Owls

Saturday, April 28th

A repeat of Friday, starting out in the Willow, a brief visit to the nest hole and then they’re off for the night.

Parents
Fledgling
The fledgling is getting vertical stripes.
Head rubbing by the adults.
Trident enters the nest cavity.
They leave the area of the nest cavity and I lose them to the dark.
St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Newborns at St. John the Divine

I visited the Cathedral twice on Saturday.  In the late morning, and in the late afternoon. The nest is too high and too deep to see into, so we depend on the behavior changes of the parents as our clue that there are eyasses. 

There were plenty of clues on Saturday, including food being taken into the nest, lots of feeding behavior, etc.

In the morning, when I arrived, no one was to be seen.  Soon the adult male arrived on the Archangel.

Through gaps in the twigs, I thought I saw a chick.
Here I thought I saw a head with two eyes briefly.  But it could be wishful thinking.
The adult female.
I’m not sure who’s flying in.
Both parents on the nest. Note the tail on the left.
The mother then…
…leaves the nest, and I go up north to Highbridge and Inwood Hill.

In the afternoon, I return around 5:00 p.m.

All is quite until the male comes in with a rodent.  He moves to a higher branch and soon goes to the nest.
The male landing on the nest.
He quickly leaves.
His mate watches him leave.
Soon feeding behavior starts.
And then the female settles in.  However, much higher than when she was sitting on eggs.
Inwood Hill Park Red-tailed Hawks

Inwood Hill Park, Week 2

The eyasses are getting bigger up at Inwood.  Unlike my last visit, it’s clear that there are two eyasses.

The leaves are coming out and it will soon be hard to see the nest.
Mother and her two eyasses.
Feeding time.
The mother pulls off pieces of meat and feeds her young.
It’s done every so gently.
A post feeding poop.
The mother settles in and surrounds the chicks.  If I had missed the feeding, I wouldn’t have known there were any chicks!
Highbridge Park Red-tailed Hawks

Three Chicks in Highbridge Nest

The leaves are coming out and it’s becoming harder to find a spot to photograph the Highbridge nest.  It might become impossible in a few weeks.

The mother (just peaking out on the left), and the three eyasses.  I had only seen two tiny eyasses last week, so the third was a nice surprise.
All looked healthy.
They were fed during my visit.
The father arrives.  He’s in the middle.  (The leaf cover would blow and block the view, creating the soft blur.)
The feeding over, the father let the mother have a break and let the eyasses enjoy the sun.
Owls

Friday, April 27th

Although the rain had stopped, it was still cool and gray this evening.  Jean was already there when I arrived, and Chris with Fig joined us later.  We had lots of stretching as they woke up and saw Trident make a quick return to the nest cavity, which was a surprise.

St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Two Feedings

Young eyasses can be too small to see at first, so hawk watchers depend on seeing feeding behavior.  There were two such nest reports that came in via email today. 

One came from Chris Lyons, who watches the Fordham hawks in the Bronx entitled, I THINK I just watched Rose feeding chicks.

"I was about to give it up as a lunch hour mainly wasted (ONE good shot), when Hawkeye showed up out of nowhere–didn’t see if he was carrying prey, but he probably was.  Rose spent quite a good while hunched over the nest, with her head bobbing, and Hawkeye was looking down into the nest with great interest.   He stayed a long time.   Eventually Rose settled back down on the nest.   She’s been taking a lot of breaks lately, without him relieving her.   I never saw any chicks, but I wouldn’t expect to at this point…Not 100% sure, but 95%, at least. "

The other came in from Robert B. Schmunk entitled, Cathedral hawk babies.

"Hi all,

It looks like the hawks at Cathedral of St. John the Divine have had an egg hatch, as there was definite feeding behavior going on today just after 7:00.

Tristan had been hunting in the weeds alongide the northwest  parking lot at the Cathedral and was observed to fly back to the nest with a mouse. He stayed there for a few minutes, and after he left Isolde was seen to be leaning into the nest in a manner typical of a feeding.

Donna Browne was watching with her scope and probably can provide better details of the feeding. At one point she indicated that it looked like Isolde was provide tidbits in two directions, as if there two nestlings.

Tristan returned with part of another mouse or rat at 7:30, but that appears to have been saved for a later meal."