The oldest male from the Alewife nest fledged early this morning - before any of his flock of human admirers arrived. On his own he left the nest and by midday when I went by by to check on them, he was soaring the thermals! What a sight! His parents fly with him and shriek, "kireee!" They must be proud. Two more chicks are left in the nest and I bet they will fly soon.
Oh, that's so exciting! Thanks v. much for posting the pic and the newsflash. Raptors have a big, complex, exciting and risky life. Best of luck to Larry. =) Now he can tutor his sibs!
ReplyDeleteI heard Larry flew into the glass of a building yesterday, so I'm hoping he's OK.
ReplyDeleteUpdate:
ReplyDeleteLucky fledged on Sunday, somewhat accidentally. And Lucy fledged this morning very early. They are all out of the nest! A big success for hawk parents to fledge 3 chicks!
Lucky was the youngest chick - 12 days younger than Lucy. He was flapping a bit in the windstorm on Sunday, and ended up off the nest. Observers said he looked kind of surprised, and then flapped and awkwardly ended up on a building across the street. Safe. He rode out the storm there. Today I watched as his dad dropped a large lunch (squirrel?) for him. He's doing good.
Lucy was the first born. She fledged last! The calm female with two active brothers. She was probably close to 60 days old by the time she fledged (average is 42-48 days). After Lucky left on Sunday, she fledged the next morning (today - Monday) around 5 am. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the observer, but one faithful hawk-watcher was there and saw her go. Lucy flew into the empty parking lot of the mall across the street from the nest. She walked the length of the mall - TJ Max to Staples, jumped up on a shopping cart, then flew off - straight and strong to join her oldest brother, Larry on a roof top out in back of the nest.
So that's three chicks - Larry, Lucy and Lucky. All fledged! What a great experience for us humans to watch. I hope they will fare well. Fly high and fly strong!