Cathedral Activity Increasing

The Cathedral eyasses are becoming more and more active, so visiting the nest is more rewarding. 

The father on St. Luke’s.
An eyas getting fed.
Not too clear, but you can see an eyas on each side of the mother.
They’re still fuzzy, but are getting much bigger.
A wing of one eyas and then the head of another.
The father on the Archangel.
The mother took a break, couldn’t be found for about half an hour, and then was found on a building on 110th Street below Morningside Park.  She’s in the golden light of the late evening sun.

888 Seventh Avenue Update

I just received a note from Brett Odom updating me on the status of the Seventh Avenue nest…

"Just wanted to give you an update.  Everything seems to be fine and the nest is in an ideal location for rainstorms similar to the one we had yesterday since it is protect from all sides.  Right now Charlotte is on the nest with the sleeping eyas and Junior is sitting on the Essex sign.

Regards,
Brett"

(For those not living in the New York area, yesterday, we had a severe thunderstorm roll through the area.  This new nest is full protected from such storms, while the old Central Park South nest would have been completely soaked and exposed high winds.)

Monday, May 14th

I got there just in time for the fly out.  The owls have found even more protected places on the tree, so it’s getting harder to find them before the fly out. 

At fly out there were a few soft calls, the parents did some head rubbing and the fledgling took lots of small flights.

The period after the initial fly out was disturbed by an aggressive flash photographer.  What should have been an opportunity for our group to study hunting behavior along the Pool was interrupted by multiple flashes.

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St. John Babies

The St. John nest has at least two eyasses.

The adult male on the Cathedral, near the Northwest parking lot.
The adult female on St. Luke’s
The look to be about the same age as the chicks we found last year at this time. 
There are two eyasses in this pictures, being feed by their mother.  I know it’s tough to make them out.  I’m sure as they get bigger it will get easier to see that there are two eyasses in the nest. (Of course there could be three, but two is most likely at this point.)
The adult male arrives to continue feeding the eyasses. 

I exit to see the Eastern Screech-Owl fly out in Central Park.

Sunday, May 13th

Jean and I were the only owl watcher for the evening.  I could only find two in the tree this evening.  Fly out was fast with movement quickly east.  There was some calling and then it was quickly over the drive where we lost them.  Most of the trees are now fully leafed out, and it is becoming much harder to follow the owls as they make their way into the North Woods.

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Sleepy Evening

I arrived around 6 p.m. to find both parents off the nest and the nest absolutely quiet. No sign of the eyas(ses) while I was there from about 6 p.m. until about 7:30 p.m.

The father stayed in one spot, about twenty feet from the nest the whole time I was there.  The mother shifted spots.  First she was on West 110th, then the southeastern Plant building chimney, then the ornament on the Plant building, which we’ve nicknamed the urn.

The adult male on the Cathedral in a spot about twenty feet from the nest.
The adult female on West 110th.
The adult male from a different angle.
The female on the southeast Plant chimney.
She flies down to at least 116th Street surveying the area and then returns to the “urn” at the southeast corner of the Plant building.  This is only 15 feet from where she had been on the chimney.
The father stays in his one spot.
Here is a pictures that relates his position to that of the nest.
I love the gargoyles on the Cathedral.
The mother in the warm light of the setting sun.