4/30, Feeding and Flying

The last day of April featured beautiful weather and a fun burst of hawk activity after the evening feeding at the hawk nest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

I arrived at the cathedral to find Isolde in the middle of what seems to be the usual early evening feeding. Ten minutes or so of activity and then off she went to take out the trash (part of a pigeon).

She headed up Morningside Drive with no sign of her returning any time soon. About 8-9 minutes after she left, a hawk landed on "Tristan's Urn", across 113th St. on the roof of the Plant Pavilion of St. Luke's Hospital. It was the male.

And dang, if it weren't for knowing that an adult hawk was found dead nearby in Central Park after the hurricane, I'd likely say that was Norman up there. Would eye color give a hint to the age of the hawk?

Hmmm, a very close look at that photo did not suggest the paler eye color of a young adult. So matter not proven either way.

Bonus spidey-eyes pic.

Another 8-9 minutes after the male landed on the hospital roof, Isolde came down 113th St. and landed on another part of the pavilion roof.

She barely perched there for a few moments and then flew over to the nest.

While hawkwatchers below watched to see what she was up to, the male took off in some other direction. But Isolde's return to the nest didn't last either, as after a few minutes she too took off again.

Over the next 5-10 minutes there were sightings here and there of the adults in the air. For one short moment, both adults were perched on the edge of the nest, leaning over and "consulting" on the sight of the babies within. Just before 7:00 the male took off, his duties apparently done for the day, and Isolde settled down and out of sight.