St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

A Fledgling Goes To School

Up at the Cathedral this evening, we got to see both of the parents and at least one of the fledglings.

The adult female on a cross on the edge of the St. Savior chapel.
The adult female from another angle.
A fledgling on the roof of the St. Martin chapel.
The adult male arrives and stays briefly on the Archangel Gabriel.  He heads off towards Central Park after about fifteen minutes.
The fledgling preens for awhile…
…before moving back and forth from one corner to another…
…and after a few minutes flies to the Cathedral School building.  When it moves to the Cathedral building it appears to land perfectly.  Another hawk follows, and it misses the roof and glides down a step slate roof to a gutter and stays out of sight.  We think we’ve seen two fledglings but can’t be sure.  The mother had left the cross on the St. Savior chapel and one of the hawks could have been her.
We walk around the Cathedral, and find the adult female on a water tank on South 110th.
We walk around to Amsterdam and into the Cathedral grounds.  Walking behind the school building we find a fledgling on the gutter it slid into earlier.
As we leave the Cathedral grounds, the adult female has returned to the Archangel Gabriel.
St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Relaxing On A Hot Day

The two fledglings relaxed on a hot, 90 degree day.  I was at the Cathedral in the early afternoon on Sunday.  Fledgling I was sitting on a fifth floor windowsill of a St. Luke’s building half way between 113th and 114th Street on Morningside Drive.

Fledgling II was heard begging periodically, but took over an hour to find.  It was in a tree on the south side of 113th about 20 feet in from Morningside Drive.

Both hawks looked to be doing nothing more than just trying to stay cool.

Fledgling I trying to stay cool.
The adult female landing on 301 West 110th Street.
Fledgling 1
The adult female circled the area of the tree which had Fledgling II, landing on St. Luke’s, in the tree and on the Cathedral.
It looked as though she was trying to coax the fledgling  to come out to an easier place to feed.
All attemps to get the fledgling to move failed.
Fledgling 2
She kept trying to coax the fledgling to move.
But Fledgling 2 stayed put.

I hope you have enjoyed this series of posts about the St. John the Divine nest.  It has been fun bringing a near daily report of the activities in Morningside Heights.  Work commitments and vacations in June and July will prevent me from keeping up this daily pace.  Expect to see posts only around the weekends for the next two months.

Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey, Other Birds, St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

More from Saturday

After taking a break in the early afternoon, and a detour to Riverside Church, I returned to the Cathedral.

The hawk watchers up at the Cathedral compared their estimates for fledge dates today.  The question of the day was, Did we have a precocious fledgling followed by a normal fledgling?, Or a regular fledgling followed by a reluctant one?  The general consensus was that we had a precocious, first fledgling.

A photograph I forgot to post from earlier in the day of the adult female being bothered by a Mockingbird.
Three Peregrines come to attack the adult female.  They were so fast, I couldn’t get a picture of all of them.
The Peregrines leave.
A fledgling on the scaffolding.  At this point, I can’t tell them apart for sure.
The fledgling disappears, and after awhile one appears on St. Luke’s.  This looks to be the new playground for the young hawks.
Still preening.
The young hawk experiments with the strong breeze.
The adult female.
Who soon leaves…
…picks up some left over prey from earlier in the day…
…and heads off to St. Luke’s
The young hawk continues to play in the wind.
It soon moves about 15 feet on St. Luke’s after having some troubles finding solid footing.
The mother returns to the Cathedral, near St. Matthew.
Eagles, Falcons, Hawks and Osprey

Riverside Church Peregrine Falcons

Seven blocks north and a few blocks west of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine is Riverside Church.  A pair of Peregrine Falcons have two fledglings there, who on late Saturday afternoon made the worst racket imaginable begging for food.

A fledgling on Riverside Church.
Fledgling and adult in flight.
Fledgling in flight.
Fledgling in Peregrine diving mode.
Adult Peregrine preparing food for a fledgling.  It rained feathers.
The adult on the Interfaith Center, which everyone refers to as the “God Box”.
A fledgling (right) comes in to eat.
Even with food it still yells.
A little calmer after eating.
St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Empty Nest

At around 10:20 a.m, the second fledge occurred leaving the nest empty for the first time in over two and a half months.

I missed the fledge by about 15 minutes, but Barrie Raik was there to photograph the event.  She has graciously provided these three photographs of the fledge.  The feldgling left the nest and landed in a tree on Morningside Drive.  I was soon mobbed by some catbirds and the adult female with the help of some prey, moved the feldgling to the Cathedral.

Photo Credit: Barrie Raik
Photo Credit: Barrie Raik
Photo Credit: Barrie Raik
I arrived to an empty nest
The adult male keeping a close eye on the new fledgling.
The adult female was perched on the Archangel Gabriel.
The new fledgling.
Eating something.
The father stayed very close.
Before…
…flying off to 114th Street and Morningside Drive.
The fledgling.
St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Still Won’t Budge

The second eyas continues to stay on the nest, although it’s finally looking like it wants to fledge.

The adult female returns to the nest.
The two hawks have lunch together.
Soon, the adult female moves to the Archangel Gabriel statute.
Leaving the eyas on the nest, first to doze off for awhile and then later in the day, to engage in more wing flapping.
The adult female moves to 301 West 110th Street.
Although the fledgling could be heard most of the afternoon, we only were able to see it after about 6:00 p.m.