I have been very busy at the office, so I haven’t had much time to get out and hawk watch over the last two weeks. On Saturday, I finally was able to get out and do a little bit of hawk watching in Washington Square Park.
On a hot afternoon, the park was crowded so the hawks I saw were staying up high. Two fledglings were on the Judson Church cross and Rosie was on 1 Fifth Avenue and the southern Silver building flagpole.
I took a few days off of hawk watching to catch my breath after watching lots of new fledglings. Tonight, after my break, I got to see all three of the Washington Square fledglings together only a few feet apart from each other. It was great to see them all, but many of the identifiers I’ve been using to tell them apart have changed over the last week! So, I’m at a loss to tell you, who’s who!
The Washington Square fledglings were easy to find this evening. I got to see them one at a time, however. I think I saw all three, but at the very least saw two.
One flew from a dorm roof all the way to One Fifth Avenue. It was a long flight and a good vertical gain. These hawks are a lot more confident than their first few days off the nest.
I can’t wait for them to begin to play in the park!
Fifth Avenue has a second fledgling. Both fledglings had been around the Levin Playground in the afternoon, with one sibling still on the nest.
I was only able to find one fledgling this evening. It was being tag teamed by a number of Bluejays. I think it got hit about ten times before the jays gave up. What a first day in the real world!
Sometime early this morning the first fledgling left the nest. This evening it could be seen on top of a balcony two buildings to the north of the nest. Its mother kept watch from a building across the street.
Only one eyass remains on the nest at West End Avenue/Riverside Drive. It’s unclear if we had a death or a premature fledge. Given the dates when it disappeared, a death is most likely. We’ll know later in the season depending on how many fledglings end up in the park.
Update 6-15-2003: I received an email that one of the eyasses did die after two days of rain a few weeks ago.
