The Divines are hot and Eldest tends to be heard and not seen. Friday, 16 JUN 2006

12:25PM When I arrived, Youngest was sitting on St. Andrew's head.
12:38PM Eldest perched on the balcony railing west of the faux tower, panting. She then marched to the side of the tower, into a patch of shade, almost disappeared and then popped one eye back out and stared at me.
12:47PM Eldest still in shade on balcony.
1:02PM Eldest? For hours we hear her beg on and off in the same area but can't find her.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DONEGAL BROWNE
1:55PM Divine Dad, panting, flies by the nest and lands on a pinnacle in full view of Youngest, with a headless Blue Bar pigeon.


PHOTOGRAPH BY SAMANTHA BROWNE-WALTERS

Youngest gets very excited, jumps around, flaps, leaps to top of Andrew's head, looks as if she may try to get to Dad on pinnacle...does not fledge.
1:50PM Dad to nest then to Plant Pavilion across the street.


1:55PM Divine Mom to nest. Mom further prepares prey, plucks more feathers. Mom and Youngest share lunch.
2:15PM Mom off towards east, and Morningside Park.
2:20PM Youngest chews sticks.
3:00PM Mature RT from behind Cathedral, then back towards school. Youngest lying in nest, head in St. Andrew's hand.


3:20PM Mom to Gabriel and preens.


3:53PM Gargoyle in training.

4:17PM Youngest stands on St. Andrew's head, wings out from body. Usually a cooling strategy.


5:50PM Eldest who had been standing on the Saint's head for sometime freshening her wings in the heat suddenly took on an odd different stance. What is she doing?


A close up of the "stance". Her right talon is curved around a strongly placed nest twig keeping her firmly anchored to the nest. The bird is taking no chances that a breeze will blow her off. The "sit" is also slightly reminicent of the flat bottomed position that the two eyasses on the Trump Parc practiced last season.


5:54PM Finally Eldest comes out, exactly in the area we'd suspected her to be, the staired buttress and scaffolding region, and can be seen as well as heard. She alternates between begging and intensive preening.
6:15PM Exit.

(By the way, Eldest is being fed. It's just that young hawks seem to be wired to beg at the appearance of a parent, whether their crop is full or not. And a second note, there is no reliable way to tell without very close examination which sex the youngsters are. I use the feminine because in medieval times all hawks were spoken of as female until their sex was known. I don't know, the usage of "it" seems better suited to talking about lampshades or spark plugs. )