5/3, Highbridge Feeding, and CCNY Hawk v. Crow

5:00 Feeding

Saturday was another gray, gloomy day, but there are hawk nestlings to watch. So onward and uptown.

Highbridge Park:
First up to 190th St. Arrived at the Highbridge nest viewing point at about 4:40 and found that Martha, the mama red-tail, was sitting high in the nest and looking around. It was a bit chilly, but she may have been fluffed up in order to let feathers dry out after the dreary weather.

After 4:50, Martha started looking around inside the nest like there might some nestlings fussing around in there with her. Finally, just before 5:00, the first nestling head pops up where it can be seen.

A couple minutes later Martha stood up on the far side of the nest, and although I didn't quite realize it at the moment, two nestling heads were just visible.

And then a feeding began.

As ever, a baby hawk's ambition is sometimes larger than his beak.

More, please!

Dinner was kind of grayish, perhaps with a pale spot. I couldn't decide, though, whether it was squirrel or pigeon.

The nestling obviously didn't ask such questions.

The feeding has gone on for a few minutes, but so far I have only seen just one nestling. Perhaps I'm confused because it does seem like dinner has a pale fuzzy spot, like a squirrel's belly fur. Perhaps it's just my eyesight.

But finally it becomes apparent that two nestlings are sitting almost in a line with each other. Most likely they've been alternating and I just haven't caught them at it. But here one is getting a bite while the other turns partially around and looks out of the nest.

The last bite was served out at 5:11. The nestlings laid down immediately for a post-meal nap, and then Martha plopped down in the nest with them.

I hung around a few more minutes, but it was apparent that unless Martha decided to get some exercise or her mate George happened to check in, there wasn't going to be any more activity for some time.

CCNY
Arrived on St. Nicholas Terrace below the red-tail nest just past 6:00. At first there was no sign of activity, but within minutes, the female stood up. Although she was standing on the outside of the nest looking in, it looked like she might be feeding herself rather than nestlings.

Well, presumably she wasn't feeding nestlings, as just a couple minutes later, she dove out of the nest and circled around the north side of Shepard Hall. Soon she re-appeared directly above the tower, kiting in what was turning out to be a seriously gusty breeze. But uh-oh, who's that up there with her? Sure enough, one of the campus crows, perhaps the same one I'd seen just before I reached the nest, had flown up to harass her.

They tussled around up there for a half minute before the crow dropped back down. The hawk flew down toward the nest, but bypassed it and landed on a projection on the tower corner counterclockwise from the nest. She didn't stay long but popped back up and hovered. Then she flew back down on the campus side of the Shepard Hall again. What, is she going to challenge the crow again? No, she quickly re-appeared directly above the tower, and then folded her wings a bit and parachuted down to the nest.

Stuck out her legs...

And landed at home.

Then made sure that the crow hadn't followed her.

Looked around a bit.

And then settled down where she couldn't be seen.

Cathedral:
I reached the Morningside nest area a bit before 7:00 and there was nothing to be seen. It was dark and gloomy, of course, but there was no sign of red-tail activity. Further, the hawks had stuck a leafy twig into the north side of the nest so that it wouldn't be possible to see anything but a standing adult.

But... Lincoln had been there earlier in the day and apparently witnessed a feeding. You can be sure I'll be here when it's sunnier and brighter on Sunday

5/2, Checking in at the Cathedral

A gloomy day, with visibility down to a mile or so and misty air which made taking pictures a difficult task. But over to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine to see if there's any sign of a hatch at the red-tail nest.

Arrive about 5:25 and find Isolde is sitting up high in the nest. She's almost invisible and only a pair of binoculars picked her out.

She's looking around in all directions, but interestingly, she looks back and down into the nest a couple times.

That back corner always seemed to be where the nestlings were hiding last year before they got big enough and active enough to appear above the edge of the nest.

But has there been a hatch? I can't say. A couple minutes after I got there, Isolde hunkered back down in the nest and I didn't see her again during the rest of my visit to the corner.

BTW: Take a very close look at those first two photos again. There's a house sparrow perched on the pillar right around the corner from the nest. What's that about?

While I was checking the nest from the south side, Isolde's mate Norman snuck in and landed on the north entrance. When I walked back up to where I could see him, he was initially looking into the nest. Obviously not a food delivery, though, since Isolde never got up, either to eat or to feed any nestlings who might be up there. Looks like he's just checking in.

Then he looked around a bit.

He turned around and looked my way for a moment. A very odd posture, that, with his tail jammed up against the pillar behind him.

Then Norman took off and flew over to a spot on the scaffolding by the transept. I think it's the same projecting pipe I saw him on a couple weeks ago.

He was obviously casing the area for prey, ogling the chapel roofs, the trees alongside, the parking lot, the big piece of plastic flapping in the breeze on the eaves. He checks the entire area, his head bobbing all the while as he examined things from different angles.

After a bit more than ten minutes up there, Norman decided to make a strike. In what had to be worst swoop I've ever seen, he "dived" down into a tree alongside St. Ansgar Chapel. I put quotes around that because it was a slow motion dive, with wings spread and cupped to slow his descent just like a parachute. And whatever was in that tree, he missed.

After a burst of leaves from the treetop, Norman flew over into a nearby tree overhanging the parking lot and perched a minute. Then off again, across the street and up onto the facing at St. Luke's above the clock, turn around and up to one of the rooftop urns.

Perch there for a couple minutes, and ignore that starling who buzzes by twice.

And then off over the hospital rooftop to somewhere in the north.

4/30, Cathedral Countdown Continues

Visits to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Tuesday and Wednesday showed no evidence of a hatch at the red-tailed hawk nest. In fact, no hawk sightings were made at all.

Isolde is apparently hunkered down in the nest, and Norman is off wherever it is that he goes. It's not much like a year ago, when Tristan would during his "down time" perch on a near-by landmark in the early evening. At least we know from some pix taken by Lincoln on Sunday that Isolde is still up there.

Meanwhile, all I've seen is a hostile Canada gander, hissing at dogs at the Morningside Park pond while he awaits goslings, and another visit from a great egret.

But for hawk baby news, check out Bruce's pix which reveal three nestlings (!) at the Riverside nest.