I caught up with the two Pinetum fledglings after the rainstorm on Saturday afternoon. One was in the nest tree, a few feet below the nest and best seen from the eastern paved path that parallels the Locust Grove chip path. The other was in the same tree it was in on Friday, in a small pine across from the 8404 light on the 85th Street onramp to the West Drive.
A brief visit to 86th and West End had lots of action late in the afternoon on Friday. When I first arrived two fledglings were on the corner on the top floor of 535 West End Avenue. One flew off and then there are lots of flights back and forth by fledglings and much higher, the parents. At some point, two of the fledglings ended up on the church tower, with one of them eventually flying off to 555 West End Avenue. The 555 WEA railing the Peregrine Falcon was sitting on belongs to a penthouse currently listing for $42 Million!
I found one of the fledglings on Friday afternoon about 100 yards west of the nest in a small pine tree along the 85th Street onramp to the West Drive. It stayed perched in the tree for over an hour, and across the drive an American Robin repeated a warning call during that whole time.
I hadn’t had time to go look for the TCC Fledglings until today. I didn’t know what to expect when I went up to see them. Last year, the single fledgling was hard to find after two weeks, so I had limited expectations.
When I arrived I heard American Robins making alarm calls in the SW section of the Conservatory Garden. I found one of the fledglings, who flew to another tree and then up the hill towards the Compost Heap, before I could get any decent pictures.
I climbed the hill up to the Compost Heap and found all three fledglings in the Black Locust tree the Snowy Owl loved so much. One fledgling flew out twice only to return to almost the same branch. Two of them cried for food, but I didn’t see the parents. I suspect they were hunting around the North Meadow.
All three fledglings looked to be in good health.
My visit to watch the Pinetum fledglings had the older fledgling exploring Seneca Village, especially the area west of the West Drive. The younger fledgling spent its time near the nest.
The father made lots of flights around the area, and brought a pigeon to the nest but dropped it close to the West Drive. There were too many folks on the road for the father to retrieve it. I suspect it will get picked up early the next day.
The Pinetum fledglings behaved much like they did on my last visit. The older was flying around trees around the nest and the younger fledgling was staying in the nest tree. The male brought the younger one a rodent while I was watching them. The mother wasn’t staying so close but was watching from farther away. But other than that not much was happening. I hope to see more action in coming weeks.
