Listen for the robins and blue jays screaming. If that fails, look for the hawks' favorite play areas, like the fenced-in lawns, where all the good hawk toys are.
![Juvenile red tail with juvenile humans](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5573/14502129107_b91ccbd1c2_b.jpg)
Toys like ferocious branches...
![Juvenile red tail playing with a branch](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5575/14501872860_9179980275_b.jpg)
...and wily sticks!
![Juvenile red tail playing with a stick](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3899/14708449343_a8b65b513a_c.jpg)
Leaves can be fun, too.
![Juvenile red tail playing with leaves](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5573/14502100037_8a5c5ca512_c.jpg)
Horsing around in the grass is even more enjoyable with a playmate.
Who, us?
![Siblings hanging out together in the grass](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2905/14686176234_590d43ec24_b.jpg)
It's probably more accurate to say these two are playing independently, near each other. I want to say they are the oldest two fledglings who stuck together on the nest, but I'm not really sure. One of them has to be Shaft!
![Siblings playing in the grass](https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2926/14686176954_8ac1759a00_b.jpg)
Tired of playing on the grass, one of the birds decides to snoop around the benches.
![Juvenile red tail in Tompkins Square](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3883/14501925839_fb768ef043_b.jpg)
All that play has a purpose. The following day, this young one successfully catches a mouse over by Avenue A. If you look close, you can see it in the talons.
![Juvenile red tail catches a mouse](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5594/14692770271_21a2ac06e7_b.jpg)
Flying, playing and hunting are physically taxing. Time for yoga!
![Flexi-neck](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3848/14509292698_5370be0b2e_c.jpg)
Up, up and away to roost for the evening...
![Juvenile red tail in Tompkins Square](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5595/14710611221_56bc18cf4f_c.jpg)
For anyone interested in hearing dad Christo's voice, here is a short video of him calling from atop the flag pole in the park. I was hoping Dora would answer, but I've still not seen her since the last bird left the nest.
UPDATE: Our friend Francois Portmann has created a time-lapse video of the hawk family on the nest. See the chicks grow up - three months in three minutes!
See more hawk photos here:
City hawks 3
City hawks 2
City hawks 1
Previously.
Wish they would eat up all the rats already. The place is overrun.
ReplyDeletefantastic photos, goggla!
ReplyDelete