Hawklet watch: Going out on a limb

[Photo by Dennis Edge. Reposted with permission]

On Monday evening, the Tompkins Square Park red-tailed hawklet fledged... longtime bird watcher Dennis Edge captured the moment in the above photo.

So be prepared for some possible erratic flying in the days ahead as Christo and Dora's lone 2017 offspring continues to develop into a lean, rat-eating machine. (Be sure to check out Goggla's site for more in the days ahead.)

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, EVG reader Cheyenne shared these photos from the Park... showing Christo keeping cool in the heat...



...and hanging out on a favorite spot...

Branching out in Tompkins Square Park

[Hawklet pic yesterday by Bobby Williams]

Earlier today, as this photo by Steven shows, the red-tailed hawk nestling started branching — a step toward further developing those flight muscles — from the nest in Tompkins Square Park ...



... the next step before the hawklet fledges...

Visit Goggla's site for more photos and thoughts on Christo and Dora's lone offspring this year.

Ready to leave the nest?

Christo and Dora's lone red-tailed hawk offspring this year is looking pretty badass is growing so quickly ... We'll have to check in with Goggla to see when the hawklet might be ready to fledge/fly. Soon, likely, by the look of those wings...

Thanks to Bobby Williams for the photo...

Baby on board

EVG contributor Steven shares these photos from this morning in Tompkins Square Park ... showing Christo and Dora's latest red-tailed offspring, roughly five weeks old and getting larger by the day...



...and still in the Benjamin Button phase...



As Goggla noted, this is Christo and Dora's only hawklette this time around... soon enough he/she will be ready to fledge...

Monday's parting shot

Feeding time in Tompkins Square Park with Dora and her latest red-tailed hawk offspring... photo by Bobby Williams

Baby boomer

A quick follow-up to yesterday's post on Christo and Dora's latest batch of red-tailed hawk kids... that steady diet of locally sourced, park-to-nest food makes them grow so quickly... Bobby Williams caught up with the fam late yesterday afternoon... One baby has made an appearance ... with speculation that there's at least one more in the nest...







...and a shot via Steven...

Nest watch in Tompkins Square Park

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

For the fourth consecutive spring, red-tailed hawk couple Christo and Dora once again welcome home(?) a new batch of hawklets, as Goggla has been documenting.

To date, it has been difficult to tell how many kids are up in the nest in Tompkins Square Park. There has been visual confirmation of at least one...




[Photos by Steven]

Per Goggla:

"The number of hawk babies up in the nest in Tompkins Square is still difficult to determine. Christo and Dora definitely have one, possibly more, but it's been a challenge to get a good view of what's happening up there. We will just have to wait for the nestling(s) to get bigger."

Until then... a quick recap. Christo and Dora raised their offspring in Tompkins Square Park last spring/summer ... after bringing them up on AC units in 2014 and 2015. No word on a family reunion this summer.

Christo and Dora have more company in the city

[Photo in Tompkins Square Park by Derek Berg]

The Wall Street Journal checks in today with a feature on the city's booming red-tailed hawk population... Christo and Dora, the red-tailed hawk couple of Tompkins Square Park, get a shout out, though not by name.

The article is available via subscription only... here are a few excerpts...

The hawk population in Manhattan has grown from only three known pairs in 2006 to 14 or 15 today, said Rob Mastrianni, a New York City Urban Park Ranger.

It is unclear why raptors are becoming more common in Manhattan, said Debra Kriensky, a conservation biologist at New York City Audubon. Possible explanations include the abundance of food—rats, squirrels and pigeons—and city efforts to limit the use of rat poison, which can kill hawks.

Whatever the reason, the presence of more hawks heralds changes in the relationship between New Yorkers and nature. Combined with sightings of coyotes, deer, and even eagles prowling city neighborhoods, hawk spottings are a reminder that urban areas can include a surprising amount of wildlife.

And!

Research shows hawks need about two square miles of exclusive territory, but New York City’s hawks are living as close as five blocks from each other, said Bobby Horvath, a city firefighter who rehabilitates injured hawks from New York City in his home in South Massapequa on Long Island. “I guess the red-tailed hawks haven’t read that part of the textbook.”

With hawks already defying density predictions, it is unclear how long the urban population boom will continue.

The main danger hawks face in New York is eating rats that have been poisoned by rodenticide. But since the city has curtailed rat poison use in parks near known hawk nests, New Yorkers may continue to be startled by urban wildlife sightings.

As always, for more on Christo and Dora as well as other NYC wildlife, head on over to Goggla's photo site here.

A moment with Christo in Tompkins Square Park

One of the resident red-tailed hawks perched on a low branch today in Tompkins Square Park... photo by Steven...

Christo in flight

Thanks to Steven for these photos of Christo the red-tailed hawk from Tompkins Square Park today ...

[NSFW] Christo and Dora's spring fever

Tompkins Square Park today... photos by Bobby Williams...

Baby hawk watch TK...

Christo and Dora, sitting in a tree...

A moment with the red-tailed hawks today in Tompkins Square Park (Christo on the left, Dora the right)... photo by Steven...

The Christo pounce

Red-tailed hawk dad Christo was spotted yesterday in Tompkins Square Park... hunting and gathering ...



...and eating...



Photos by Bobby Williams

Hawk fight

EVG correspondent Steven shares this photo from yesterday... when red-tailed hawk parent Dora (on the lower right) was fighting with what the hawk watchers in Tompkins Square Park thought was a juvenile red-tailed hawk.

It was not immediately clear what the fight was over.

Don't cross Christo and Dora

The red-tailed hawk parents hang out at a familiar spot atop St. Nicholas on 10th Street at Avenue A...



Photos by Steven

First strike

Here's a scene from Tompkins Square Park this afternoon... as one of the red-tailed hawk youngsters apparently made its first solo pigeon strike... EVG reader Peter Shapiro shared these photos... as he noted, "freshly picked pigeon feathers were gently falling toward the crowd of onlookers."






... and a few hawk shots from earlier today via Bobby Williams...

Cupbearer to the hawks

One of the juvenile red-tailed hawks early this evening atop Temperance Fountain in Tompkins Square Park...

Thanks to Goggla for the photo!

Heads up in Tompkins Square Park

You never know when a fledgling might be doing a fly by...





Visit Goggla's site for more photos of Christo and Dora's offspring in action. Derek Berg took the three photos above here.

And here's a nice shot via Bobby Williams from yesterday...

Parting weekend shot

One of the hawk fledglings playing on an antenna on Seventh Street tonight just outside Tompkins Square Park... thanks to Goggla for sharing the photo. (Find more of her hawk pics here.)

Eat Prey Love

Christo and Dora's red-tailed hawk family has been quite active in Tompkins Square Park this summer.

After getting the flying down, the three hawk kids are now trying to learn to hunt then prepare their own meals without any parental assistance.

As Goggla notes in her latest hawk dispatch:

Christo had left a rat in a tree just a few feet away and the fledgling began eating it on a branch. They must learn everything, including how to hang onto their food while balancing on a branch. The fledglings haven't quite mastered this and have been dropping their food regularly.

So Christo swooped in and picked up the dropped meal, as these photos from Goggla show...





Per Goggla:

In the end, Christo took the rat to a bigger tree with a wider branch that made it easier for his kid to eat and not drop the food. I admired how Christo performed this task so patiently, keeping a close eye on his kid and making sure it ate enough.

Head on over to her website here for more photos and red-tailed hawk observations.