Washington Square Park
The Washington Square Park eyass should be fledging soon. For now, we just wait for it to finish growing up.
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The Washington Square Park eyass should be fledging soon. For now, we just wait for it to finish growing up.
On a cloudy damp Memorial Day, it seemed like a good day to take some slow-motion videos of the eyasses jump flapping on the Fifth Avenue nest.
The new nest location at St. John seems to result in a later hatching then other nests in the city. Today, I was able to see an eyass having a meal. We'll know in a few weeks if it has any siblings.
The young Fifth Avenue hawks look great. They should be leaving the nest in a week or so. All we have to do is watch and wait.
The young Peregrine Falcons on Central Park West are big enough to see finally. I saw two of them on Saturday and both the parents. My understanding is there might be a third youngster.
While they still have some growing up to do before leaving the nest, the eyasses look more and more grown up every day. They're eating on their own now. Pale Male on the nest in the beginning of the video, followed by Octavia.
This afternoon, I got to see both parents on the nest and the eyass. It was nice to see all three hawks.
(A few folks have asked me about when the rescued eyass. I trust the folks at WINORR to make the correct choice about what to do with the eyass. There are so many factors involved, I wouldn't even try to second guess the experts.)
The Washington Square Park eyass is looking more and more like a fledgling every day. It still has a bit of maturing to do but gone is the fluffy youngster of a few weeks ago.
Yesterday, the rehabilitator, Bobby Horvath of WINORR (Wildlife In Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation) got a call about an eyass crying from behind a flowerpot on a penthouse roof. When Bobby arrived he found not only a Red-tailed Hawk eyass, but also a nest with a mother and another eyass, 75 feet from the lost eyass. The eyass that was crying was taken into rehabilitation and is doing fine.
The nest is hidden from the street and only if the remaining eyass stands up in just the right place can you see it. The nest is in a decorative gutter that runs the length of the facade, and is on the eastern end of the building. The pair is most likely the same pair that nested a block away last year.
Updates from the last update:
Monday was rainy in New York City but it stopped in time for me to go to the park in the early evening. Both parents were on the Silver Building, but were out of view from each other. The female was on a high ledge on the southern corner and the male below a flagpole. The eyass slept most of the time, but it did do a few jump-flaps.
Saturday was just another enjoyable day at the Fifth Avenue hawk bench. Three eyasses being fed by their mother.
This evening I got to see the eyasses, Octavia and Pale Male. Pale Male caught a pigeon and spent thirty minutes plucking it before delivering it to the nest. Octavia returned to the nest after the food drop, but was not in a rush to feed the eyasses.
After reports of one, then two, eyasses on the Grant's Tomb nest, it became apparent that there were three eyasses on the nest this week. I caught up with them and both there parents this evening.
I finally had a chance to get up to J. Hood Wright Park and found the mother doing her best to keep her eyasses out of the sun. After the sun got lower, she took a break. The nest has three eyasses this year.
Changes from the last report:
This evening, after doing a little birding, I watched a feeding at the Fifth Avenue nest. It's wonderful to see a predator be so gentle with her offspring.
I sat on the "hawk bench" on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed the view of the Pale Male and Octavia's nest, as well as the many observers of the nest. After all these years, the nest continues to delight tourists and locals alike.
Washington Square Park was full of birders after a beautiful male Kentucky Warbler this afternoon. After photographing the Kentucky, I watched the nest briefly. I saw my first wing flap from the eyass, a great sign of things to come.
After visiting Tompkin Square Park, I hoped over to Washington Square Park to see the nest. Nice to see the eyass getting bigger.
Despite lots of looking by the hawk watchers of Tompkins Square Park, we've only seen one eyass who is now fairly big. Although I'd be happy to be wrong, it looks like we have an only child.
Blue Jays alerted me to an Eastern Whip-Poor-Will about 50 feet south of the waterfall at The Pond near Sixth Avenue around 62nd. It was a fun find on a damp day.
The pair of Peregrine Falcons nesting on the The Century on lower Central Park West supposedly have three chicks this year. I studied them for an hour and only saw signs of a parent. I suspect I'll need to make a number of visits to see the youngsters.
The eyasses on Fifth Avenue are easily seen and are doing a good job of moving around the nest. They were lots of fun to watch today.
The number of eyasses on the Tompkins Square Park nest continues to be difficult to determine. One for sure but most likely more.
This evening was windy (which resulted in some camera shake) but I was able to watch the parents and their eyass without any problems. The eyass has changed from white to gray over the last few days. It's growing up fast.
I got to see glimpses of at least on eyass in the Tompkins Square Park nest this evening, along with a Red-breasted Nuthatch. For such a small park, there is amazing number of good birds.