June 28, 2015

6/28, St. John the Divine

On a gray Sunday afternoon, Madeleine the cathedral red-tailed hawk was again visible in her nest, watching the neighborhood, preening, and finally, feeding what seems to be more than one small nestling.

At 4:30, she was perched with her back to the nest contents, looking out over Morningside Park.

Madeleine in Her Nest - 3397

Not long later she turned around to give a little attention to the nest interior.

Madeleine in Her Nest - 3413

But although she fussed briefly inside the nest, she spent most of the next 20-25 minutes preening. Sometimes she looked back over a shoulder.

Madeleine in Her Nest - 3421

Meanwhile I cast about to see if there were any other spots along Morningside Drive where there might be a good vantage.

Madeleine in Her Nest - 3462

Round about 5:00 I found an okay spot right at the intersection of 113th St. that I had previously missed.

Madeleine in Her Nest - 3489

From that spot it seemed that I could see Madeleine checking at least two spots in the nest, suggesting two or three babies up there.

Moments later, Madeleine was bent over the nest and for the next 15 minutes, all I saw of her was a feathery posterior. The 5:00 feeding was in progress.

Addendum: The Urban Hawks blog has video of the feeding.

4 comments:

  1. We must have been watching from different angles at the same time. I would say at least two eyasses. One gave a nice slice from the middle of the nest.

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  2. I was watching from about 4:30 to 5:15 Sunday. Most of the time along MSD close to the nest.

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