Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Waiting game

Today marks the 37th day since Dora laid the first of three eggs this season, so they're due to hatch any time now.  Tune in to the nest cam to see any changes in activity.

This close-up photo of the three eggs was kindly sent in to us a couple of weeks ago:



All lined up and ready to go!

While we continue to wait for the eggs to hatch, Christo and Dora have established a bit of a pattern with exchanging nest duties.  Late in the day, around 6pm, Christo sits on the cross at the Most Holy Redeemer church on E 3rd Street, where he has a clear view of the nest, and waits for Dora to get up.

Christo atop Most Holy Redeemer church

Right on cue, Dora stands up.  Break time!

Dora

She takes off north up Avenue A.

Dora takes off

Christo flies in from the cross and takes over sitting on the eggs.

Christo and his beautiful red tail

I found Dora stretching out on top of the cross at St Brigid's on Avenue B & 8th Street.

Dora takes a stretch

Dora takes a stretch

Dora takes a stretch

When she was done stretching, she flew into her favorite gingko tree just inside the park entrance and rested for about 30 minutes.  As the sun set, she took off and flew up and down Avenue A chasing pigeons.  She didn't seem to be hunting them, just diving after them and making them scatter.  It looked to me like she was really enjoying herself. 

When she returned to the nest, Christo headed straight for the park where he wasted no time catching a rat.  The whole process - landing in a tree, looking around, pouncing, and carrying it up to a branch - took less then ten minutes.

Christo catches a rat

He ate the yummiest part - the head - then quickly took the rest back up to the cross at Most Holy Redeemer.

Christo catches a rat

Christo with a rat

Christo left the rat snack on the cross, then switched places with Dora.  She ate the rest of the food, then sat up on the cross until the sun went down at 7:55pm.  By then, it was too dark for my camera, so I didn't see where Christo went to roost, but he headed back towards Tompkins Square.

Christo

See more photos on my Flickr page.

Previously.

1 comment:

  1. That last photo — wow. (All the photos are wow. But that last one...) Anyway, glad that Dora gets some time to herself...

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