5/7, Tricksy Hawks

I only had a brief opportunity to check on the Cathedral red-tail hawks over the weekend.

Sunday

5:10 p.m. -- Isolde is busy feeding the kids. Even through 16×50 binoculars there's no sign of a fuzzy head poking above the edge of the nest. All that's really visible is Isolde's feathery hind end.

5:25 -- Feeding still in progress. Gotta go.

Monday

5:20 p.m. -- No activity at the nest and neither adult hawk is visible. Jean D. is already there watching and hasn't seen anything.

5:40 -- Isolde was apparently lying doggo in the nest. She suddenly pops up and begins feeding the kids from leftovers.

5:46 -- Feeding's already done. There was again no sign of a fuzzy head poking up from the nest. Isolde briefly retreats to the left rear of the nest. A bit of movement a minute or so later suggests she is lying back down.

6:05 -- Tristan comes flying across the south end of Morningside Park and heads directly to Gabriel's horn. He's plainly not carrying food for the family.

6:14 -- Tristan still on Gabriel's horn, and Isolde hiding in the nest. Jean leaves, just a few minutes too soon. Two pairs of eyes would have been good for sorting what was about to follow.

6:17 -- Tristan disappears from the horn while I have binoculars on the nest. I head over to Morningside Park to see if he's perched on the roof of St. Luke's.

6:19 -- Hawk circling over the trees near the dog run. Maybe a couple crows in the air by the hospital too.

6:20 -- There might have been crows in the air, but I very belatedly realize there are two hawks circling over the park.

6:21 -- The hawk I think I have been watching, i.e., Tristan, alights atop the pointy roof at St. Luke's. Pics indicate it was really Isolde.

6:22 -- Isolde back in the air. Hmmm, L6 tail feather looks a little ragged.

(Not sure what happened next two minutes.)

6:24 -- Isolde in the air overhead...

...and then lands on a cathedral finial.

6:25 -- Isolde flies off finial, circles overhead, flies north and does a circuit over the dog run.

6:27 -- Isolde back on the finial.

6:31 -- Isolde disappears just as I'm shifting position for a better view and she's hidden by foliage. Presumably returns to nest.

6:32 -- Looking for the hawk I've just been watching, I find Tristan perched on St. Luke's roof.

6:33 -- Tristan takes off and rips down 113th St. toward the parking lot.

6:34 -- Just as I reach parking lot, Tristan comes flying back eastward, passes the nest, and makes a close turn around the end of the cathedral.

6:38 -- After checking finials on opposite side of cathedral and not finding Tristan, I make my exit.