St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Sunday at the Cathedral

Sunday was a relaxed day at the Cathedral.  It was cloudy and cool.

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The mother perched on a new spot atop the bronze statue of St. Gabriel.
The eyasses now regularly use this left hand position on the nest.
They’re getting so big, I may need to revise my June 15th fledge date.  It may be coming a week earlier.
The parents are leaving food on the nest, and the eyasses are eating without assistance when they’re hungry.
A full crop after eating.
Their feathers have really filled in.
The adult female comes in and does a quick check. . .
. . . before flying off. . .
. . . to St. Luke’s across the street.
The eyass on the left has such a mature look now.
As I was leaving around 5:30, the female adult flew off in the direction of Central Park.  The male was above her circling above the park 300-500 feet higher.
The female then landed on 301 W 110th and had another brief encounter with a Mockingbird. . .
. . .before leaving and returning to the Cathedral.
St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Exterior of Choir Clerestory

Christopher Lyons was kind enough to send me information about the section of the Cathedral where the nest is located.

From the guidebook, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, originally compiled by Edward Hagaman Hall, 17th edition, 1965, originally published in 1920.

“Exterior of Choir Clerestory

This rises above the roofs of the chapels.  In the canopied niches near the tops of the turrets and buttresses are ten stone figures nine and a half feet high by Borglum, as follow (south to north): St. James the Less with fuller’s club (indicating manner of his martyrdom), and St. Philip with Latin cross (symbol of his crucifixion), together on turret; St. Bartholomew, St. Thomas with square (spiritual architect); St. James the Great with pilgrim staff; St. Peter with key; St. Andrew with diagonal cross; St. Matthew with drapery over head; St. Simon with saw, and St. Jude with spear (indicating manner of their death), together on turret.  On the roof of the Choir facing eastward is a nine and a half foot bronze statue of St. Gabriel of the Resurrection, blowing a trumpet.  This is also by Gutzon Borglum.”

(Borglum was also the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore.)

So, as we look at the birds, we’ll need to remember that the sculptures are almost double life size!

The exterior of Choir Clerestory
as seen from 113th Street.  From left to right, St. Andrew (nest site), St. Matthew, St. Simon, and St. Jude.   The bronze statue of St. Gabriel of the Resurrection, blowing a trumpet is above with a Red-tailed hawk perched on top of it.
Detail of the St. Andrew statue.  An eyas is visible in the nest and adult is at the top left behind the nest.
Detail of the St. Matthew statue.
Detail of the St. Simon and St. Jude figures.
Other Birds, St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Mockingbird vs. Red-tailed Hawk, Part II

Last week, I saw a Mockingbird in the garden on the south side of the Cathedral, and knew it was only a matter of time before I’d see a confrontation between this Mockingbird and a Red-tailed Hawk near the nest.  (This is a different Mockingbird than the one that harassed the Red-tail on 110th Street.)

This morning the female adult was about twenty feet from the nest when a Mockingbird attacked.  After acting like the Mockingbird was nothing more than an annoying insect, the Red-tailed moved north to a St. Luke’s Hospital perch.

(Her strange appearance and coloring is due to the rain.)
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St. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Wednesday Evening at the Cathedral

I was up at the nest for about an hour or so after 6:00 p.m. It was a quiet evening with a cool breeze.  The parents spent their time off the nest and only one eyas was very active on the nest while I was there.

The eyas has changed greatly in the last two days.  It’s beginning to look more like a Red-tailed adult, each and every day.

The male adult.
The female adult.
Growing up fast.
Look how much the wing feathers have grown in!