Pale Male and Zena's Fleglings: Sunday-the Day Many Were Concerned That There Were No Parental Food Deliveries Plus John Blakeman on Crop Bulges!

 Photos and commentary in italics by contributor Jeff Johnson
Donegal,

Didn't get  to go spotting for the fledglings in Central Park until 1430 (2:30PM) this Sunday. I started at the Bear Sculptures along 79th Street looking to find Pale Male or Zena hunting or perched and same as yesterday I had no sightings of them. Getting south roughly parallel to 76th Street Fledge 1 zooms over me from the NW going east to land on the 5th Avenue wall. 

Working my way over there he/she dropped into the Park grounds and attacked a few twigs…

 Then lofted itself into a nearby tree (upper left corner).

 Close look at the fledge shows it looks to be in fine health.

(Note that the sides of this fledgling's face look decidedly gold in this photo, then scroll up and look at the previous shots of the day of this bird. As has been mentioned previously, light levels make a huge difference in a bird's appearance.  The difference is there but it isn't as noticeable.  Jeff, it appears in photographs at least,  that one fledgling has more gold on her head than the others.  Is this actually the case to the eye in the field? )

 A few minutes later Fledge 2 flew from out of the SW into a tree about a hundred feet north of Kerbs Cafe. Its shape was nearly masked by leaves.

 He/she strode out into plain view after  few minutes.

It was quickly joined by one of its siblings. Seen in opposite corners of he frame.

 It was quickly joined by one of its siblings. Seen in opposite corners of he frame.

Within twenty minutes of these fledglings perching here, a chorus of begging started up. Two fledglings I could see, but the third was off to my right and sounding distant somewhere over 5th Avenue. I scanned for almost twenty-five minutes and couldn't find that third fledglings voice. Finally, I spotted a silhouette where I judged the third fledglings to be. It appeared to be high and over the 5th Avenue wall.

Just as I started to move into position for a better view, sudden movement caught my attention. Not three feet from me and only a foot or so on a low hanging limb, a squirrel had decided it was safe to move. It must have been using its ghillie suit trick and hidden there in plain sight while I was busy scanning for bird shapes. It probably decided the fledglings were more interested in begging than hunting as well.

What is a gillie suit?  Seen Shakespeare's Macbeth lately?  

The Three witches make a prophecy - 

"None of woman born shall harm Macbeth, be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, until Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him."

The army that later takes Macbeth down is garbed in hooded gillie shirts, a traditional foliage blending Scottish garment used for hunting and ambush that in this case was augmented with twigs and boughs from the Birnam Wood.

From Wikipedia--

"A ghillie suit, also known as a (yowie suit, or camo tent) is a type of camouflage clothing designed to resemble heavy foliage. Typically, it is a net or cloth garment covered in loose strips of burlap, cloth or twine, sometimes made to look like leaves and twigs, and optionally augmented with scraps of foliage from the area."

Today's factoid and theatre interlude now completed it is back to Central Park we go. 

 So I got an angle to verify the third fledge and instead got two pigeons.

Doubt that the Audubon Society will be asking for any birding ID tips from me anytime soon. 

(Jeff, you're doing great!  It happens to all of us.  Besides, think of all the people including hawkwatchers who walk by many a fledgling without ever seeing her, or the two-perched-in-the-foliage pigeons either.) 
 

Frustrated I left the area and moved up to the knoll above "Alice" to get a broad field of view. I expected meals to be delivered soon. Forty minutes later after no meals had been dropped off I returned to the same spot to scan some more for Fledge 3. Fledge 1 and 2 had departed scene and no begging sounds were to be heard. But after two minutes of scanning there was a fledge in a lower portion of the target area I'd guessed about earlier (lower right corner of the frame).

 Now I feel better and decide to head home. Fledge 3 looks to be in excellent  health, just as do Fledge 1 and 2.

Jeff

NEXT UP--  Worldwide Red-tailed Hawkwatcher Mentor John Blakeman of Ohio with a correction for me about protruding crops-- 

Donna,

I haven't been diligent in following all of your detailed postings. My apologies.

But just read the suggestion that the small protrusion of the crop might have been caused by casting (pellet) materials in the crop, not food.

Not so, by any means. Castings never cause the crop to protrude; only ingested food will do that. The birds had fed, doubtless.

--John Blakeman

John, many thanks for the clarification.  Do the leftovers go down further than the crop before being expelled?  Or are they just too flattened from being worked over that they don't show?  Or ?

Also know,  many will be relieved to hear that these fledglings did eat something on Sunday. 

JEFF JOHNSON HAS BEEN DILIGENTLY TRACKING CENTRAL PARK FLEDGLINGS WHILE I'VE HAD INTERNET ISSUES SO STAY TUNED FOR MORE POSTS TODAY!  WE'RE GOING TO CATCH UP!!!

HAPPY HAWKING!  THE SAGA CONTINUES...

Donegal Browne