Tompkins Square hawk fledgling frolicks in sprinkler to beat the summer heat

Just when we thought we'd escape this summer without too much miserable heat, August came along and reminded us why we prefer winter.

 

City wildlife endures the summer heat right alongside us humans, and the Tompkins Square Park hawks are no exception. When the days are sultry, the hawks like to cool off just like we do: in the sprinkler!

This is the Tompkins Square Park red-tailed hawk fledgling frolicking in the park sprinkler on a hot afternoon. Wings out and feeling good!

Shake, shake shake...

Do a little dance.

The hawk really got into it, dipping it's belly into the water and rolling from side to side, making sure every part of itself got wet.

The hawk lowered its right wing and side into the water, then repeated the move with its left side.

Making sure the water gets to those hard-to-reach spots:

Here is video of the hawk in action:

Here is another video of the hawk enjoying a good soak:

 

 

Of course, there are bath toys, like this dried leaf.

After a few more thorough shower moves, the hawk hopped up to a low wall to shake off.

 

 

To our surprise and astonishment, the fledgling then flew to a tall cyclone fence where it hung on with its talons and spread its wings so it could air-dry. It stayed this way for several seconds.

The fence didn't look very comfortable, and the hawk opted to dry off from a tree branch instead.

The fledgling spent several minutes with its wings hanging down, allowing the breeze to dry its feathers.

Looking cool, clean and beautiful:

You can see photos of previous Tompkins Square hawk fledglings cooling off in park sprinklers here.

 

 

Bonus:  For the first time ever, we caught Christo taking a bath in the gutter of St Brigid's church on Avenue B the other night. We've previously seen Dora and Amelia use this spot for bathing, but Christo prefers the birdbath in the park. As it happens, the birdbath was empty on this hot day.