5/16, St. John the Divine

Early Monday evening I headed over to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine to see if I could get a better count of how many babies were in the red-tailed hawk nest overlooking Morningside Park. A couple days earlier using a small pair of binocular I thought I had gotten a couple glimpses of a third fuzzy head.

It was initially quiet, but one nestling got up and looked around for a bit, then settled back into the nest.

Then a bit after 7:00, mama Madeleine returned to the nest.

She didn't start in on a feeding as you might expect but perched there for a bit. IT seemed that perhaps he had brought food, but with the nestlings getting a bit older, it's time for them to figure out how to pull off some tidbits for themselevs.

Meanwhile, I cast about for better viewpoints and wasn't having a lot of luck.

A real feeding finally did start, and it went on for some time. In the midst, Bruce arrived with his much better camera set-up and started shooting video. It only took a few minutes before we got our first glimpse of a third baby hawk in the nest. Much better looks came along not long later. You can view the video on Bruce's Urban Hawks blog.

Eventually Madeleine left the nest and headed over to the hospital roof to finish her own meal, where she was also harassed by blue jays. While she was eating, papa Norman flew in and perched on the cathedral roof close to the nest.

5/9, St. John the Divine

The nestlings in the red-tailed hawk nest at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine are now visible from the street below, and the confirmed count stands at two. It's possible there is a third up there, but it's also possible that with the more exposed nest site, the count will stay at two. In past years there was often a third "runt" hidden by the elder siblings for a week or more, but that was in the previous nest where it was easier to remain hidden in the depths of an alcove.

I made my first sighting of a cathedral nestling a week ago, and this past Saturday while standing on the terrace at Manhattan Ave. and 112th St and using a pair of mini-binoculars, was able to see that there were two. One looked quite large and was already doing some excuse-me wing flapping as it toddled about the nest.

Monday evening it was occasional possible to see from below the nest along Morningside Drive that there were two and to get occasional looks at one or the other.

One obliged by getting up on the side of the nest to look around.

And also showed off her new wing feathers, now plainly several days into growing in.

Mama Madeleine was also up there the entire time, and provided the babies a couple quick snacks. Papa Norman dropped in at one point, but was there and gone in less than a minute.

5/1, J. Hood Wright Park

On a wet Sunday afternoon, I headed uptown to see if I could figure out how many nestlings were in red-tailed hawk hawk nests. But with the bad weather and bad light, success was mixed.

At the J. Hood Wright Park nest, papa flew up with dinner just after I arrived.

After the drop-off he flew across the street and perched in a tree near the subway entrance.

So how many babies are up there. We already knew there were two, but would the feeding reveal a third?

Unfortunately, despite two baby hawk heads being visible getting fed and watching mama, there was never any clear sign of a third. One never knows, though, as the babies were in regular motion and viewing angles not that great.

And it was a long feeding, going on a half hour before the rain and increasingly poor light convinced me it was time to leave.

The entire time, papa had remained in the tree across the street. In weather this murky, no need to travel around the neighborhood unless there's a real need.