Urban Hawks

There was a light rain, that turned into a rain shower after fly out.  Jean, Marianne, and I were at the fly out.  Chris, Fig and Chris’ boyfriend also stopped by briefly.

Fly out was first the fledgling in fairly bright light, followed after a good while by Trident and with another delay Herringbone.

The owls stay together within a hundred feet of the nest.  Soft songs were heard from the fledgling.  We saw the owls drop to the grass a few times, including the fledgling.  They might have been eating worms brought up by the rain.  The owls came back to the area around the nest cavity, but we lost them and called it a night as the rain had gotten stronger.

Tuesday, had three observers on a crystal clear night, Marie, Jean and Bruce.  Two owls were seen in the nest cavity, the fledgling and the adult we’ve been calling Trident because of its vertical forehead stripes. 

On Easter Sunday the weather was cold, with snow flurries.  Jim, Marie, Jean and I saw all three owls.  They flew out ten minutes apart, first the fledgling followed by Trident and then Herringbone.  Jean sees the fledgling fly across the drive in advance of its parents.  So, we’re seeing some independence develop.  After the fly out, we left since it was so cold.

A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was in the area at sunset along the North Meadow and then south of the 99th Street playground off Central Park West.

It might be April, but it was still cold. Jean and I braved 32 degree weather.  7:20 was the first pop-up of an owl in the hole.  Everything was normal until 7:35 when a Red-tailed Hawk flies within feet of the hole, carrying a rat.

We don’t see an owl in the hole until 8pm!  The larger of the two adults, Trident sits in hole and calls loudly for a long time.  We only see the parents leave hole, 8:10 (Trident) and 8:11 (Herringbone).  I wonder if they told the kid to stay home tonight!