6/17, Grant's Tomb

For those concerned about the third, uncaught Grant's Tomb hawk fledgling, she was captured Saturday afternoon in the Claremont Playground area. It was a team effort, with local birdwatchers, Ranger Rob, and WINORR rescuer Bobby all paying their parts. Special kudos should be given to the birdwatchers (Susan, Jeff, Lynn et al.) who monitored the next area for so many hours all week.

Other word is that the fledglings' mother is slowly recovering, but the father is still missing. The three youngsters will likely be individually released as "foster children" in other red-tail nesting areas.

6/14, Grant's Tomb

The third fledgling at Grant's Tomb was still on the loose Thursday evening. Despite five days with presumably no good meal, it seems to be healthy and stronger than you'd expect. Watchers have speculated that it may have raided a robin's nest for nourishment.

First view I had of the bird on Thursday it was in the air over Riverside Drive, but the gusty winds seemed to push it pack to the nest platform. Others reported watching it fly back and forth between this years and last year's nest earlier in the day.

Thereafter it was quietly perched for the next hour or more. It was good to see that it was preening, a sign that even if it's extremely hungry and lonely it is at least not sick.

Again, others have been watching out for the solitary fledgling, waiting for it to come to the ground where it can be caught and taken to rehab. Parks Dept. rangers were reported to have checked in Thursday to see if they could capture the bird, but were unable to do anything because she was staying 50+ feet up.

6/13, Grant's Tomb

The hawk situation at Grant's Tomb has continued to evolve, somewhat for the better but not as well as one might have hoped. As of early Wednesday evening just one of the three young hawks remained on the loose, but presumably it has eaten little in the past four days.

Early Monday, one fledgling was caught by rescue-rehabber Bobby Horvath on the steps of Grant's Tomb. But the remaining nestling fledged so catching it on the nest site was not possible.

A second fledgling was caught early Tuesday evening by Parks Dept. rangers, not quite on the ground but low enough that it could be safely netted.

The third, however, was still uncaught another day later. Although it was seen flying about during the day, it seems to have spent much of Wednesday perched on the nest platform railing, generally quiet but looking around and preening.

Birdwatchers have kept the area under fairly thorough watch, so there is hope that the solitary fledgling will be quickly caught when it gets weaker and comes to ground.

As for the parents, the mother (Mrs. Grant) was said to be still alive, but likely to remain under care for some time. A third-hand report was received that the father (the General) crashed through an apartment window last week, and although able to flee the scene has, as noted, not been seen since.