Urban Hawks

On the second full day after fledging, both eyasses were found in various places around the park, as well as their parents. 

When I arrived, one eyass was on a building to the east of the Bobst Library, where the nest is.  It was on the roof for over an hour.  It ended up flying far south.  At the end of the day, this eyass’ location was uncertain.  It may have been on top of one of the Washington Square Village buildings, based on the parents behavior. 

While we were searching for this fledgling, a parent and a Peregrine Falcon chased after each other.  I hadn’t seen a Peregrine for awhile and thought they had left the neighborhood, but I guess they were just keeping a low profile.

Bobby and Rosie were both seen hunting in the evening.  Both caught rodents.  Bobby ate his second catch on a building south of the Silver building on the east side of the park.

Late in the evening one fledgling was found on a Silver balcony.  It begged a little for food.  Rosie came over with a rodent, and then flew of with it to a building to the south of Silver with the food.  Parents use food to move stuborn fledglings from location to location, and I suspect Rosie wanted the fledgling off of Silver.

The fledglings’ first day in the park seem to have been a great day for them. Folks found both fledglings, and both parents were easy to find during the day. 

I arrived in the evening to find two adults and a fledgling.  That fledgling took off from the Silver building, first for a tree and then ended up trying to land up on 2 Fifth Avenue.  It miscalculated its landing on 2 Fifth and ended up in a fenced in garden that is now a construction site.

Bobby took some left over food from Silver and eat it on the building directly to the south.   The other eyass who had been on that building (where Pip hung out after fledging), ended up on a window on Silver.  Rosie was on a flag pole for much of this time so we had three hawks, two adults and the other fledgling, in view.

Fledge Day at Washington Square turned out to be unlike any I have every watched.  Both eyasses fledged within ten minutes of each other (8:05 and 8:15) and ended up on the same ledge of a nearby NYU building.  Red-tailed Hawks don’t normally fledge together, nor do they usually fledge to the same place.  The fledge happened at dusk, another rarity.

I caught the first fledge while shooting video.  I couldn’t find where the fledgling landed, but both parents seemed to be searching a rooftop.  So, I went to 4th Street to see if I could get a view.  While I was there, a hawk came from the library.  I thought it was one of the parents, but would soon find out it was the second fledgling.

I returned to the building the hawks fledged to.  I thought I was photographing one fledgeling, but as it got dark it became apparent that a second hawk was there.  After reviewing pictures and photographs, it turns out the second fledgling had been there all along, just tucked out of view.  The ledge they fledged to was a favorite spot of the parents, and was one they often brought food to.

So, a new stage of the adventure begins.

I’ll write some more later, but this video says it all.  Well almost, both ended up fledging to the same ledge within minutes of each other at dusk.  Something almost unheard of.

Some equipment problems kept me from staying in the park longer this morning/afternoon but I had a good time none the less.

Bobby was on the cross for most of the morning before soaring off high in the sky.  Rosie delighted park patrons by hunting in the western section of the park, often from lamp posts.

The eyasses continued their flight training along the ledge.

There was yet another afternoon downpour this afternoon in Washington Square.  The eyasses loved it, like kids playing with a hose on a hot day.  They jumped and flapped like crazy.  (Pip did the same thing last year.)