Tonight, only the fledgling’s mother could be found.  Nothing to worry about, it’s common to have troubles finding a fledgling in August.

It was hot and humid at Riverside on Tuesday evening.  The parents were hanging out north of the Boat Basin cafe and along the parkway.  The fledgling was difficult to find, but showed up in and around the playground area later in the evening. 

The Riverside Drive fledgling is really doing well at flying high.  On Monday evening, the fledgling flew to a building at 75th and Riverside Drive.  It got harassed by an American Kestrel and flew to another building roof.  Later, it flew back to its normal hunting grounds and caught a rat, which it eat on a tree limb above the playground.  (The video includes pictures of the rat being eaten.)

During the week I was away the flegling learned to fly high along Riverside Drive exploring buildings from the 70’s through the 100’s.   Today, when I caught up with the fledgling, I discovered that it had learned to perch on street lights, just like its parents.

The fledgling, who has seemed so mature over the last few visits, reminded me that it is still a youngster today.  While I was there it spent a great deal of time on the ground, had fun staring down squirrels and generally acted like a kid.   It was nice to see there was still some kid left.

When I arrived at Riverside, I found the fledgling eating the remains of the squirrel that it caught on Monday.  It then spent some time in a few trees east of the playground, before crossing the hightway.

It settled in to the area near the nest, then went closer to the Boat House Café, stopping both on the ground and in a few trees.  One of them was a tree the father used to roost in, so I expected the fledgling to stop.  However, I was surprised to see the fledgling take off and make its way to the other side of the cafe, to the south.

It stopped above a set of dumpsters that are used by the Parks Department and the Café.  The area is full of rodents as a result.  The fledgling settled down about fifteen minutes after the robins and went to sleep. I suspect that the fledgling will be having a nice breakfast after it wakes up!

The video has a treat at the end, a firefly.