Urban Hawks

While I only saw two fledglings this evening, lots of hawk watchers got to see all three.  One spent most of the day on the North East side of the park and others on the buildings south of the Silver building.

I got to see two fledglings and the parents.  It was fun because one made some long flights including one near the nest onto the top of the library.  I’m always amazed by how quickly the fledglings adapt to their life in the city.

I saw at least two and possibly three fledglings at Washington Square tonight.  One was glued to a window ledge and looked a little warn out from its fledgling on Sunday.

Above on the roof we saw a fledgling a few times.  Looking at the photographs, it looks like we saw two birds.  In some photos I see a bird with almost no line under its eye.  In other photos, a bird with a pronounced eye line.  At least it seemed that way, but because of the rain I could have been confused by seeing a wet and then dry bird. So, I’m not certain,

As we watch them more closely we’ll find more and more ways to tell them apart reliably.  Until then, I can tell you that I saw at least two fledglings today for sure.

Sunday was four stories:

• A new fledgling (2nd) exploring and being fed for the first time off the nest.
• Friday’s fledgling playing in the wind on top of the Silver Building.
• The last eyass fledged late in the day, had a rough landing, and ended up in a crowed park.
• A fledgling (either the 1st or 2nd) ended up on the sidewalk on Greene Street at dusk, but eventually flew down 1/2 a block and gained speed/height enough to find a roost for the night.

An exciting day to say the least. Time constraints prevent me from writing the full narrative, but I wanted to post the video and photographs as soon as possible.

Another bird took flight for the first time early this morning.  I’ll be in the park this afternoon and will give live reports if possible.  Follow me on Livestream, new.livestream.com/urbanhawks for notifications of broadcasts.

Update: Third also fledged.  There was some drama, but everyone is fine as of Sunday night.

Except for the fledgling begging for food, it was a quiet day in Washington Square.  The fledgling moved back and forth across building on Waverly Street.  Just as I got there mid-afternoon, it was on the Silver Building and flew to 1 Fifth Avenue, about a block away.  It was a nice strong flight. 

In the first week, we see the fledglings play king of the mountain on the buildings trying to get to a the high point.  This might be what’s happening here.  The parents were aware of the fledgling but didn’t feed it from what I could see.  They might be trying to lure it back to the park.

The eyasses still on the nest were being attended to by the parents, and when I went to look at them around 6 p.m. Rosie was just delivering a small rodent.

It was a good day to relax.  We might have some excitement on Sunday.