An afternoon with the Tompkins Square hawks

Friday afternoon, I was happy to find both Tompkins Square Red-Tailed Hawks around the park. 

This is Amelia on the cross of St Brigid's Church on Avenue B.

A short while later, she moved a block north to the roof of the Christodora building.

She was soon joined by Charlie who flew in from the left.

After checking in with Amelia, Charlie moved to the ladder on the south side of the building.

Something caught his attention and he flew over to the chimney on the north side of the building.

Eventually, Charlie came down into the park and started making his rounds.

Here, he perches in the Krishna Tree.

As I watched him, he suddenly took off after a rat.

My photos of him carrying his catch back to another tree aren't so great, so we'll just skip to when he held the rat in his talons on a branch.

The rat was a decent size, but Charlie chomped it down in just 4-5 bites. 

Was that just an appetizer? He wasted no time taking off again.

I followed him around as it looked like he might make another catch, but he seemed to be comfortable and taking his time.

In this photo, you can see his bright "eyebrow" which helps identify him. Amelia does not have this field mark. His eyes are also light and bright,

Just as the sun went down, both hawks flew out of the park, which was my sign to leave for the evening. All seems to be well in hawk world.

Bird highlights to start the new year

I still have a ton of bird photos from the last few months that I haven't been able to share. Below are a few to start the new year. 

Great Egret: 

Black Vulture:

Turkey Vulture:

Great Horned Owl:

Horned Lark:

Common Loon:

Great Cormorant:

Green Heron:

Great Blue Heron:

Yellowlegs:

Red-Winged Blackbird:

Snowy Egret:

Northern Cardinal:

Brown Pelican:

Checking in on Amelia and Charlie

There hasn't been much to report recently about our local Red-Tailed Hawks, Amelia and Charlie, but they are around and appear to be doing well.

I found Charlie perched on the ladder on the roof of the Christodora building last week. 

Just before sunset, he flew down into the park and went on the hunt for rats.

He made the rounds of the park, moving from tree to tree in different areas to check out the rodent selection. Then he flew to a lamp post on the west side of the park and proceeded to turn the light on and off. I've seen him do this before and it's pretty amusing.

While I'd like to think he turns on the light so he can see the rats better, I'm pretty sure he's covering the sensor on top of the light, which turns it on. When he moves his feet, the sensor is exposed and the light turns off. 

Taking one last look around, Charlie took off and caught a rat on the far side of the park. 

This is him perched on a snow-covered branch after one of the snowfalls in December.

 

On Friday, I found Amelia and Charlie perched on the cross of St Nicholas of Myra church on Avenue A.

After a few minutes, Charlie took off into the park.

This is Amelia perched on the dome of Most Holy Redeemer on E. 3rd Street.

And this is her atop St Brigid's church on Avenue B. 

In the next few weeks, the hawks should start displaying mating behavior, and if all goes well, we look forward to another nesting season this spring.

 

NYC Mulchfest 2026

It's that time of year: NYC Mulchfest is happening this weekend! 

I visited Tompkins Square Park to catch the fresh mulching this morning. This is my 15th year in attendance.

I think this may be the warmest Mulchfest I can remember - the temp was near 50°F, much higher than normal for January.

The mood was festive as park department employees tossed the old holiday trees into the chipper.

Some live action video:

What the videos and photos do not convey is the heavenly scent of evergreen. I'm sure the scent will linger in the park for days.

Chipping will continue in Tompkins Square on Sunday, as well as in several other locations around the city, which you can find here.

 

See my past Mulchfest posts here, as well as my dedicated Mulchfest Flickr photo album.