5/20, St. John the Divine

The babies in the red-tailed hawk nest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine are getting bigger fast. That's right — babies, plural. Two were clearly visible early Monday evening, and they are big enough that they can be seen from the corner of Morningside Drive and West 113th St. when they move around.

First view on sultry Monday showed mama sitting high and watching the sky. But there was a lump of fuzzy white next to her: a snoozing nestling. But over the next few minutes there were occasional glimpses of more fuzzy white to the right, and soon enough another baby hawk head popped up.

Mama kept watching the sky. Was papa late delivering dinner?

The second baby kept moving about, head popping up a few more times.

Finally sleepy-head at left raised its head to look around.

And mama kept watching the sky.

Views from a more distant vantage point that provides a better angle on the nest provided insufficient evidence whether there might be a third nestling.