Marie had been predicting that the Fledgling would soon be independent.  I had argued back that without tree cover or warm weather, the family might stay in the cavity longer than would be normal.

Today, Chris found the Fledgling in a Hawthorne tree, where it most likely spent the day.  Ironically, it was a warm day, trees were not leaf covered but enough buds were on the tree to hide the bird, and it was the correct time for the fledgling to start being independent.  So, no clear answer to our riddle.

Owl watchers for the evening were Jim, Chris, Noreen, Barbara and myself.

Finally, we had some sunshine and warmer weather on Thursday.  It was 55 and partly cloudy, with a wonderful sunset.  Marie, Jim, Barbara and I were at the fly out, plus some birders and softball players.

This evening, in fairly bright light, Trident and the Fledgling came out one after another, followed by Herringbone about ten minutes later.

Trident and Fledgling hung out for awhile, then all three went NE of nest, then we lost track of them.  Searches of the owls’ normal spots, came up empty.

There was a light rain, that turned into a rain shower after fly out.  Jean, Marianne, and I were at the fly out.  Chris, Fig and Chris’ boyfriend also stopped by briefly.

Fly out was first the fledgling in fairly bright light, followed after a good while by Trident and with another delay Herringbone.

The owls stay together within a hundred feet of the nest.  Soft songs were heard from the fledgling.  We saw the owls drop to the grass a few times, including the fledgling.  They might have been eating worms brought up by the rain.  The owls came back to the area around the nest cavity, but we lost them and called it a night as the rain had gotten stronger.

Tuesday, had three observers on a crystal clear night, Marie, Jean and Bruce.  Two owls were seen in the nest cavity, the fledgling and the adult we’ve been calling Trident because of its vertical forehead stripes. 

On Easter Sunday the weather was cold, with snow flurries.  Jim, Marie, Jean and I saw all three owls.  They flew out ten minutes apart, first the fledgling followed by Trident and then Herringbone.  Jean sees the fledgling fly across the drive in advance of its parents.  So, we’re seeing some independence develop.  After the fly out, we left since it was so cold.

A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was in the area at sunset along the North Meadow and then south of the 99th Street playground off Central Park West.

It might be April, but it was still cold. Jean and I braved 32 degree weather.  7:20 was the first pop-up of an owl in the hole.  Everything was normal until 7:35 when a Red-tailed Hawk flies within feet of the hole, carrying a rat.

We don’t see an owl in the hole until 8pm!  The larger of the two adults, Trident sits in hole and calls loudly for a long time.  We only see the parents leave hole, 8:10 (Trident) and 8:11 (Herringbone).  I wonder if they told the kid to stay home tonight!