Tonight was quiet at the Riverside Park nest, except for a brief period where both the adult female hawk and an off-leash dog went after the same squirrel.  The hawk was not very happy and kept an eye on the dog from a branch above the dog. While returning to the nest for the evening, the mother swooped down near the dog to give him a message to stay away.

If my past observations of birds are correct, birds seem to “clean up the neighborhood” in the week before fledging.  Two years ago, in Green-Wood Cemetery, the Red-tailed Hawk father got rid of four aggressive Northern Mockingbirds before the kids fledged.  Similar behavior happened with the Eastern-Screech Owls in the North Woods of Central Park, who attacked neighboring raccoons just before their owlets fledged.

Hawks and dogs rarely interact, but it would be helpful if dog owners kept their dogs on leash while visiting the boat basin for the next month.  There is not reason to tempt fate.  Plus, there are two great dog runs just to the north and south of the Boat Basin were dogs can be off leash all day.