I received word from multiple people this morning that one of the Washington Square Park fledglings had been taken to an uptown wildlife rehab facility. It was retrieved before 10AM.
The fledgling was discovered outside 10 Washington Place, a building a couple of blocks east of the park. Members of the NYPD were called and collected the Hawk and brought it to the Wild Bird Fund.
Our Park Ranger friend Ranger Rob Mastrianni told the NYPD he’d be right over to check out the fledgling’s condition but was told it was already gone. “Ranger Rob” has been a terrific friend of the Washington Square Hawks and has rescued and released several of them over the years.
The fledgling was alert and standing so hopefully it is not too banged up and was mostly stunned. I will let you know when I receive a fuller update on its condition. I do not know which fledgling it was. I was sent a photo of it when it was still on the sidewalk but I could not definitively identify it (I could not see its chest markings).
I hope that it recovers swiftly and is released back home under’s Sadie’s care again soon!
UPDATE: Here is a picture of one of the responding officers holding the fledgling and a picture of the fledgling at Wild Bird Fund.
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Sadie was on an NYU flag pole when I visited the park today:
She was looking down exactly where a couple of readers told me they heard a fledgling crying (at West 4th Street and Greene Streets):
I stepped back and saw that the male Red-tailed Hawk was sitting on an antenna below Sadie:
One of this site’s readers, Meg Roeck, wrote a comment in yesterday’s post suggesting the name “Juno” for this male as he came to the park in June. That name sounded perfect to me as soon as I read it. Yes, this male did come to the park in a big way and began bonding with Sadie in June so I shall refer to him as Juno from now on.
And yes, I know that Juno is the name of a Roman goddess but this Hawk was not named after her and I rather think it is an appropriately masculine-sounding name on its own. 🙂
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I searched all around for the fledgling that had been in the trees yesterday but didn’t see it. So I returned to the block east of the park where I heard the other fledgling crying on and off.
For the life of me I could not locate it. I circled that block several times but could not see it. I saw a Hawk flapping on top of the building the fledgling was last reported to be near. I saw this flapping at 2:23PM. When I saw this flapping I thought it was the fledgling but of course I could be wrong.
It wasn’t until I got home when I read a message from one of my readers who said he heard it crying in that vicinity at 4:15PM. It would be great to see it tomorrow so we can be sure it’s OK.
“Juno” perched on the flag pole Sadie had perched on a couple of hours earlier:
He was watching Sadie approach from the southwest. She flew past and continued northeastward.
He leapt off his perch 15 minutes later and circled right above:
He too then went northeast but more toward the buildings lining the eastern side of the park.
I saw Sadie circling a block northeast of the park 20 minutes later when I had already packed up my gear and was headed out.
Thanks for the update! I went to the park today to see if I could spot any activity, but I don’t have the same keen eye as you. I also reached out to my friend at wild bird fund to put him in touch with you, but I imagine you’re already in contact with them. I sent him your Website anyhow. Fingers crossed the baby makes it back to the park and healthy! Do you think Sadie’s been able to feed them or teach them how to hunt?
Thanks for referring your friend to my site! Yes, I’ve been in touch with the manager (Rita) and am awaiting a response to my recent email. But I welcome your friend’s contact too.
Sadie has definitely fed at least one of the fledglings as detailed on Bruce’s site Urban Hawks in this post.
It’s still early for Sadie to teach them how to hunt. They’re still at the feeding stage and that could last another couple of weeks. Some fledglings start hunting very early but that was when all the conditions were right (meaning Bobby was in the picture and the fledglings were collected together and not so scattered about as they are this year).
Juno is a handsome name. Male names in romance languages end in “o” so calling him that works for me. Anyone who gets stuck on the Roman goddess connection doesn’t have an open mind or appreciation of the nearly infinite variations in world languages. Kudos to Meg who first mentioned the name.
Thanks, Will!
Yes, the ‘o’ at the end of the name makes it masculine to the ear which is why I think it fits as a name for this male. Well, like I wrote above, he was not named after the Roman goddess anyway so there shouldn’t be any hang up in that respect. 🙂