The third video in the Hawky New Year! series covers the hawks seen in Central Park on Jan. 13 and 14. The 14th was a snow day, and I especially enjoyed watching the youngsters try to figure out what all the white stuff is.
First-year red-tailed hawk, Central Park, Jan. 14, 2017
Here's the third video in the series:
On this most horrible of days, I offer an alternative to watching the beginning of the end of our country: More hawks! Hawks do what they were created to do, and thus are Nature at her purest. Unfortunately, humans choose to do destructive things, and often the hawks and other animals pay the price. So while we await with trepidation the further destruction of our environment, I offer more photos of the young hawks in Central Park, taken Jan. 11 and Jan. 12.
Young red-tailed hawk in the Ramble, Jan. 12, 2017
I've called the video series Hawky New Year! This is Part 2, Jan. 11-12. Warning: there is some graphic hawk dining (a rat) in this video. Hawk chasers have learned that the raptors' dining habits make them who and what they are, and if you want to learn about red-tailed hawks, you will at some point watch them eat.
Lots of photos below, from both days.
Central Park has provided food and temporary housing for at least three visiting first-year red-tailed hawks and one visiting adult hawk, plus our regular residents. Since January 1, I've seen at least one hawk on each of my trips into the park, and sometimes I've seen as many as five. A few times the hawks have come to ground and provided a lot of entertainment.
First-year red-tailed hawk, south of Bethesda Fountain, Jan. 1, 2017
I've begun a new series in the Chasing the Hawks in Central Park grouping, called Hawky New Year! Part 1 covers Jan. 1 through Jan. 10, 2017.
The next in the series will be posted soon, covering Jan. 11-Jan. 12. Then we'll see how many more there will be in January.
The photos below are from Jan. 1-Jan. 10. Most of the hawks are first-year red-tails, but you'll see a photo of a young adult hawk here. This hawk seemed to like chasing the younger hawks out whenever the opportunity arose. I haven't seen this hawk for a while, so maybe some of the resident adults have chased him out.
The squirrel in the last photo was not amused by all the young hawks, and cried and cried from his home in the tree in the Ramble.
