It's been a busy week for the Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk fledglings as they continue to practice hunting and catching prey, and the summer heat hasn't slowed them down.
This fledgling had some fun pouncing on an unsuspecting log.
Catching a stick:
Sprinting across the lawn:
Contemplating how the squirrels manage to stay one step ahead:
Chasing after something:
Killing some dead leaves:
Scavenging leftover food off the ground:
Looking for live food in the tall grass:
This was the first big rat caught by this fledgling.
It's not visible in this photo, but this fledgling has caught a robin.
There it is...
The prey animals don't take kindly to the predatory hawks in their neighborhood and will take every change they get to harass the hawks. This blue jay bites at the fledgling's tail as it dines on a mourning dove.
This is the male fledgling, and the elm tree he is perched in was cut down the next day for unknown reasons, but you can see it's missing all its leaves.
When they're not play-hunting on the ground, the fledglings are exploring the skies and buildings around the neighborhood. This one flew up to the top of the Christodora Building, which is the highest place I've seen them so far.
The kids are still kids, though, and are reliant on dad Christo to make sure they have enough to eat. Earlier this week, Christo had the nerve to take a half-second rest atop his flagpole throne in the park and one of the fledglings dove straight at him. There's no time for perching when dinner delivery is late!
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