April 22, 2014

4/22, Hatch at St. John the Divine

Mid afternoon of Earth Day, just after it had clouded over and rain started to drizzle, found Isolde the red-tailed hawk perched on the hospital rooftop across 113th St. from her nest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Red-Tailed Hawk (7351)

She was apparently checking out some leftovers from an earlier meal. A few moments later she flew back to the nest, carrying a small morsel. She checked out the nest contents for a minute.

Red-Tailed Hawk (7357)

Either Isolde was feeling very hungry, or else that morsel was not going to be enough if there was someone else in that nest who wanted to be fed. She had decided that it was warm enough to leave eggs and/or nestlings alone for a little while.

Red-Tailed Hawk (7376)

Red-Tailed Hawk (7378)

All was quiet for almost 20 minutes, when Isolde quietly returned to the nest.

She spent the next 10 minutes bent over the nest with mostly just her pale underside visible. Her head was going side to side. Feeding behavior. We definitely have had a hatch.

Red-Tailed Hawk (7475)

And as the drizzle continued, she settled back into the nest with this year's new nestling(s).

No comments:

Post a Comment