Twins or Triplets?
With the Riverside nest hatched, the new question is how many eyasses are there? I was hoping for three, but haven’t seen more than two. With just glimpses of heads at feedings, the jury is still out.
Riverside Nest Hatches
All of the signs from yesterday’s visit turned out to be good clues. Today, I visited the nest around 5:45 and saw feedings at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The eyasses are very hard to see now, but should be more apparent by the weekend.
Based on feeding behavior, there are at least two eyasses. Again, we should know more in a few days if it is two or three.
This is the third nest that is known to have hatched in Manhattan this season. Highbridge Park and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine nests have already hatched.
The CCNY nest finally seems to be active this year. We’ll see what happens there soon.
Two other Manhattan nests, the Inwood Hill nest and the One Fifth Avenue nest both seem to be having problems. The Inwood Hill nest was partially destroyed in a storm earlier this spring. The parents have rebuilt it, but I haven’t heard news about them double clutching. The Washington Square pair seems to be having troubles establishing their nest on One Fifth Avenue. High winds were blowing off the twigs they would bring to the nest. I haven’t heard current news about their attempts for a few weeks.
Changes at Riverside
The Riverside Nest finally had some changes in nesting behavior today. It wasn’t the sure sign of a hatch, you would have by the sighting of an eyass or the motions of a first feeding, but there were positive signs. The mother left the nest unattended twice for about a minute each, and both parents spent time looking into the nest together.
We should know what’s happening for sure by the end of the week.
Highbridge Park Nest Hatches
A visit today to Highbridge Park, found their nest to be active with two or three eyasses (baby hawks). Both parents were both engaged in keeping the eyasses warm and feeding them. This pair consistently has eyasses in mid-April, and they continue the tradition this year.
At the end of the video, note that the mother comes back with a wet set of chest feathers. (For those who might not believe this is Manhattan, in the video, you can see one of the Circle Line boats pass by!)
American Kestrel
While searching for a possible Red-tailed Hawk nest, I saw this American Kestrel at 133rd and Broadway. It was a fun find, because I was able to I.D. it without binoculars based on its tail pump and silhouette. As you have more experience as a birder, lots of little clues just start to click in automatically.
Now if I could only understand shorebirds…
Babies Yet?
Manhattan’s hawk watchers are running all around the island hoping to see the first eyasses of spring. Although there are hopeful signs at the Cathedral, none have been sighted yet. I visited the Riverside, Cathedral and Fifth Avenue nests on Saturday.
