7/12, Hawkwatching

No new pix today. The shot at right is another nice one from yesterday.

The big rainburst at 5:45 today seemed to put paid to the idea of hawkwatching, but at 7:00 p.m. I noticed some blue sky out the window. Since the corner of Morningside Drive and 113th St. is leass than a half mile walk, I decided to make a quick trip over to see if any of the Divine hawks were around. Threee of them were, and spotting them did not prove at all difficult.

First, a stroll down Morningside Dr., simultaneously listening for sounds in Morningside Park whilst scanning the roof of the Cathedral School, revealed at 7:20 one fledgling (probably big sister) perched on a scaffolding railing by the southeast gable of the school.

As I took a couple photos of the fledgling, intermittent sounds of fledgling whining seem to emanate from the park directly across the street from the scaffolding. Stepping onto the 111th. St. overlook and checking out the nearby treetops, I saw some odd brownish "leaves" in the foliage about 50 feet away. No, that would be too easy. But a look through field glasses revealed them to be the ends of the feathers on the other fledgling's tail and right wing. His head was also apparent when seen through the glasses. He permitted only two pix to be taken before flying away, dropping down over the softball field and flying east and probably north. Drat.

Robin chirping had started up near the Cathedral, so I spent the next 5-10 minutes near St. Savior Chapel checking the treetops. No luck, but at 7:30 I belatedly noticed an adult red-tail perched on Gabriel's horn. As robins have not complained about a hawk that high up before, my guess was that the second feldgling must have seen the adult flying this way (hence the whiny screech) and followed it up here, only to perch somewhere out of (my) site.

After that I made a pass around the lower level of Morningside Park to see and hear whatever there might be. Aside from the distant glimpses of the fledgling on the school scaffolding and the adult on Gabriel's horn, there was nada. The humidity in the park was brutal, and the lighting dim because of the overcast, so I quickly called it a day and was back at the computer checking the day's measly five photos by 8:00.