6/25, Piteous Whining

The cathedral red-tailed hawk fledgling absolutely could not be found Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday it only took a few minutes.

I first spotted a hawk perched on a gabled eave above the statue of St. Matthew, just on the southerly side of the apse. Initially I thought it was the fledge but in retrospect realized it was papa Norman. By the time I walked all the way around to the Biblical Garden where the view would be better, the hawk was no longer there. But perched right below that spot was the fledgling.

He was whining and begging like a steam engine whistle.

There was a blue jay calling nearby, too. Was there an adult hawk in the area?

While I contemplated that thought, the baby hawk flew over one turret to the right, disappearing behind the crenellations above the statue of St. Peter. (See this pic to see which statue is which.)

Oh, and hey, look who's perched just 10 or 15 feet up: papa Norman.

Norman took off within a minute, but the fledgling soon re-appeared.

The fledge stayed in that spot for a bit, regularly calling for attention.

I had to vacate the area as the cathedral staff closed the south-side close for the evening. Once I had walked all the way back around to Morningside Drive, there was some kerfluffle overhead. Apparently Norman had been perched on the cross atop St. Savior chapel; he took off to the west. The fledge followed, flying back over to another set of turret crenellations, this time above the statue of St. Thomas.

More begging for love and attention (or in a word, food), but no luck. He'd been at it for a half hour now.

After another 10 minutes, try moving back around the turrets to St. Andrew and the nest site. See if maybe a parent is somewhere on the other side of the cathedral.

Nope, no one here either.

Hmmm, hop down and check what's on the mini-gargoyle.

Nothing edible, I guess. Hop back up. Curse at the robin or mockingbird who just made a strafing run. Stare daggers at the little beggar, perched over there by St. Peter. Fly over there and scare him.

And then in the 5 seconds it took me to walk down the sidewalk to a better vantage point, the fledge disappeared. Nowhere in sight and... it's very quiet. Either he found food tucked away in a hidden spot or else he's flown off somewhere out of earshot.