5/27, Yes, There are Three

Still trying for that elusive picture which shows three little hawk heads in the nest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Sunday

5:20 p.m. - Walking across Morningside Park from the corner of Manhattan Ave. and 110th St. there's no sign of an adult hawk perched up the hill on the roof of St. John's or St. Luke's.

5:25 - Now at the corner of 113th and Morningside Drive. One of the red-tail nestlings is up and about, but back turned toward the street.

5:26 - Nestling turns around. Preens.

5:29 - Mama Isolde puts in an appearance, having quietly arrived and perched on Gabriel's horn sometime in the last few minutes.

5:35 - One kid visible on south side of nest watching over Morningside Drive. Now that the nestlings are bigger, it seems a regular thing to find one of them on this side of the nest.

5:38 - Now two of them visible from the south side.

5:46 - Quieting down. Just one nestling visible on south side, and it's sitting down.

5:52 - Back around the corner. One of the nestlings is standing on the edge of the nest, but back side out. Its head is cocked at an angle like it's checking out the third nestling presumably hunkered down in the alcove at the rear right of the nest.

6:06 - Just been two nestlings visible off and on the last ten minutes. One on the left/south side of the nest, and one in the middle.

Now one of them gets back up on the edge of the nest and looks out.

6:10 - Whoa. Definitely three nestlings visible now. One is standing up in the middle, although back now to the street. The second's head is peeking over St. Andrew, and the mixed down and feathers of the third's back are visible in the lower right.

One might think the third is just another trick of the shadows in that alcove, but the previous pic shows that that corner looks entirely different when the stone is exposed.

6:11 - Yes. Nestling #1 still standing up in the middle, preening; #2 just barely visible in the left; and one or both of #3's eyes is peeking out from the right rear alcove.

I wonder if #3 is the youngest, and being smaller ends up getting shoved into the constricted corner of the nest.

6:17 - Quieted down again. Just one nestling head and another's back visible.

6:25 - Just as I'm thinking about leaving for family dinner, Isolde drops off Gabriel's horn and alights on the north side of the nest.

6:27 - Feeing in progress. It's beginning to look like dinner these days is Isolde tearing up the food, and then the kids snatching pieces off.

6:28 - Nestling at left has a big hunk of food, with dark fur or feathers, and is trying to swallow the chunk whole.

6:29 - Wow, I think she did it.

6:33 - Still feeding. There might stll be some beak-to-beak hand-offs going on.

6:37 - Isolde still at the nest, but looking around while one or two of the nestlings is bent over dinner in the middle.

6:38 - Gotta go.