FIRST OBSERVED FEEDING AT THE CATHEDRAL NEST

BIG DAY AT THE CATHEDRAL THOUGH THE START IS PRETTY SMALL

4:05pm I've circled all sides of the nest but haven't been able to see a thing. On my last two visits there had been changes in behavior nothing really definitive but I'm hoping today will be different on that score. So I wait.

4:12pm Another view, straight on with blowing branches, still nothing.

4:27pm I decide to watch from the west end of the nest. Nothing.

4:52pm After an hour, FINALLY something, but not much, a glimpse of an adult tail.

5:00pm My daughter Sam, trusty note taker, appears coming up the hill from school, we continue to look at the seemingly empty nest. We wait. Finally at 5:22pm we decide to go back down the block for a different angle. We get there and suddenly Sam says,"Look!"

I say, "Look at what?"

"A hawk, a hawk!" and she points directly across the street. There is Tristan big as life perched 15 feet from the ground right in front of us on a broken upright branch. Ah, what a difference 20 feet down the sidewalk makes. He's probably been there for ages. And just as we get set up, off he goes to the west through the trees.

5:24pm Tristan flies up the block toward the stone shed and lands in a tree.
And who is that with the camera underneath him? It's Robert Schmunk of http://bloomingdalevillage.blogspot.com/

5:31:01pm Tristan hops to yet the next tree over, to west, focuses in on a pigeon on a window sill, then continues to scan.

5:33:25 pm Alright! He's going into hunting mode. He tenses...

5:33:59pm Nope. He's back looking this direction.

SCROLL DOWN FOR PARTS I, IA, II, AND III

DONEGAL BROWNE

PART I a- FIRST OBSERVED FEEDING AT THE CATHEDRAL NEST

Feeding with the Divines continued...

5:35pm Just sitting, feathers slightly puffed, his stance begins to remind me of the penguins in "Happy Feet".

5:36pm Suddenly an inattentive House Sparrow whips by Tristan's face nearly colliding with his beak.

5:51pm Without even a semblance of hunting, Tristan gives us the eye.

5:56 pm Tristan changes trees once again still moving east toward the stone yard shed. He looks like he's posing for a beauty shot. Not looking at all like he's hunting. Though I suppose that's part of the point. Is he just hopping trees to get away from people or is he doing the La De Da, hop to next tree...closer, La De Da nest tree closer.....La De Da, closer still...NAB! But nothing yet.The day has been dim, the air thick with moisture and as time passes it's really getting dim. Is everyone just going to go to roost without any action at all?

6:03PM Tristan has been sitting there in the trees near the stone shed for it seems like forever. All the pigeons know he's there and they're sticking to the buildings. He looks at a Robin that first scolded him, tail bobbing from the fence, and then foolishly hops down in the parking lot and begins foraging. Tristan doesn't really seem much interested. I decide to go down and see what's happening on the nest. In a few minutes Rob comes down too and we wonder if we missed the feeding and that's going to be it for the day.

6:54PM My phone rings. We've left Sam stranded up there with Tristan and I tell her she doesn't have to wait with him, come on down with us. We keep discussing whether it's worth it to stay. I've usually seen a food drop by 6:00pm for most of the previous week. Suddenly Sam rushes down the sidewalk towards us, calling "He's got a mouse, he's got a mouse!"" Rob heads for Tristan and I keep my eye on the nest.

6:56:39pm Tristan lands on the nest with the mouse.

6:56:52pm Tristan leans in and looks down, and keeps looking.

6:57:11pm Tristan stares over his right shoulder at us.

6:57:Then Tristan stares over his left shoulder

6:57:34 And then Tristan stares down into the nest some more.

6:57:53 Suddenly Tristan leans over with prey, and as later we can see where Isolde is, I'd say it was a beak to beak transfer. Though I've not seen this pair do it, Red-tails do and it always seems very trusting and intimate.

6:58:03pm Tristan than looks at us. Then he stares at the white something right nest.

SEE PART II SECOND POST DOWN

DONEGAL BROWNE

PM and L, and Red the Squirrel has to find a new home.

Pale Male waits on the nest.

Lola has dinner.

Look under and up at her anterior side. See the bare areas and sparse feathers which denote her brood patch? Lola has a brood patch being female and Pale Male although he takes his turn sitting the eggs, doesn't. It hasn't held him back as far as I can tell.

Pale Male Irregular and correspondent Stella Hamilton, was at The Bench and watched a food delivery by Pale Male to Lola. They continue to take care of normal nest business but there is no sign of feeding behavior.

Stella also reported the feeding at the Cathedral Nest to those on The Bench who happily received it , though it did make Pale Male and Lola's lack of a hatch seem even more definite as the Fifth Ave. hawks began sitting eggs about a week before Tristan and Isolde.

Now we come to Red the Squirrel, who tough and fierce for her size, still couldn't fight off the bigger Grey Squirrel who then took over her cavity. Stella had also mentioned that Red was now wearing her striped summer outfit. I asked,"Striped summer outfit?" And here is Stella's response.

Hi Donna,

Yeah, I first noticed Red's black stripes in the spring of 2006. It's actually situated bilaterally, separating the white fur on her belly from the russet brown fur on her back. Then when winter '06 came the stripes disappeared. I looked for them last weekend and didn't see them. Then Voila ! She decided to put her stripes on this weekend. It's a very sexy summer dress, I think. I also would like to share that she has reoccupied the other tree holes in her yard, since a grey squirrel had kicked her out of her apartment. She is also enjoying a variety of foods made available to her by mother nature such as young leaves, shoots and pods , not to mention the usual supermarket bought nuts we bring to her. It seems to me she may be tending to the black walnut tree outside the wire fence, since I've often seen her visiting that tree. Soon she'll be batting at those walnuts until they fall to the ground ,then she'll be harvesting them and stashing them away into her "middens". That's all for now. We hope to see you soon.

Stella

Donegal Browne