Friday, January 31, 2014

Crazy like a hawk

I'm convinced this juvenile red-tailed hawk is completely deranged.  Recently, it's been acting odd - flying around wildly, diving, jumping, frolicking in the grass, dive-bombing squirrels, and just being generally over-energized without actually accomplishing anything.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

This is not the same bird who bashed into the bus stop.  When that happened, I was worried the bird suffered head trauma, but this is a different bird.  There's always the worry that the hawks might ingest poison or suffer illness or injury...or I might be completely over-thinking things and maybe this hawk is naturally crazed.  I hope that's the case.

Here's Crazy Bird attacking some plants.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

It kept plowing into these fir trees, scattering the sparrows and then awkwardly climbing around inside the tree.  It did this about ten times.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

Here is Crazy going after a squirrel.  The squirrel safely hid inside the box until the bird left.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

Another confrontation...

Red tail in Tompkins Square

Diving through a bench to (fail to) get at that fat rat...

Diving after a rat Tompkins Square

Playing run-around-the-garbage-can with a rat.  I think this rat was sick as it didn't care about the hawk at all.  And, although presented with numerous opportunities, the hawk never killed a rat.

Red tail chasing after a rat in Tompkins Square

After almost three hours of chasing anything that moved, and sometimes things that didn't move, Crazy caught a mouse.  This made me feel better as I worry the bird isn't getting enough to eat.  It did a clumsy job catching the mouse and couldn't kill it right away.  Eventually, it cut the mouse in half, ate it in two bites, then resumed its frantic behavior.

Red tail with mouse in Tompkins Square

I hope you're ok, Crazy Bird!

Red tail in Tompkins Square

See more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

One hawk, one hundred pigeons

Can you spot the hawk?

One hawk, 100 pigeons

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Snowbird

What could brighten a cold and dreary weekend better than the lively hawks of Tompkins Square?

Red tail in Tompkins Square

You are weakening under my spell...

Red tail in Tompkins Square

Gaze into my crazy eyes as I tear apart this pigeon!

Red tail with pigeon in Tompkins Square

And marvel as I maneuver among thousands of tiny branches...

Red tail in Tompkins Square

Evening falls...

Red tail in Tompkins Square

Another day done.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

See more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Just another winter day

As the city dug out of an overnight snowstorm, the Tompkins Square hawks frolicked in the bright frigid sunshine.

Two hawks, an adult and a juvenile, forced me to run around and keep up as they swooped from perch to perch.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

Here's the juvenile resting for about two seconds before resuming its flying rampage.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

This squirrel didn't have any time to react before the hawk careened around the tree.

Close encounter

I'm tempted to say this is the same hawk I've been watching for several weeks - the one with the foot problem that then bashed into a bus stop - but at this point, I've pretty much lost track of who is who.  There are two juveniles I see almost daily and one has a sharp hooked beak while the other has a dull beak.  This is Dull Beak holding its foot up.

Red tail with foot up in Tompkins Square

As the temperature hovered around 12 degrees in the sun, Dull Beak looked quite content in its puffy down coat.

Red tail in Tompkins Square 

'Til next time!

Red tail in Tompkins Square

See more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Weekend hawk highlights

Here are a few hawk highlights from this weekend in and around Tompkins Square.  These are all juvenile hawks.

Juvenile red tail in Tompkins Square

Juvenile red tail

Juvenile red tail

Crazy eyes!

Crazy eyes

It makes me a bit sad to see one bird devour another, but Nature is as ugly as it is pretty.

Juvenile red tail with pigeon

And, as always, a game of peek-a-boo with a pesky squirrel.

Sneak peek

See many more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

Friday, January 17, 2014

City light time

Night in the city looks pretty to me
Night in the city looks fine
Music comes spilling out into the street
Colors go flashing in time


-- Joni Mitchell, "Night in the City"

Untitled

Friday, January 3, 2014

Hawk vs Hercules

Winter Storm Hercules blew through last night, leaving us with blowing snow and temperatures in the teens, but that was nothing for the Tompkins Square hawks.  I dressed as a walrus, in two pairs of everything, but these birds are tougher than nails, going about their business like any other day.

Red tail in Tompkins Square

This hawk has a no-tolerance policy when it comes to squirrels.

Red tail vs squirrel

Today's special is pigeon on ice...

Red tail with pigeon in Tompkins Square

Sigh.  This would have been the shot of the day but for that damn branch in the foreground.

Red tail with pigeon in Tompkins Square

This sums up the day well - bright, clear and cold.

Winter white

See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.

Previous hawk posts.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Waiting for snow...

Awaiting an impending snowstorm in Tompkins Square...

Red-bellied woodpecker

Untitled

No matter the weather, the hawks still report for duty, keeping the park rat population in check.

Red tail in Tompkins Square