Urban Hawks

At least one of the fledglings is crossing the Henry Hudson Parkway on a regular basis now.  It’s a little scary to watch.  Sometimes the crossings are a high flight, but on Friday one of the crossings was a hop up onto a guard rail of an off ramp and then a low flight across the highway.

The fledglings were very active in the afternoon.  Chasing squirrels, playing with sticks and chasing each other.  The boat basin was a hawk nursery school for the day. 

While there were lots of people out on the extended holiday weekend, they generally did a good job of keeping their distance from the hawks.  Thanks everyone!

My afternoon and evening in Riverside Park started with one of the fledglings eating on the ground. 

I then was able to find the father south of the Boat Basin Café.  He was in an area near some trash dumpsters, and caught a rodent.  He ate part of the rodent and then moved north.

When I caught up with the father, he was with one of the fledglings.  Oddly, he didn’t share the rodent with the fledgling, although the kid did steal one bite.  I guess the fledgling was feed earlier, since it didn’t seem too hungry.

The other fledgling was a block north, so both fledglings were accounted for this evening.  I then walked south and found the father in on a lamp post above the café.  He was being scolded by a few Robins, as the sun set.

I went to Riverside Park after the rain on Tuesday evening.  It was wonderful to be the only one there for about 30 minutes.  It was like watching the parents in the winter.

I found the parents first.  They were together on the same street lamp, in the traffic island were last year’s nest was located.  They spent time preening and drying of from the rain.

I then found the fledglings near the river about a block south of the nest.   A downy feather floating down from a tree gave them away.  After about fifteen minutes, the mother joined the kids and they looked like they were going to roost by the river tonight.

We’re finally having some nice weather.  The two fledglings seem to be enjoying it.  They were both very active this evening, as were the parents who were nearby.

The mother arrived with some food and eat part of it.   She then gave it to one of the fledglings, who was getting frustrated with eating in a tree, and came down to the bushes to eat.  It was a good idea, even if it was a little unsafe.

Today both fledglings spent lots of time near a group of Robins near the Boat House Café.  Both ended up getting mobbed at some point.

Both birds also spent time on the ground.  The mother even dropped some food on the ground for one of the fledglings to eat.  The youngsters played with sticks, explored the bushes and had a few play fights.  The “action” was great fun to watch, although on a few occasions the birds ended up a little too close to the exit ramp of the highway making us a little nervous.

There were a few moments when passers by or hawk watchers would get too close to the fledglings, and today almost everyone was happy to take a few steps backwards to give the birds some breathing room.  It was nice to see New Yorkers, after an explanation of how concerned we were that the birds not be “pushed” up to the highway, stay on the paths and kept their distance.