Photograph by Eleanor TauberYes, the Western Tanager is still hanging out in Central Park and Central Park photographer Eleanor Tauber managed to track him down.
And he was even polite enough to look directly into the camera. One does wonder though how he managed to get here in the first place. Did a storm blow him off course? Did he get an accidental "ride" to the East Coast somehow? Or is he just the adventurous sort?
Eleanor also managed to snap this Accipitor. Anybody care to down on whether it's a Sharpie or a Cooper's?
Lola on the Fifth Avenue Nest by D.B.
The Divines At St. John's: Words in from Glenn Phillips of NYC Audubon-- the folks at St. John the Divine are concerned about disturbing the Red-tail nest and have asked for suggestions as how to be less disruptive short of stopping work all together. I've come up with some, and will head up there tomorrow in hopes of coming up with a few more.
If you have any suggestions send me an email!
George and Martha at the Highbridge Nest--Rob Schmunk has some very nice shots of the nest in a terrific tree plus both parents, check it out. http://bloomingdalevillage.blogspot.com/
Charlotte and Junior at 888 7th Ave.--It rained rather heavily today so Brett Odom was unable to ascertain whether Charlotte was in the "box" sitting the nest or not through the wet window. He'll be checking again tomorrow.
And now to our old friends Pale Male and Lola--Lincoln Karim of www. palemale.com posted that Lola had left the Fifth Ave nest unattended for 11 minutes. I've received several emails asking if that might not be detrimental to the eggs as Saturday was a touch chilly. The short answer, it's probably no problem at all. According to the literature, the major causes of egg death are due to cold drenching rain and if the female must leave the nest frequently and vacant for longer periods as she must hunt for herself in order for she and her mate to get enough to eat.
As for the longer answer, I've asked John Blakeman to send in the expert opinion.
The derby peregrine falcons are leaving their eggs uncovered for considerably longer than that. The wildlife folks there say that is normal, to give the later eggs time to catch up. Does this vary by type of bird?
ReplyDeleteKaren Anne,
ReplyDeleteIt is normal for birds to leave the eggs uncovered for periods of time depending on a number of factors.
As to allowing "later eggs" to catch up by not sitting on them, I'm not sure what the process in that would be. Why would later eggs mature faster without the same warmth that the early eggs aren't getting either?
Interesting.
I'm told with Red-tails that the formel will only sit half down until the clutch is completed. Thereby keeping the first eggs laid at a slower growth rate. Then she sits full down when the clutch is complete. At that point the eggs all grow presumably at a similar rate.
Yes, that's what I meant to say about the derby peregrines, the parents were leaving the first egg uncovered quite a bit, to apparently slow its growth down until the later eggs appeared.
ReplyDelete