Saturday, 3-11-06

Saturday’s fly out was very predictable with no sign of the kids.

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After the fly out we had a surprise, she went to the top branches of some very high London Planes and called for her mate.  I was sad to hear, as there was no response like we had so sweetly heard a few weeks earlier.

Saturday on Central Park South

Saturday was a wonderful day.  The temperture was in the sixties and it was clear that Spring would soon be arriving.

Junior flying near the nest around 7:30 am.
Charlotte with Junior behind, with only his tail is visible, on top of the Essex House sign in the early afternoon.
Junior on his first visit to the nest while I was photographing in the afternoon.
The nest looks great with about double the volume of last year’s nest.
Junior returns, leaves briefly and returns with some paper.
The paper gets wedged into the nest.
Later he returns later. I couldn’t tell if he has brought an addition to the nest.
He looks great.
Charlotte, left and Junior, right on a ledge of the Hampshire House where they spend 45 minutes.
Later he returns with another piece of paper, one he caught in mid-air! He not only helps control pigeons and mice, he collects trash and recycles.
Junior then flies west, and after a few minutes out of sight.
The nest is a little bigger after some Saturday additions by Junior.

Friday, 3-10-06

Uneventful fly out this evening.  No sign of the kids. The female had been basking in the sun and warm weather all afternoon according to Cal.

I think I got the first shot of what looks to be a band this evening.

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Tuesday, 3-7-06

I couldn’t go to the fly out today but got this report from Jean…

"The little cat-faced owl, the one we’ve been calling "she," was in doorway of hole as usual when I got to the tree at 5:40. Richard had been there for 10 minutes already, and said he had seen her earlier in the afternoon as well. She was fairly deep in the hole, only the head showing, with chin resting on sill, until right at 6:00 one of those street-sweeping machines went by slow, roaring, the vibrations must go right up the trunk and she immediately stood up, one foot draped over the edge. Flyout was about 10 minutes later, very low, and slightly more southerly than usual.

There was a small group of watchers by then  Liz, Martha, Gabriel and one or two others and everyone kept a pretty careful watch on the hole, waiting for owlets to show, but no one saw any movement at all. People began to head for home around 6:30, Liz and I stayed another 10 minutes, then took a little walk around by the horse path to listen for possible fledgers hissing for supper: nope, pretty quiet. General feeling is they’re too young to be out yet….

Oh, by the way  remember that afternoon when the Cooper’s Hawk hit the streetlight, and we thought she might have caught something? Well, somebody does live in that lamp, though don’t know who  saw just a quick sparrow-size movement out of corner of eye."