Good morning from the main lawn of Tompkins Square Park!
The hawk above had been playing on the lawn until someone let their unleashed dog spoil the fun. After the dog arrived, the hawk flew into the trees.
Earlier that same morning, the fledgling played around with the construction netting at the bathrooms.
Suddenly, the hawk took off and swooped across the skateboard area where it landed under a bench and pulled up what I thought was prey...
...but it turned out to be a banana!
Not satisfied with old fruit, the hawk went looking for better breakfast options.
The fledgling swooped back across the play area and came up with a rodent. I'm not sure if it's a large mouse or small rat.
It didn't take long to eat its small meal.
The snack was just enough to provide some energy to go exploring.
Later in the day, one of the hawks (I don't know if it was the same one as above) caught a pigeon and took it to a tree to eat. One of the resident squirrels just had to get a closer look.
To my knowledge, the young hawks have still not been able to catch a squirrel, but the squirrels should definitely be on their guard.
The scaffolding that currently surrounds the Tompkins Square comfort station (bathrooms) provides a perfect perching place for the fledgling hawks. On a recent morning, I found two of them hanging out there.
The hawk on the right had just eaten breakfast (it caught a rat), so it relaxed as it digested its meal. The hawk on the left had not eaten and was much more active, hopping and flitting around.
In the photo below, the two hawks are in reversed position.
The hawk on the right took off:
And settled on a different perch.
It then flew over to a pipe that had a black plastic zip-tie sticking out of it.
Everything is a potential toy, so the hawk went to work tugging on the zip-tie.
The hawk also paid attention to the netting, trying to pull it off. Perhaps the hawk is getting impatient with the time it's taking to renovate the bathroom building.
When the hawks fluff up their feathers, they can look like completely different birds. The photos above and below are of the same individual.
This is the other fledgling who remained still as it digested its meal. To me, it has a rounder and slightly wider face.
Compare to its sibling who looks a bit more slender over all.
Speaking of digesting meals, this is one of the fledglings after scavenging some leftover pigeon from the bushes. The hawks will often go back for food they did not finish eating.
Looks tasty!
This is just a random photo showing the ruffled feathers on the back of one of the fledglings as it comes in for a landing.
You can also just barely see the fifth tail feather from the left is
slightly shorter than the others. This hawk had a missing/stunted
feather that left a gap in its tail after fledgling. I don't know how it
got that way, but it made this individual easy to identify. However, after several weeks, the feather is now grown in and the tail looks almost exactly like those of its siblings, so identifying them individually has become a lot more difficult.
The Tompkins Square hawk fledglings have been exploring the streets and buildings surrounding the park.
I found this one perched on top of a building on Avenue B and East 7th Street.
From there, the hawk flew a block north where it tried out the cross of St Brigid's church. This is a favorite spot for hawk parents, Christo and Amelia.
Over on Avenue A and East 11th Street, one of the fledglings discovered a rooftop fence, but two territorial Mockingbirds did not tolerate the hawk's visit.
Back over on East 8th Street, one of the youngsters found a nice windowsill on which to rest in the sweltering summer heat.
Anybody home?!
The hawk laid down on the sill - it looked to me like there may have been some pooled water there, so maybe the ledge felt cool.
After resting on the window, the hawk hopped over to an adjacent fire escape and let its wings hang out, which is something the birds do to stay cool in the heat.
Stretching:
As evening set in, the hawk flew off and returned to the park.
On a recent morning, I found one of the hawks on the main lawn playing with what I thought was some plastic trash.
A closer look revealed the trash to be a pair of eyeglasses!
Although the young hawks are becoming more independent, they still act like kids, often crying for food when ever they see their parents flying around. Below, one of the fledglings returns to the nest and cries. Before the hawks could fly well, Christo and Amelia would drop food at the nest for the youngsters to retrieve, but they have not been using the nest now for several weeks.
As previously noted here and here, the hawks have been using the park sprinklers to cool off during the recent heat wave. The hawk below tried out the mist at the Avenue A playground on a sweltering evening.
This video shows the hawk getting down in the water and almost toppling over while getting a good soak.
And in this one, the hawk sticks its face directly in the spray.
Finally, as seen at the end of the previous post, the fledglings have been enjoying the decorative rooftop fence of the landmarked building at Avenue B and East 8th Street. I've been seeing them go up there in the evenings just before sunset. The one pictured below has its wings slightly open to catch some of the breeze.
Later, after the sun went down, the hawk flew across the street to St Brigid's church. The mosquitoes were feasting on me by this time, so I had to take my leave.
