Super Bird Sunday

Someone took advantage of the all-you-can-eat buffet served up in Tompkins Square Park today...

Mmmm!





Nom nom nom...



Where's dessert??

 

Note:  this is not Crazy Bird.

See more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

Crazy like a hawk

I'm convinced this juvenile red-tailed hawk is completely deranged.  Recently, it's been acting odd - flying around wildly, diving, jumping, frolicking in the grass, dive-bombing squirrels, and just being generally over-energized without actually accomplishing anything.



This is not the same bird who bashed into the bus stop.  When that happened, I was worried the bird suffered head trauma, but this is a different bird.  There's always the worry that the hawks might ingest poison or suffer illness or injury...or I might be completely over-thinking things and maybe this hawk is naturally crazed.  I hope that's the case.

Here's Crazy Bird attacking some plants.



It kept plowing into these fir trees, scattering the sparrows and then awkwardly climbing around inside the tree.  It did this about ten times.



Here is Crazy going after a squirrel.  The squirrel safely hid inside the box until the bird left.



Another confrontation...



Diving through a bench to (fail to) get at that fat rat...



Playing run-around-the-garbage-can with a rat.  I think this rat was sick as it didn't care about the hawk at all.  And, although presented with numerous opportunities, the hawk never killed a rat.



After almost three hours of chasing anything that moved, and sometimes things that didn't move, Crazy caught a mouse.  This made me feel better as I worry the bird isn't getting enough to eat.  It did a clumsy job catching the mouse and couldn't kill it right away.  Eventually, it cut the mouse in half, ate it in two bites, then resumed its frantic behavior.



I hope you're ok, Crazy Bird!



See more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

One hawk, one hundred pigeons

Can you spot the hawk?

Solitary

We all need a moment alone...

Snowbird

What could brighten a cold and dreary weekend better than the lively hawks of Tompkins Square?



You are weakening under my spell...



Gaze into my crazy eyes as I tear apart this pigeon!



And marvel as I maneuver among thousands of tiny branches...



Evening falls...



Another day done.



See more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

Just another winter day

As the city dug out of an overnight snowstorm, the Tompkins Square hawks frolicked in the bright frigid sunshine.

Two hawks, an adult and a juvenile, forced me to run around and keep up as they swooped from perch to perch.



Here's the juvenile resting for about two seconds before resuming its flying rampage.



This squirrel didn't have any time to react before the hawk careened around the tree.



I'm tempted to say this is the same hawk I've been watching for several weeks - the one with the foot problem that then bashed into a bus stop - but at this point, I've pretty much lost track of who is who.  There are two juveniles I see almost daily and one has a sharp hooked beak while the other has a dull beak.  This is Dull Beak holding its foot up.



As the temperature hovered around 12 degrees in the sun, Dull Beak looked quite content in its puffy down coat.

 

'Til next time!



See more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

Weekend hawk highlights

Here are a few hawk highlights from this weekend in and around Tompkins Square.  These are all juvenile hawks.







Crazy eyes!



It makes me a bit sad to see one bird devour another, but Nature is as ugly as it is pretty.



And, as always, a game of peek-a-boo with a pesky squirrel.



See many more hawk photos here.

Previous hawk posts.

City light time

Night in the city looks pretty to me
Night in the city looks fine
Music comes spilling out into the street
Colors go flashing in time

-- Joni Mitchell, "Night in the City"

Clocking out

The most exciting day of the year

Mulchfest!



For some, the excitement was just too much...



See previous Mulchfest coverage here.