The new red-tailed fledgling provided some early Friday evening entertainment in Tompkins Square Park.
On Wednesday, Ranger Rob (aka Rob Mastrianni, a Manhattan Ranger supervisor) released a juvenile red-tailed hawk into the Park that had been injured earlier in the month in Brooklyn.
Nicknamed Flatbush (he fell from a nest on Flatbush Avenue), the hawklet started practicing to fly... EVG hawk-watching correspondent Steven shared these photos...
He eventually made it as high as the fence...
... and a contemplative moment captured by EVG reader Alberto Means...
Eventually, Ranger Rob, an East Village resident, safely put Flatbush back into a tree for the night... (these two photos are by Bobby Williams)...
Ranger Rob also let Flatbush use the radio to prank some other rangers (JK!) ...
In a very encouraging sign, Steven spotted Christo, one of the adult red-tailed hawks in the Park, bringing the rescued hawklet some food (????) yesterday morning...
Dumb question - why wasn't Flatbush left in Brooklyn? There surely must be parks in Brooklyn?
ReplyDelete@Anon 12:24 - the rehabbers felt TSP would be much safer place, and that Christo and Dora are in a good position to take care of him. Flatbush came from a nest on a stadium light in a high traffic area. He is still unable to feed himself, so needs the help of an adult hawk pair. I checked on him today during the storm and Christo was right nearby.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear ... glad they adopted him . If not would the parks dept take him back to make sure he was taken care of ?
ReplyDeleteA happy family..sweet..Tompkins is a lovely home for them.
ReplyDeleteStunning, touching photograph by Alberto Means.
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea that Christo and Dora or any adult hawk would take care of another adolescent hawk that way. A great story.
ReplyDeleteJust comes to show that the East Village is welcoming of refugees, wherever they come from...
ReplyDeleteIt's actually quite common for adult birds to take care of the fledglings of other birds. In fact, sparrows do it all the time. The sparrow babies count on the mother and father to feed them, and if one of the parents dies, another adult sparrow will step in to take on the feeding role. Birds form communities and watch out for each other.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Goggla!
ReplyDelete- @Anon 12:24
Saw Flatbush being fed this morning by the dad. A nice juicy mouse. Flatbush jumped from branch to branch but did not take flight to the higher spot where the dad hawk was trying to coax Flatbush. Eventually dad went to him with the snack.
ReplyDeleteMaria or anyone who's seen him, can you tell me which lawn he's on? I haven't spotted him. Does he stay pretty much in the same place?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Ranger Rob for President! We love you RR!
ReplyDelete