Hawk play-by-play

The Tompkins Square hawks have been active this week.  Sunday afternoon, Christo was mobbed by a gang of 10-20 squirrels as he sat in a tree near the flag pole.  He was chilling quietly, minding his own business, when the squirrels suddenly mobilized and swarmed the tree.  Christo tried to ignore them, but he got frazzled, got tangled in the branches, lost his balance and had to fly away.  I've seen numerous hawk-squirrel confrontations, but nothing like that.

Here he is with one of the bullies.



Monday saw some different action in the same tree.  Dora sat high on a branch while Christo made one pass by her and flew north, to 10th Street.  He circled around to Avenue A, then came straight back for the tree.  Here he is just after landing while Dora descends from her perch.



Then Christo leaps up to another branch and they do a little do-se-do.



Dora makes a hard landing while Christo shows us what he's got...







Then Dora makes her move and Christo is unable to stay on the branch.



If you look below the branch, you can see that Dora has grabbed an old pigeon (that grey blob) that must have been stashed there.



I'm not sure if Christo was also trying to get the pigeon, or if this is just how they communicate.  At first, I thought he might have brought her the pigeon, but it wasn't in his talons when he landed on the branch.





In the end, Christo flew to a tree a few feet away and the two hawks stared at each other for about ten minutes until Dora flew off to the SE corner of the park with the pigeon.  Christo then spent the rest of the afternoon hunting behind the bathrooms.



See more photos on my Flickr page.

Previous hawk posts.

Juvenile hawk in Tompkins Square

Here are some photos of a juvenile hawk in Tompkins Square from this last Sunday.  I'm not sure if it's the same bird, but I've been seeing a juvenile pretty much every time I go to the park recently.  Christo and Dora tolerate it being there, so I wonder if it's one of their offspring.

You can tell this is a juvenile by its yellow eyes and brown stripey tail.  Adults have brown eyes and red tails.









Playing hide-and-seek with a squirrel...





Today (pictures to come), Christo ate dinner in a tree behind the park offices while the juvenile sat nearby in the bird bath and cried.  I thought maybe Christo would bring some food over to it, but nope, he flew off and left the youngster to catch its own dinner.  Wah!

See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.

Previous hawk posts.

More hawk activity

This week saw the most hawk activity in Tompkins Square than I've seen in quite a while.  All together, there were five hawks: Christo, Dora, a juvenile, and two others I couldn't identify, but a fellow hawk-watcher said at least one was another juvenile.

Are these young hawks Christo and Dora's offspring or are they just passing through?  I don't know, but the pair seemed to tolerate one of the juveniles, allowing it to hunt and eat in the park.  Here is our mystery bird with a big rat:





I wondered if this could be the same juvenile hawk that's been hanging around the last few weeks, or if it could be Hawklet #3, who was the last to fledge from the nest and who stayed in the park long after its older two siblings left.  Unfortunately, it's impossible to positively identify any of these individuals.

I'm guessing the bird must be related, though, as all three sat together in the same tree for a while.  Here is the juvenile (on the right) approaching Dora (on the left) while Christo perched further off to the left, out of frame.



Here, Dora creeps up behind the younger bird and eventually chased it out of the tree.



Meanwhile, Christo dives after some prey along Avenue A and 7th Street.



Looks like a big mouse or a small rat.







That's one rodent down, eleventy nine million to go...



See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.

Previous hawk posts. 

Hawk highlights

I don't have any new hawk news to report, so here are just a few photos from this last week in and around Tompkins Square.

Christo goes after a rat along Avenue A...



...and here he is flying it towards me.  He flew it right over my head, but I can't focus on him when he gets that close, which is surprisingly often.



He only ate a bit of the rat before flying off to investigate something that caught his attention on the other side of the park.



Even the starlings can't resist his awesomeness.



He lights up the sky.



Meanwhile, Dora dines on a rat atop St Brigid's.



Sitting pretty...



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Previous hawk posts.

Caught between the moon and two hawks in New York City

I know it's crazy but it's true...



Apologies to Christopher Cross.

Giving thanks

I found Christo and Dora today hanging out together in Tompkins Square right above the tables where volunteers were serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless.



While Christo contentedly preened, Dora took off to go grab a snack.



I noticed something about her this year - she doesn't have any speckling on her leg feathers, or else the markings are very faint.



You can also see here her legs are a smooth solid color.



For comparison, you can clearly see brown markings on Christo's legs (this was taken last May).



Here he is today after catching as mouse. 



The pair stuck close together all day, flying round the park, each taking turns hunting.  At the end of the day, they took a long break atop St Nicholas of Myra on Avenue A and 10th Street.  I watched them until it got dark.  Christo eventually flew off ot the west and Dora to the north, to parts unknown...



See more hawk photos on my Flickr page.

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Afternoon with Christo

I admit it.  I'm in love with this bird.

But who can possibly resist his charm?



Christo is always diving straight at my camera so I can't focus on him. I'm convinced he does this on purpose.



Just when it looks like he's coming after me...



...he captures his true target, a big juicy rat.



Mmm!





After lunch, there's time for a little rest in the late afternoon sun.



Break over, it's off to patrol the park.

 

Where's Dora?  She's definitely around.  I see the pair together most of the time, but Christo always manages to hog the spotlight.

See more photos here.

Previously.

Christo after dark

Last Friday, about a half hour after sunset, I caught Christo hunting in Tompkins Square for a late supper.

People were totally oblivious to him lurking in the dark near 7th Street and Avenue A.



After about five minutes, he dove down to catch a rat behind a bench.



You can just make out the rat in his right talon.



I have to post a photo every time of any hawk that flies past the Joe Strummer mural...the rat still clings to a leaf.



This guy looked up when the rat screamed as it sailed past him.



And it kept on screaming...



...all the way over to a tree near the St Mark's entrance, where dinner was served.



See more photos here.

Previously.