Governors Island Hawks - Part 2

Following my previous post on the Red-Tailed Hawk family on Governors Island, here are some photos showing a dinner sequence.

Dad had caught a rat and delivered it to a fledgling, who was perched on the roof of a building.

That's a big rat!

Dad flew overhead, checking to see how things were going.

 

Warning - the following images are a bit gory.

 

 

I watched as the fledgling hawk managed to skin the rat and turn it inside-out. I've seen young hawks do this before, but this time was pretty impressive as the rat was so large.

 

Normally, hawks tear away pieces of their prey and eat small bites. This hawk, however, ate the furry skin in one big chunk, then tried to swallow the whole rat, which didn't go so well. 

Unable to gulp down the entire rat, the hawk pulled it out of its mouth and dropped it in the gutter. Frustrated and crying, the fledgling didn't seem to know what to do. 

Mom (blue band 42A) flew in to assist.

 

She pulled the rat out of the gutter and I thought she would feed the kid, but she decided to eat it herself, starting with the tail.

You can see the fledgling's crop is bulging, so apparently the rat pelt was enough to tide it over as it did not protest when mom ate the rest of the meal.

Just as she finished, dad flew in to check for leftovers.

Unfortunately for him, there was nothing left.

Both the fledgling and dad watched as mom took off.

This is a closer image of her, showing her bands. 

I had to leave for the day, but I'm glad to have observed this interesting family gathering.

 

 

Governors Island Hawks - Part 1

I focus on the Red-Tailed Hawks of Tompkins Square Park on this site, but I actually observe many hawk families around the city. One of those is on Governors Island, where hawks have been nesting the last several years. I'm sitting on a mountain of photos of that family that I have never posted, so here are a few to start.

A fledgling taking a bath in a puddle on a hot day: 

Drying off on a light pole:

All dry and groomed:

Another fledgling perched in a tree:

Mom (blue band 42A) delivers a starling for lunch, which the fledgling takes from her:

Mom goes hunting around the lavender field:

She was going after rodents, but was unsuccessful with this particular attempt.

This is the adult pair (male above left) on one of the speaker poles at Fort Jay at sunset. These two successfully raised three chicks to fledge this last season.

More to come...

 

 

A few Bald Eagle photos

I've seen more Bald Eagles this year than ever before, which has been really great. They bring excitement where ever they go and each observation makes my day.

Here are two immature eagles chasing an osprey, hoping to steal its fish. 

The two bullies were relentless, but the osprey managed to out-fly them.

This is one of the eagles.

Another immature eagle:

Now with a fish in its talons:

I watched this adult eagle fishing at a lake. It would circle high overhead, then drop down with its talons extended.

It missed its target a few times, circled around, an eventually flew away.

Another adult eagle:

And, another one with an unusually dark face.

Another adult eagle, taking off for a flight on a clear bright day.

I have almost as many eagle photos as pelican photos, so get ready for more of both in future posts.