Monday evening was a great deal of fun as there was lots of interesting activity by both the parents and the eyasses.
Although, they aren’t ready to fledge just yet, the are looking older than I had first thought. Fledging could happen as soon as this weekend.
Besides their age, another mystery is how many eyasses do we have? Although I have pictures of three from 7-10 days ago, in the last week, I’ve only been able to see two.
Sunday was a relaxed day at the Cathedral. It was cloudy and cool.
Christopher Lyons was kind enough to send me information about the section of the Cathedral where the nest is located.
From the guidebook, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, originally compiled by Edward Hagaman Hall, 17th edition, 1965, originally published in 1920.
“Exterior of Choir Clerestory
This rises above the roofs of the chapels. In the canopied niches near the tops of the turrets and buttresses are ten stone figures nine and a half feet high by Borglum, as follow (south to north): St. James the Less with fuller’s club (indicating manner of his martyrdom), and St. Philip with Latin cross (symbol of his crucifixion), together on turret; St. Bartholomew, St. Thomas with square (spiritual architect); St. James the Great with pilgrim staff; St. Peter with key; St. Andrew with diagonal cross; St. Matthew with drapery over head; St. Simon with saw, and St. Jude with spear (indicating manner of their death), together on turret. On the roof of the Choir facing eastward is a nine and a half foot bronze statue of St. Gabriel of the Resurrection, blowing a trumpet. This is also by Gutzon Borglum.”
(Borglum was also the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore.)
So, as we look at the birds, we’ll need to remember that the sculptures are almost double life size!
Saturday was a gray day with only a few hours without rain. Here are some photographs of the eyasses. . .
When you see a Red-tailed Hawk assume this posture, stand back, way back.
Last week, I saw a Mockingbird in the garden on the south side of the Cathedral, and knew it was only a matter of time before I’d see a confrontation between this Mockingbird and a Red-tailed Hawk near the nest. (This is a different Mockingbird than the one that harassed the Red-tail on 110th Street.)
This morning the female adult was about twenty feet from the nest when a Mockingbird attacked. After acting like the Mockingbird was nothing more than an annoying insect, the Red-tailed moved north to a St. Luke’s Hospital perch.
