5/20, St. John the Divine

The baby red-tailed hawks at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine are big enough now that they can be seen on both sides of the nest, perching high and looking around. But their back and wing feathers are grown in enough that when they perch at the wrong angle, you could be excused for not seeing them.

Tuesday evening found one of the nestlings fussing in the nest. It became apparent after a little while that he is now old enough to peck food off a meal on his own, as every now and then he'd come up with a red tidbit.

He was also doing some early wing work. But as previously noted, the cathedral nest is now so built up there's not a lot of room for it.

Glimpses of a second nestling were also made at the time, and then both settled down for a while.

A look up Morningside Drive revealed that both parents were in the area. Norman was atop the Scrymser Pavilion at the hospital.

And Isolde was perched on the cornice at 44 MSD.

Norman flew up to 50 MSD.

But bailed out quickly because of kestrel attacks. He perched close to Isolde for a couple minutes and then took off back toward the hospital roof. Isolde stayed put even though robins from Morningside Park flew across the street to harass her.

A stroll back to check on the nest found the nestlings moving about again. One on the left, one on the right. And for just a few moments, the third popped up, trying to suggest it was someone else's turn to sit in the back of the nest.

The nest quieted down again, with just one young hawk moving about.

As the light got dimmer, mama Isolde was still perched up at 44 MSD.

And papa Norman was hanging out closer to the nest, perched on the construction netting around the hospital's Minturn Pavilion.