Morningside Hawks

On a very gray but temperate Saturday, I checked on the Washington Heights fire escape red-tailed hawk nest and got a couple short glimpses of baby hawks.

On arrival, I found the mother hawk perched on the railing just above her nest.

Although she looked over her shoulder now and again, she had her back to the street and was facing toward the nest. But the nest was quiet.

ABout 15-20 minutes later, the father paid a visit.

A short visit. A half minute later he was off and gone.

Momma stayed put.

A little bit later some motion in the nest itself. A baby hawk appears.

Visibile just for a moment, and then back to sleep.

The mother stayed where she was, and stayed.

She did turn around and watch the street for a while.

After an hour or so, I took a short walk around the nearby park. The mother hawk apparently took a spin too, as we both returned to the nest area about the same time, not long before sunset.

Some motion in the nest again, and this time there were two babies visible in the dimming light. Momma hopped down in the nest for a moment, and the nestlings settled down. She took off again perhaps to hunt, and all was quiet.

A fine spring evening found both cathedral red-tailed hawk parents willing to hang about for a while. Isolde was in the nest feeding the babies, while the male was up on the roof, perched on Gabriel's horn.

It was a long feeding, finishing possibly 30 minutes after I first started watching.

After the meal, the babies did not collapse into an immediate post-prandial coma. Isolde didn't take off to remove the garbage either, although the male did disappear around this time.

I was only able to spot two of the nestlings, presumably "Eldest" and "Middle Child". One presumes "Runt" is pushed to the back of the nest by its bigger sibs.

After watching a particular hawk nest for several years, you get used to seeing certain things at certain times after the eggs hatch. Today marked about three and a half weeks since hatch at the red-tail nest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and there were two such markers.

First, when mama Isolde was first spotted, she was perched atop one of the Towers on the Park apartment buildings on Douglass Circle. This is something that she does for a week or so when the babies are getting old enough that she doesn't need to stay in the nest so much to help them keep warm, but she can still keep an eye on the nest and be back in a minute if she needs to be.

After Isolde was spotted, the male came soaring past, carrying a pigeon apparently nailed somewhere to the southwest of the cathedral. He was low, so he flew beyond Morningside Park, then turned around and started heading up-hill. He first landed atop the Cathedral School and looked around like he was waiting for Isolde to return ti the nest. Then after a brief stop atop the hospital, he delivered the pigeon to the nest.

Isolde arrived a minute later. Dad hung around just a bit, perching atop St. Andrew's head.

Then departed.

The feeding lasted about 15 minutes before Isolde too departed. She carried off the pigeon remains to somewhere east of the park.

What looked to be the oldest nestling remained active for a little while, at one point sitting on the edge of the nest.

And there's the day's other milestone: Dark wing and tail feathers are growing in.

First sightings of nestlings at the hawk nest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine came in the middle of the week. On Tuesday the 7th, Jeremy shot some video that showed two healthy red-tail nestlings looking out of the nest. On Wednesday the 8th, I went by to get a look.

All quiet at first, just a sighting of the father soaring north up into the 120s, circling about and then coming back south over Morningside Park.

About 6:45, mama Isolde appeared and started a feeding. As she was feeding to the right, a nestling's head could be seen bobbing up to the left.

And eventually she started feeding to the left, and the nestling at right was clearly visible.

The feeding ended and Isolde looked around a bit, watched someone fly over, and then took off herself.

She returned a bit later at which time I had to leave, but she apparently started another feeding.

But lest the above comments lead you to think there are just two nestlings in the cathedral nest, it's definite that there are three. Bruce arrived in the middle of the first feeding and shot some video of that feeding and of the second. At one point, three separate nestlings could be seen all at the same time.

Late Saturday afternoon, I again headed uptown to check on the Highbridge Park and Washington Heights nests. Both were in the hatching time frame.

At Highbridge, I found Martha sitting calmly in her nest.

Although she got up twice during the next 45 minutes, her effort was limited to egg rotation and a quick preen. Well, given the uncertainties on when the Highbridge hawks switched from their first nest this season to this smaller nest, hatch could happen anytime over the next two weeks.

At the Washington Heights fire escape nest, however, signs seemed to indicate that a hatch had recently happened. I found the female sitting on the side of the nest, alternating between looking around at the nest interior and checking out the activity on the street.

This went on for a good 20 minutes or so, with the photographer getting his share of attention.

Eventually the female settled down in the nest, but about ten minutes later, the male arrived with a tidbit of food The female got up and it looked more like she was feeding someone very small in the nest rather than eating the morsel herself.

The male watched for a bit, then shifted position.

Ooops, almost stumbled.

Another minute later, he took off, dropping through the hole in the fire escape and out over the street.

He alit in a tree almost over head, where he cleaned his beak and then perched for 7 or 8 minutes.

While he was still there the female finished what looked like feeding activity in the nest and settled back down.