Astoria Park Eyasses II aka Checking on the Triborough Bridge Family Part I

Hous continued to give the other fledgling and the other watchers periodic hostile looks.

Then chowed down some more.

Trib the second eyass, who had eaten earlier, just sat the fence and at least to me looked a little drowsy. See how much I know. About then an adult swooped through and I followed her.

It's Athena and she landed in a pine tree over in the next area. When I got closer I realized she was digging in a birds nest. Tearing it to bits. Taking chunks of building materials and ditching them over the side. I then remembered I'd also been told that nestlings had been eaten earlier.

Was Athena making sure she hadn't missed anything the first go round?

She stops to visually check Hous and Trib.

Then back to mining the nest for any possible leftovers.

She looks through diligently, but I see her find nothing.

Then she looks as if she is listening and out of the pine tree she goes.

She flies over to above the playground. Jules a main watcher of these hawks tells me later that the bottom edge of the wall next to the playground is a main mouse path. Suddenly she looks back towards the fledglings and watches something for quite some time. Then goes back to hunting. Eventually I decide to go back to watch the fledglings myself.

I learn from Adam and Francois that I did miss some action. Trib came down, and after a hissing scuffle made off with the remnants of Hous's lunch.

Trib is now up in a tree looking very full and rather satisfied with himself, though keeping a wary eye on Hous.

Hous is ignoring Trib and doing a very through preening of his feathers.

That is until he looks up and realizes something has a hold of his eye.

He shifts perches but the offending eye grabber is still there. He then decides it's not really a big deal after all and sits with the fluff feather stuck to the corner of his eye for some time until it finally blows away. For Hous, it's just one thing after another.

Athena has returned and is sitting on a lamppost very near by panting, and keeping an eye on the kids.

Haus finishes his preen and sits watching the foliage.

Though it isn't nearly the complete preen one would have assumed by all the action as he still has some of his lunch on his face.

Donegal Browne

Checking on the Triborough Bridge Family--Today's Part I

Big beautiful Athena, the formel of the Triborough Bridge pair.

Today Francois, Adam, and I went to Queens to see if the eyasses that were released had been found by Athena and Atlas and were being fed.


Houst mantles his dinner.

At first I thought he had his dinner inadvertently stuck to his foot as he was walking with and on it. Then I realized he hadn't realized it would be much easier to carry the prey in his beak when he walked.

Trib just after he'd stolen the end of Houst's dinner.

PART I IS NO WHERE NEAR FINISHED. THERE IS MUCH MORE TO COME. SO SCROLL DOWN TO PART II ABOUT THE FORDHAM HAWKS, WHICH IS FINISHED.

STAY TUNED FOR THE REST OF PART I. D.B.

Fordham Fledglings , A Report From Chris Lyons--Today's Part II

ALL PHOTOS: CHRIS LYONS
I couldn't get a photo of all three together, but I got some good shots of all.

One of them flew over to Hughes Hall, and back again, while I was up there.

He (or she) stretched out on the roof with wings outspread, almost like a sunbather.

Both parents were perched up on the lofty spire of Keating Hall, where they could easily keep an eye on their brood.

As has been seen in past years, there is one of the three who is very pale-chested, and almost totally lacking in the famed orangey chest color that Red-tailed eyasses tend to develop for a brief time during the weeks immediately before and after fledging. It would seem to be a matter of genetic variation, as pale-chested eyasses are the norm in some other areas of North America.

I saw Rose up on Dealy today, and one of the young was back on Collins Hall, enjoying a meal just above the pediment where the nest is. Didn't see any of the others. Now that all three fledges are capable of powered flight, sightings will become increasingly rare. The large number of mature leafy trees that make Fordham such a great place for Hawkeye and Rose to raise their young are also what makes it challenging to keep track of the family once it is no longer anchored to one location.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that Hawkeye and Rose have had hatchlings, the fourth consecutive year they have fledged eyasses on the Fordham campus, and the third consecutive year they have fledged three eyasses from the pediment on Collins Hall. Including the two chicks that were removed from their fire escape nest on Creston Avenue and later released upstate, they are now known to have produced 13 healthy young hawks in five years.

I'm pretty sure birds aren't superstitious, so I'll try to emulate their example.

Christopher Lyons