5/13, A Clue?

Isolde on Her Chimney at St. Luke's

I arrived at the cathedral red-tail nest area today just past 5:30 and found all quiet, with no hawks perched anywhere in view. Twenty minutes later after admiring some bees working the aromatic flowering bushes along Morningside Drive...

... and checking whether there had been a hatch at the Morningside Park goose nest (no), I returned uphill to find Isolde was perched on her favorite chimney in the southeast corner of the roof at St. Luke's hospital.

All remained quiet for the next hour, with Isolde staying glued to her spot.

There was no sign of a fuzzy baby hawk head peeking over the edge of the nest, or through the sticks of the nest. However, just past 6:00 there was a bit of evidence suggesting that there was someone up there. I was watching the north side of the nest through binoculars and noticed a jet of white squirt out from the south side. Did a baby just relieve itself? With Isolde on the chimney above my head and no sign of her mate Norman being in the area, maybe so.

Isolde was of course looking around the entire time she on the chimney. Just past 6:45 she glared over toward the scaffolding above St. Ansgar chapel and I wondered if Norman might have flown in.

But no, no sign of him. Five minutes later Isolde flew off, but did not return to the nest. A dogwalker who came by a minute later said she had seen Isolde over the south end of Morningside Park. Perhaps she gave up on Norman making a food delivery and went to get it herself.