very sleepy:
A Hawk landed on Sadie’s corner so I assumed it was her but no, it was the new male Hawk!
I realized it was him when he turned and looked down at the fledgling:
He flew to the railing above the sleeping babe:
The male Hawk stared down at the young Hawk. The fledgling looked up and started crying:
The male flew close enough to the fledgling to make the youngster throw out its wing defensively:
I am hoping that this male is not going to be a problem for Sadie and her young. It’s obvious that he’s beginning to establish himself in the park but how he treats her babies remains to be seen.
The fledgling recovered quickly and got snoozy again:
Another hour and a half passed. Sadie delivered food to the remaining two babies on the nest ledge. The male Hawk flew into the trees across from them.
The Hawks looking at him:
Sadie flew out and returned to the corner of the Silver Center building:
The male Hawk flew to a window (in NYU’s Shimkin building) across the way from her. He then joined her at her perch:
Sadie leaning toward him:
He then flew back to the Shimkin building:
He had landed on the top of the building then eventually flew south. Sadie flew south too.
I am not sure who returned to Shimkin first but the two perched in the same window together:
He then dove toward where the fledgling was but I could not see the fledgling anymore.
I heard the adult male scream around the time he neared the fledgling but I don’t know what exactly happened between them. I saw the fledgling again later and it seemed alright.
The two Hawk babies in the nest would preen and do a little flapping now and then but they were pretty subdued.
Hello:
The male Hawk flew from tree to tree then landed right above me and a few other ‘Hawkers’:
He flew to the other side of the park and Sadie watched over the park on her tall One Fifth Avenue building perch.
I left the park with the two babies relaxing on the ledge:
The above account was of action over a 5 1/2 hour park visit. Sadie joined the two young Hawks on the ledge for the evening when it got dark.
You should continue to watch the cam after all the babies fledge because you can watch them travel on the eastern buildings when the cam is set to a wide angle.
In the screenshot below you can just make out the fledgling sitting on the railing as it was at 6:51PM (as pointed out by the arrow below).
This is super exciting! I can’t wait to see what develops with the new make and the fledglings
This is an extraordinary fledge season with this new male navigating his place in the family dynamic. I too am looking forward to see how it all develops (good or bad).
Hoping this new male in , attempting to ingratiate himself in our hawk family has good intentions.
Will Sadie continue to feed the new fledgling or is busy w/ babies in the nest and her new suitor?
I am not overly excited , just yet or ready to throw confetti until the other new hawks fledge safely’
Sadie will continue to feed all of them. The Hawks bring food to the fledglings for the first few weeks until the fledglings learn to hunt for themselves (depending on their development they could hunt earlier).
Thank you for you comprehensive posts and the great photos!
It’s my pleasure, Ruth!
Did another hawk fledge? I was just watching the live feed and there is only one hawk standing in the nest. Looks like it might be Sadie – the lone hawk looks tall!
Yes, the new male attacked the young Hawk and they both fell out of the nest. The fledgling is ok. I’m about to do my post from today’s events so stay tuned.
So relieved through the disappearance of Bobby – may he rest in peace and I suspect poisoning (damn rodenticides) – tht the babies are being fed……. Looks like Sadie has a new Mate. Will he bring food to the nest????
No, this male is aggressive and attacking the baby Hawks. He is not going into parental mode at all. I’ll provide more details in today’s post.
Has something changed in the past few hours? I cannot get Live Feed but heard that there is a fledgling in a tree in the park? Is this a second fledgling? And, is the new suitor being mean towards Sadie’s Hawklets? Hope everything works out for this dear family and thanks for the terrific pictures, as always!
Sorry, been reading up on the mornings activities and it seems a forced fledge happened with #2, and a third hawk is in the nest? Glad to hear Sadie is still in the area and feeding the fledgling, but I wish the tiercels aggressive/dominant behavior would ease up. I need to take a deep breath…😕
And gee, we don’t even know if Sir Suitor had anything to do with fledge #1…
Good point. I do not know the circumstances behind the first fledge.
To the best of my knowledge, no one caught it.
I am convinced, after the developments with the other two babies, that the new male hawk was responsible for it. My overarching concern is food. How will the babies survive without Sadie? They don’t know how to hunt, never learned. I am so upset!
Sadie will do her best to feed them before they learn to hunt for themselves.
Yes, the male Hawk attacked the young Hawk and they both fell out of the nest. I’ll provide more updates in today’s post but the second fledgling is ok.