It's the season for observing young hawks practice their hunting skills as they explore and discover their ever-expanding world.
Hello!
The Tompkins red-tailed hawk fledglings are still dependent on their parents for food, but they are quickly learning what it takes to nab prey. This process involves playing with objects like sticks, leaves, rocks, and what ever they can find.
Visitors to the park may see the hawks jumping around on the ground. This is normal behavior for the birds. Swooping low and "catching" pieces of wood is practice for catching mice, rats, and pigeons.
I love seeing the hawks (and other raptors) run on the ground. They look so awkward and out of place.
Check out those sharp talons!
Two of the fledglings team up to explore the vegetation.
This one clutches a piece of wood.
And tosses it around a bit.
The young hawks are extremely curious about squirrels, who do not hesitate to tease and torment the inexperienced fledglings. The squirrels seem to sense the hawklets do not yet have the skills to catch them.
The squirrels can almost always out-maneuver the hawks.
This is not a very good photo, but I just love the look on this squirrel's face as it encounters two of the hawk fledglings while keeping a peanut in its mouth.
The squirrel won this particular challenge, but some day, the tables will turn...
