An eyass died over the last few days at St. John the Divine, and it looks like we have only a single surviving eyass.  The remains of the second eyass are visible at the front of the nest. The parents will remove the eyass after a few days. 

Some hawk watchers have suggested removing the eyass to have it tested.  However, with two healthy parents and a difficult location, this seems to be impractical.  There is the danger that the healthy eyass might prematurely fledge and be injured if the nest is approached.  This is also the possibility that anyone who attempts to remove the dead eyass will be attacked by the parents.  Either the rehabber or the parents could be injured if this happens!  Furthermore, unless the cause of death was obviously frounce (a disease caught from pigeons), any test results would take too long to aid in the treatment of the surviving eyass.

So, the best course of action in this case, seems to be no action.

Wow, these eyasses are maturing fast.  They all had gray heads a few days ago, and the eyass that was active this evening had a brown head.

The St. John the Divine nest was very active on Monday evening.  Both parents spent a great deal of time on the Archangel’s trumpet and two eyasses were very active in the nest.

The current male joined the female while there was construction on the Cathedral roof, so he never got into the habit of being on the Archangel, but spend time on a chimney on St. Luke’s hospital.  This year, with the construction finished, he seems to be using the trumpet as a perch more often.

The St. John’s nest has tricked us for years.  Being so high, we can’t see into the nest very well and get confused about how many eyasses are in the nest.  Today, I saw two eyasses ever so briefly, which was a great relief.

There wasn’t much action at the nest late this afternoon.  I only saw one eyass and and a brief visit by the mother.

The nest was very active with both parents in view this evening.  One this visit and on my last, I only saw to eyasses, so there is a chance we lost the third.  This nest has done a good job hiding young in the past, so I don’t know for sure.

The parents spent time on St. Luke’s Hospital and on the Archangel Gabrielle tonight.