April 29, 2007

4/29, Lazy Sunday

I skipped out on hawkwatching on Saturday as the Yankees game was on when I would normally be doing so. Bruce Yolton watched two separate feedings (late morning and late afternoon) at the Cathedral hawk nest, so go there for pictures of Isolde and Tristan. His photos are zoomed in enough so that there's good question as to whether one can already see fuzzy nestlings through gaps in the twigs. Bruce also has Saturday pix of feedings at the Highbridge (three nestlings there!) and Inwood Hill hawk nests.

On Sunday, after a look-see inside the Cathedral — first time I'd been inside in about five years; so long that I hadn't realized that the renovation was going on — I arrived at Morningside Drive just before 4:55. There was sign that Isolde was moving about, and from the 112th St. overlook it seemed she was in her "scanning the skies" mode. But by the time I got my camera out and ready, she was already turning around to pay attention to the inside of the nest.

Isolde in Her Nest

Over the next couple minutes her tail feathers were visible poking out above St. Andrew's head, but she soon settled down with her kid(s). I then wondered into Morningside Park for 15 minutes, came back out to see still more of not much going on. Bruce arrived and we both kept an eye on the nest until about 6:30 and saw no great activity. Certainly no sign of Tristan, either hunting or delivering food. He might have been hanging out in a nearby tree, but with foliage really sprouting, it's become much harder to spot a tree-perched hawk.

Through Bruce's camera set-up we did see more little hints of something fuzzy through gaps in the nest, possibly a nestling although also possibly pale feathers on Isolde. We also caught her looking out through a gap at one point.

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