Much to the surprise of those of us hawk watching on late Sunday afternoon, a second, unrelated juvenile was in the park.  While this isn’t unusual this time of year, as young hawks go exploring, it certainly was unexpected.

This young hawk is less bulky than the Riverside youngster.  It doesn’t have the linebacker like shoulders of the Riverside hawk, has a tail that seems to rest in two groups, and has very different head markings.

But it will certainly change how we observe the hawks in the park.  When someone says, I saw the young hawk, we’ll now have to ask, “Which one?”.

On Labor Day weekend, the Riverside Park fledgling has been very active in the 90’s of Riverside Park.  I caught up with the fledgling on Sunday as it came to greet its father, who would have nothing to do with fledgling and let out a loud cry warning the fledgling to go away.  (The fledgling had flown out of a tree on the Joan of Arc traffic island to join its father.)

The father then caught a rodent and consumed it in a tree near Riverside Drive and 94th Street.  (Graphic pictures of the rodent being eaten below — viewer beware.)

I then went further south to catch up with the fledgling.  He was all over the area around the Hippo playground.  He caught a rodent, went after other prey and moved about constantly giving those watching him a workout.

I’ve been going through all of my old photographs and I wanted to share a field mark that’s very helpful for identifying the male vs. the female at Riverside Drive.  The male has a prominent black stripe at the bottom of his tale, while the female has only a hint of black.

The fledgling was seen again in the 90’s of the park on Saturday.  It’s nice to hear it’s doing well.

The Riverside Park fledgling has returned to its old haunts around the 83rd Street playground and nearby buildings on Riverside Drive.  It was great to see the fledgling again, who looked healthy and well fed.

The father was also nearby for much of the evening.  The fledgling ended up on a few high buildings, but eventually fell asleep in a tree just outside the park on Riverside Drive.

Where the fledgling has been the last ten days remains a mystery!

(In addition to the normal playground, traffic and jet noise on the video, if you listen closely you’ll hear the calling sounds of male cicadas.)

I've been by Riverside Park a few times over the last week, but haven't seen the fledgling since the 4th of August.  I suspect that the fledgling is exploring and is somewhere in a twenty block radius of the nest.  Any news of sightings would be appreciated.