Meet The Parents

By D. Bruce YoltonSt. John/Columbia Red-tailed Hawks

Friday afternoon started with a very hazy sky, which changed to light rain before clearing.  The eyasses are losing their downy appearance more and more each day.

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The mother has been spending more time away from the nest.  Both parents spent a great deal of time with each other Friday afternoon.  Here they’re on a railing at the top, northeast corner of 352 West 110th Street.  The male is on the left.
They stayed there for about 30 minutes.
They then returned to the Cathedral with the female making a brief stop on a water tower on the West 400 block of 110th. The tower has a view of the Cathedral.
We lost track of both parents for awhile, and then saw the mother head over to the roof of the building that houses St. Luke’s Emergency Room.  The top of this building has lots of pigeons. When she returned, St. Luke’s had one less pigeon.
The father was visible on this decorative element that is directly above the nest.
I walked all around the Cathedral trying to find the mother, and finally found her.  She was on a similar fixture to the male’s perch, 25 feet south, which can’t be seen from 113th Street.  Unlike the Central Park nest sites, this location has plenty of places for the parents to hide.