Another chance encounter with the Tompkins Square hawk fledgling

I kind of thought my previous post about the Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk fledgling could be my last sighting for the season, but I'm happy to have had another encounter with the hawk since then.

And how cool is this - it perched on the head of the Samuel S. Cox statue next to the chess tables.

The hawk drew some attention while perched there and many passersby took photos.

I couldn't remember ever seeing a hawk perched on the head of the statue before, so I checked my archives, and found that I have a photo of Christo perched there in March 2014:

After taking in the view from the statue, the hawk dove down to some bushes and promptly caught a rat.

Looks pretty big!

The hawk flew the rat up to a tree to readjust its grip before flying off again.

What I like about this angle is the view of the structure of the tail feathers. They're arranged in the shape of two staircases.

The hawk took the rat to another tree where it could eat.

What followed was a sequence of events: the hawk dropped the rat in the grass, seemed ot consider retrieving it, but instead took off to get a fresh rat from the place where it caudht the first one.

 

Failing to nab a second rat, the hawk flew around to all the points where it had been before catching the first rat.

In the end, the hawk returned to the place where it dropped the rat, came to the ground to retrieve it, then took the rat high into a tree where it appeared to stash it. It then flew to a neighboring tree and climbed as high as it could in the leafy canopy where I assume it went to roost for the night. 

By that time, the sun had set and I could barely see the hawk in the tree. I'm hoping it enjoyed its left-over rat for breakfast the following morning.

 

Tompkins Square hawk fledgling is still hanging around, doing well

It's September and I'm happy that the remaining Tompkins Square red-tailed hawk fledgling is still hanging around the park and neighborhood. In years past, we've had fledglings leave the area any time from early to late August. A few have stuck around in September, but it's a treat to still be seeing this one.

On a recent evening, a friend alerted me to the hawk, who was perched in a tree within the park.

It had previously caught and eaten a rat, so was resting in the shade, watching all the park activity.

After a while, the hawk stretched and then was up and about.

The hawk flew down to an area where rats get active late in the day, and perched on a fence to wait.

It didn't take long. After maybe ten minutes of picking out just the right one, the hawk dropped down and quickly grabbed a medium-sized rat. It then brought the rat up to the top of the fence.

At one point, I said, "Show us what you've got!" and the hawk crouched down to take off from the fence.

It came right towards me and brushed my face with its wing. The photos after this one are all a blur because it was too close. I guess it decided to give me a close look at that rat, LOL.

It was perfect timing as the sun went down and it was time to leave the park. I left feeling happy the hawk had a successful afternoon.

 

A moment with the Tompkins Square hawk family

Although the breeding season for our local red-tailed hawks has pretty much come to a close, I lucked out when I had a chance encounter with the Tompkins Square hawk family the other evening.

As the sun was going down, I found Amelia perched on the cross of St Brigid's church on Avenue B. 

I stayed with her a while as she watched pigeons on the church roof. At one point, she took a dive at one but missed.

Someone else must have been watching her, because as she paused on the church roof for a few seconds, her fledgling came roaring out of the park behind me and went right for mom.

Amelia got out of the way as her crying fledgling took her place on the roof. I was really happy to see the fledgling as it's been increasingly hard to find.

The last of the pigeons took off as well.

Amelia went back to the church cross and the fledgling remained on the roof. Then, to my delight, dad Charlie came flying in right over Avenue B. He appeared to assess the situation before coming in for a landing.

He took a seat on the cross next to Amelia.

Less than two minutes later, Charlie dove across the street and nabbed a pigeon. He was so fast, I didn't realize right away that he'd caught anything.

Was this a demonstration for the fledgling? Perhaps.

After a couple of minutes, Charlie flew the pigeon to a tree within the park.

The fledgling watched dad carry away the pigeon and soon followed.

The fledgling caught up with Charlie in the park and took the pigeon for its dinner. Amelia took off somewhere south, and Charlie returned to the church where he appeared to be hunting for his own evening meal. I was really happy to see the whole family together in one place and they appeared to be well-fed and content.

 

This fledgling is the only one of the original three who is out and about in the neighborhood. To recall, one of its siblings passed away in late July, and the other sibling was taken to Wild Bird Fund on August 11th with an apparent wing injury. We have since learned that the injured hawk was transferred to the Raptor Trust in New Jersey on August 18th for further treatment and recovery.