The eyasses at Riverside Park won’t be ready to fledge for about 10 days, but with each passing day they give hints that they’ll soon be ready.

Today, I saw them try and feed themselves for the first time.  They don’t really have the “ripping the meat off the animal before eating” part down yet, but it’s fun to see them trying.

The parents are also feeling more and more comfortable leaving them alone on the nest for extended periods of time.  The adults took a break from parenting and spent time on the Normandy Apartments towers in the morning.  They even copulated on the tower.  I guess like humans, they needed a romantic weekend getaway from the newborns.

If you own a copy of Sibley’s Birding Basics, I would recommend re-reading the sections on feathers and tail structures while watching the eyasses grow up.  Watching how the feathers are growing in on the eyasses with the background of Sibley’s text, really helps make everything make sense.