I had a wonderful time catching up with the 93rd Street fledglings on Sunday night. Unlike the southern end of the park at the NYAC, this section of the part is quiet and peaceful. The fledgling were flying around in trees close to the nest, as were the parents.

I think all three young hawks have fledged but there is a small chance one is still just branching in the nest tree. It wasn’t clear as both parents and more than one fledgling made stops on the nest tree.

This location really is an ideal starting point for the fledglings lives. There are lots of great trees in a quiet area to explore. Two of the fledglings are staying close to each other. Sharing branches and flying after each other as they move around in different trees. They’re rather cute buddies.

I arrived this afternoon at the 93rd and Central Park West/Wild West Playground nest to find the fledgling had returned to the top of the nest tree. He had flown back to the tree at some point!

One eyass was on the nest and after some searching I found the other eyass partially hidden having branched about 15 feet up. It’s always comforting to account for all of the youngsters. So, I was happy to have found all of them.

Soon both parents came in and perched next to each other. They seemed to know the next stage of child rearing was about to begin.

After missing the fledge, but seeing the first fledgling on Central Park South, I went up to the Wild West Playground nest to see how it was doing. When I arrived, the mother was just leaving the nest. The eyasses ate a bit, and then horsed around on the nest before branching high up into the tree, say 30 feet. I wasn’t expecting much to happen, so I started to pack up my equipment and head downtown.

But all of a sudden, one of the eyasses fledged around 7:10 pm to a tall tree to the north of the nest. The fledge itself was typical. Great flying but a poor landing. So, I unpacked my equipment and continued to photograph the hawks. Both parents eventually came in to keep watch, although neither visited the newly fledged hawk while I was there.

My visit to the nest started slow. I could only see two eyasses at first and wondered if one had fledged, but finally saw the third one. With some light rain falling, the fledglings became more active and the third one appeared and started eating. They’ve started branching, which is a sign they will fledge soon.

Then I heard some angry Blue Jays and found a parent on a street light. It went south, continuing to be harassed by the jays, and reappeared on another street light with a Brown Rat in its talons. The jays then dived bombed and dive bombed. Eventually, the hawk went to a tree north of the nest and then a hawk delivered the rat. I think it as the male hunting and the female making the delivery, but I’m not 100% sure.

The delivery was quick. When the eyasses are close to fledging, it’s common for the parents to just make deliveries and then let the eyasses eat on their own. I’m going away for a long weekend starting Thursday, so unless they fledge Tuesday or Wednesday, I suspect they’ll be gone by the time I return.

The late afternoon started quietly, but soon both parents arrived. The mother had a squirrel, which she helped the eyasses eat. The father watched from a nearby branch. He’s one of the most involved males I’ve seen in years.