Tonight, the male of the Washington Square pair, Bobby, was seen hunting in Washington Square Park in the early evening, and most likely was seen on top of the W of the W Union Square Hotel at sunset.

I was only able to get pictures in Union Square from far away, so I’m not 100% sure of my I.D.  

I received some odd emails about Pip's movement from Washington Square to Union Square.  It has nothing to do Pip's reaction to hawk watchers or what park Pip likes the best.  It is just the normal turn of events.

After fledgling, all Red-tailed fledglings roam, settling down somewhere for a week, then exploring another location, and yet another.  This is important, since the area near the nest may not be the best area to grow up or to hunt in.  Fledglings will end up exploring all of their parent's territory, and in some cases end up going beyond it before they leave home.

Bobby and Violet had a view of Union Square from the flagpoles they loved to perch on so much in Washington Square.  Like the parents at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which call Morningside Park and the Northern portion of Central Park their home, the Washington Square Park pair claim more than one park. 

It's great to observe that Red-tails can think "outside the box".  City park too small? Claim more than one. 

Proof once again of how adaptable Red-tailed Hawks can be when it comes to city life!

Tonight, lots of Washington Square hawk watchers got to see Pip and Bobby around Union Square Park. 

Pip, the Washington Square fledgling was eating on the theater which currently hosts performances of Fuerza Bruta, when I first saw her.  After she finished her meal, she flew to a section of the roof were we couldn’t see her from the park.

So, we went in search of Bobby, who was found with good eyes and the help of an alarmed American Robin.  He was enjoying looking at rats and squirrels who were amazingly bold with him nearby! 

After about fifteen minutes, Pip called and Bobby went over to the theater.  He then flew south.  Pip then came out of hiding and they both ended up on a building a few blocks north of the theater.  Within minutes, they both went north out of sight, but then Pip flew and perched high on a corner of the W hotel at 17th and Park Avenue South.  She continued flying and may have perched on the rear fire escape of 215 Park Avenue South.

(Generally, I wouldn’t give out such exact locations, but since the birds were so high off the ground, I doubt there is any harm.)

Nice night after a drought of Pip sightings!  For more video, see the Roger Paw blog.

I received two emails on Thursday, about young hawks sightings near Washington Square the previous day on Wednesday the 20th.

Sean Morgan reported a sighting at 55 5th Avenue which is between 12th and 13th Streets.  The bird was on the 18th floor and its marking matched Pip's, the Washington Square fledgling.

I also got a report from Lisa Buddenhagen about a fledgling perched at 215 Park Avenue South, which is at 18th Street.  This bird could easily have been Pip, but there wasn't any clear field mark that was definative.  However, my guess is the bird has an 80% chance of being Pip.  Nothing ruled the bird out and I know of no other nearby nests.

I'm not surprised by the sightings.  Pip and her parents hadn't been seen in Washington Square Park for a few days, so they have to be exploring other areas.

There had been many reports of Bobby being seen in Union Square in additon to Washington Square by birders earlier in the year.  Do the adults claim multiple small parks to make up their territory?  Could they control Union Square and possibly Gramercy Park, in addition to Washington Square?

And do they need a park at all?  The male of the Central Park South hawks, used to kill pigeons that roosted below a water tank, atop a twelve story building with a Starbucks at Broadway and 60th Street.  So, it's possible Pip doesn't even need a park!

Pip may turn out to be the most urban of all recent NYC Red-tail fledglings, if this behavior continues! 

Thanks for the reports Sean and Lisa.

The Washington Square fledgling waited until the very last minute to show itself tonight, about fifteen minutes after the father arrived.  The fledgling gave us just a brief glimpse just before dark. 

After it appeared up by a microwave repeater, it flew at least a half block to another building where we lost track of its location.  It clearly isn’t a tentative flyer anymore.  Hopefully, this means it may be coming down to earth sometime soon.

I got lots of letters about my corrections to John Blakeman's F.A.Q. for the Washington Square nest.  Those supporting my position outweighed those against by about twenty to one.

One of the most interesting letters talked about how John had trained the chat room to only use technical terms while discussing hawks.  What's interesting is how the chat room uses these terms like a cult, insisting everyone use them.

In real life, not chat room life, many of the terms John Blakeman has taught are rarely, if ever used.  Even in scientific discussions many of these terms are not enforced.  Using tiercel rather than male is rare for example, but like a cult many in the chat room insist on using this term.  Those who don't use tiercel are thought of as being ignorant.

But what really bothers me is the use of an archaic term from the middle ages for a female hawk, formel.  This term hasn't been used for centuries, except by John Blakeman and his followers.

Google formel and you won't find anything about hawks for pages.  Google formel and hawk, and you will only find it where John Blakeman has been. 

Here is the modern etymology of the word, formel.

• The term is listed as obsolete in the O.E.D, with the last quotation from the 17th century. 
• On February 28th, 2008 John Blakeman declares there is no word for a female hawk like tiercel.  To quote from a letter he wrote to Marie Winn's which she posted on her blog, "Sadly, for the Red-tail and other similar hawks that were never used in classical falconry, there is no really fine, deliberate designation of a female. A good number of falconers and raptor biologists label a female Red-tail as a "hen." For me, that's a term that should be reserved for real hens, female adult chickens and other closely related species. For me, "hen" is not properly serious enough to be used for a female Red-tail. To me, they are never so diminutive as to be called a mere "hen.""
• The next day, a librarian, Chris Karatnytsky writes Marie that there is a term for a female hawk used in Chaucer's allegorical dream poem, Parlement of Foules.
• John Blakeman begins using this term when writing to Marie Winn and then uses it with chat users both at the Franklin Institute and Washington Square nests.
• To this day, revival of the term formel escapes the notice of ornithologists world wide.