Urban Hawks

After last night’s adventure in the hot weather, where Flaco explored the Tennis Courts, we ended up with a completely different night. He was much more relaxed in the cooler temperatures. He perched in two trees for hours and would periodically swoop down and catch a rodent. It looked like he was catching White-footed Mice based on their size, and he ate each one quickly, in giant gulps. By the time he settled down around midnight, he had caught four rodents.

I made a simple error that prevented me from getting a recording of him eating in good light. Otherwise it was too dark to get any good images. But it was fun to watch him make so many hunting runs and do so well at catching his prey. I think he missed only two times.

Flaco is exploring the area south of the 96th Street Transverse after fly out and hunting on a lawn south of the tennis courts, north of the reservoir and east of the West Drive. He caught a rat and quickly ate it early in the evening. He rested in a few trees and then spent about an hour on the tennis courts, either on fences or on the courts. He took a few drinks of water from some puddles. He even was on the the tennis court building, once on a railing outside the men’s room, and later on the roof. It’s enjoyable to watch him in these new locations.

After not having a chance to see Flaco for over a week due to my vacation, I caught up with him on Wednesday. He was roosting the the same American Elm he had been using when I left. However, he is now moving south after fly out. This means the area between the Reservoir and the 96th Street Transverse.

While I didn’t see it, after Midnight, Flaco went to the North Pump House (really a gate house as there are no pumps) of the Reservoir, which had been used by the Snowy Owl two years ago. It is so interesting to see our new Bubo, act like the old one.