At the Grant's Tomb red-tailed hawk nest, sightings of the two nestlings remain a bit difficult due to the surrounding foliage. Nevertheless, occasional views can be had, and sometimes they can be caught looking back.
Their mama, Mrs. Grant, is spending more time away from the nest, albeit nearby. She is often found across the street, perching somewhere atop the International House.
The trees around the Grant's Tomb red-tailed hawk nest have leafed out, making it more difficult to watch the nest. Glimpses can be had of the nestlings, but until they get a bit bigger, glimpses may be all there is to see.
On a gloomy Thursday evening, the nestlings weren't to be seen at all, nor was mama in obvious sight. But around on the south side of the tomb, papa had apparently nailed a mouse or small rat. "The General" was eating dinner in one of the trees along the walkway leading to the tomb.
He also seemed a bit nervous, frequently looking around, and especially up and to the east. Perhaps he was concerned one of the Riverside Church falcons might put in an appearance.
Perhaps the meal had not been enough, as he also scanned the surround ground.
After perhaps 30 minutes he moved to another tree closer to the tomb. Scanned the ground there.
Then to a tree closer to the church, and as the light faded, he flew around the tomb to check on the nest.
On the first of May, the story at the two red-tailed hawk nests in Morningside Heights is quite different.
At Grant's Tomb, eggs have hatched and the two nestlings are roughly two weeks old. Old enough that on a nice evening, mama is willing to leave them snoozing on their own in the nest while she perches across the street.
Over at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, however, it appears that the hawks had an early nest failure and have "re-clutched". There the mama has been visible but barely so, her head poking up just a few inches above the nest as she broods a second clutch of eggs.
If things do go well for the cathedral nest on the re-try, it looks to be about another two weeks before we see signs of a hatch. So call it May 15.
