We found two of the youngsters and their father in the park this evening. One was playing on the roof of the Men’s room, playing hide and seek with a squirrel and then taking a bath. The other was in a nearby tree and their father was hunting near a dumpster.
One last nest update. The single fledgling at 84th and West End fledged a week or two ago while I was away.
The Sheep Meadow hawks may have nested on the SE corner of the Plaza this year and had three eyasses. The nest can not be seen from the street, and it is unclear if they have fledged yet. Any reports from the SE corner of the park would be welcome.
The two fledglings on Fifth Avenue had a mellow afternoon keeping cool and hunting behind the Kerbs Boathouse on Tuesday. Some seasons we have reluctant fliers or hunters and this season it great to have two healthy fledglings doing so well.
On my last visit to Darien, I counted three chicks, but now that they are larger, it’s clear there are four. The nest was very busy with lots of feedings.
There was also an interesting “sponge bath” of grass, that the mother brought up to the nest as well. Plus there was an intruder Osprey who made a half-hearted attempt to steal a fish from the nest.
At least one of the Fifth Avenue fledglings is hunting for itself now. A mouse and a rat were caught on Saturday afternoon. It’s very nice to see at least one of them be so independent, so early in the summer. Most of the action took place around the Kerbs Boathouse, although both hawk fledglings had been on high perches on Fifth Avenue buildings during the afternoon.
The Washington Square Park Fledgling was having lots of fun this evening. I found it on top of 2 Fifth Avenue where it played in the wind realizing that if it put its wings out, it would have lift off. He then went down into the park chasing a group of pigeons and ending up on the Judson Church roof. That’s a great deal of flying.
Later, he made some a few trips around the east side of the park, and even went over to the roofs of Washington Square North.
From the pictures, you can see his primary and secondary feathers that hadn’t grown in when he fledged look good now. The only feathers with issues are two tail feathers. It’s nice to see him looking less scruffy.
