Washington Square Park Hawks

All good things….

Paula — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:42:50 +0000

….must come to an end.

I don’t know who said that, or even if it’s true. But this good thing will be coming to an end rather soon.

Those of us who became fascinated by the ongoing saga of the Washington Square Park hawks and their nestlings have created quite a community, both here and elsewhere online. Many of you have enjoyed the chat room here, as a way to keep in touch with the events in the park and with each other. I’m glad I was able to provide this venue for our virtual get-togethers.

Events in my life have made it hard for me to give the proper amount of attention to the chat room and the site. I’m going to close down the chat room but will leave the domain active for at least a little while longer. I hope those of you who want to continue your nocturnal visits will find another place to meet. Facebook has a chat facility, for instance. Google Hangouts is free and fun and easy to set up for those with a Gmail account, also free and extremely useful in many other ways.

Best wishes to everybody who helped make this community so much fun. Thank you.

Boo and Scout Have Soared Away

Paula — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:06:37 +0000

Last night, both of the Washington Square Park baby hawks fledged. Read all about it here.

Thanks for the chance to observe this fascinating, moving saga, NYU and NY Times. Thank you, Andy and Emily. And Bobby, Rosie, Boo and Scout.

Jump-flapping! Can fledging be far behind?

Paula — Mon, 28 May 2012 21:14:31 +0000

Keep up with the latest developments at the NY Times City Room Blog. That is, if you don’t witness the fledging yourself, right here!

Two slideshows from GhentArt

GhentArt — Mon, 28 May 2012 03:20:43 +0000

Okay, so maybe GhentArt is getting carried away, but she created two new slideshows! The first is from a few nights ago … some nice night cam images (staying up too late !) and another tug-o-war Boo and Scout played with a stick.

Night Visions: http://bit.ly/LyckN6

Tug-o-War with Stick: http://bit.ly/JGURn5

WSPHawks.com Mentioned in Another Feature Piece

Paula — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:57:05 +0000

The Villager, a newspaper covering NYC’s Greenwich Village, has a new article about the saga of Bobby, Violet, Rosie and the baby hawks. The reporter got in touch with me and asked a few questions about our site, and so we are now mentioned in yet another media outlet. Read the story here.

Watching the Ledge

Paula — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:34:09 +0000

At last! The cam has been shifted so we can now see Boo and Scout’s explorations on the deep ledge to the left of the nest. Hooray! Click here to read about it.

Scout is Free of the Bag!

Paula — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:19:37 +0000

We’ve all been worried about the tenacious plastic bag whose looped handle has been tightly wound around baby hawk Scout’s ankle for days now. Rescue plans were being reluctantly discussed, but the inaccessibility of the nest would make any attempt to help Scout very difficult and dangerous.

Scout after escaping the plastic bag

Luckily, early this morning, when the eyas stood up, viewers of the live cam could see that she was no longer dragging the bag around. It isn’t clear how she got free of the nasty plastic, but we’re all extremely relieved that all is well again in the nest. Read more here.

Slicing Is Dicing Our View!

Paula — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:35:11 +0000

Baby hawk excrement is fouling the nest-cam's view

We probably all feel the urge to reach outside that window with a rag and some Windex. Alas, we’ll have to wait for a slashing rainstorm, or an adjustment of the camera angle to improve the view. Read all about it here.

Snowy Nest Upstate

Paula — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:51:47 +0000

Our favorite great blue heron father has to cope with more than rain and wind today: heavy, wet snow!

Snowy great blue heron nest, April 23, 2012

Upper West Side Birds Being Poisoned?

Paula — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:37:29 +0000

Since the beginning of last week, half a dozen blue jays and pigeons have been brought to a Manhattan animal hospital, showing signs of poisoning. Click here to read the article.

Let’s hope whoever is doing this isn’t also operating around Washington Square Park. While Rosie and Bobby probably never eat corn scattered on the ground, they do eat pigeons and other prey that might eat that poisoned corn.