Today, I finally found the reason why there had been such aggressive behavior by two Northern Mockingbirds against the Riverside Red-tailed Hawks, a nest carefully woven into a Pine tree to protect the young Mockingbirds.
Tonight, I found the surviving fledgling on the large rock at the south end of the Promenade. It was being watched by its father, who picked up a rat and put it in a tree, where the fledgling came and took it.
The fledgling didn’t eat much, but made lots of calls. It was as though it was waiting for its lost sibling to call back. Once the fledgling gave up on its meal, the father came in and finished it.
Graphic pictures of a rodent being eaten follow both in video and pictues, readers beware.
The Henry Hudson Parkway traffic claimed another fledgling today at Riverside Park today. This leaves only one out of the original three fledglings still alive.
I received word that the police assisted in stopping traffic and the remains were retrieved and given to someone in the Parks Department.
The two fledglings had been on the same branch on a tree at the top of the stairs that leads to the underpass at 84th Street. One flew across the highway, above car height but did not fly high enough for the truck. It was then hit a few more times by other cars.
The fledglings have discovered the wall that separates the park for Riverside Drive and the West Side. While sitting on it, the hawks have a good view of squirrels and rodents below the wall. While below it, they can look into cracks between the stones to find nesting rodents.
For the hawks, it’s natural. For the hawk watchers, who know the city and its danger are just on the other side of the wall, it seems unnatural. But it’s just part of the hawk’s growing up and learning more about their environment. Soon they’ll be perching on Riverside Drive buildings, just like their parents.
We had a nice time watching two Eastern Screech-Owls wake up tonight for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, they gave us the slip at fly out by flying into dense cover. But it was nice to see that they were both healthy.
The fledglings are broadening their area and have begun doing some of their own hunting. This has meant going further north into the southern section of the Promenade and doing more aggressive flying going blocks at a time at a higher altitude.
