Now there are two on the wing. One of the females fledged Tuesday, June 13. Our video tape pinpointed the time: 0931. She stood on the edge of the ledge, spread her wings, pushed off, and she was airborne. She ended up on one of the 48th floor balconies on the her home "cliff", where she spent most of the day. Late in the afternoon, she had an adventure: she hopped off the balcony, briefly grasped a window frame with her talons while flapping wildly, and then slipped down the window, flapping all the way, until she ended up at the east 45th floor terrace or "bulge." We see a variation on this theme every year, as they discover that they can't cling to the walls and windows of the building.
The male who fledged Sunday spent most of Tuesday running, flapping, dozing and eating up on the "Hat" - the pyramidal structure on top of the building. Early this morning, he was back on the nest ledge, visiting his unfledged siblings.
The adults are providing all their food, so they're both busy hunting for their foursome; when they're not hunting, they're often found on high perches, looking for any potential aerial threats to their young.
The fledglings are clumsy flyers at this stage, and their landings are equally awkward. It will be a few weeks before their feathers are fully grown. They don't need to be sleek and fast at this stage; they just need a lot of practice on the wing.
Stay tuned for more on fledgling progress and prowess.
