I arrived at the Mall to find a crowd around one of the set of wooden benches that form a protective area.  Inside was one of the Sheep Meadow fledglings, having just caught a pigeon.  The hawks had to spend its time watching everyone who surrounded it eventually flew off to the north.

Struggling to find a good perch to eat the pigeon, it dropped in on to a crowded path.  It sat patiently to reclaim its meal, but there were too many people.  Eventually a hawk watcher moved the pigeon to a protected lawn, and the fledgling came down and ate the bird.

Many of the area’s fledglings have already started to leave the area, so it was nice to see this youngster in late August.

I’ve missed the Sheep Meadow fledglings the last few times I’ve looked for them.  Tonight, I  missed them yet again, but I saw one of the parents for about an hour.

While watching the parent, I ran across folks who had seen both of the fledglings earlier in day.  I also ran into a couple who had photographed one of them on the railing of a flowerbed on Fifth Avenue at 72nd Street with their iPhone.  It was nice to know they were doing well, even if I didn’t get to see them.

Summerstage had a hip hop concert blaring music while this Sheep Meadow hawk did some squirrel hunting. It came up empty, but reports are a fledgling caught two pigeons earlier in the day in the same area.

I finally got a chance to visit Central Park today. 

My first stop was a look at the Peregrine Falcon nest, which yielded nothing. It was unclear if the birds had fledged or were sleeping.  I suspect they’ve fledged, but will need to make another trip back to be sure.

Then it was off to Sheep Meadow to look for the fledglings.  I always suspected they would hang out among the fenced off American Elms along the Mall, and that’s exactly where I found them.  Both were in the same tree one on a lower branch and one on a higher branch.  They were very relaxed and looked healthy and well fed.