In the park at last:Letter and photo from Bruce

"Big" asleep at 8:27 pm
7/26/05
photo by Bruce Yolton
Both fledglings were sighted in SW corner of Central Park today.

The first to fledge, who has been nicknamed Big, is shown in these four photos just as dusk arrived. (By using long exposures without flash, my camera was able to capture what was difficult to see with the naked eye. These pictures give the illusion that it was much brighter than it actually was.)
[NOTE FROM MARIE: I COULD ONLY DOWNLOAD ONE PICTURE [ the last one] NOW. I'LL TRY AGAIN LATER FOR THE THREE OTHERS]

The first two are of Big while she checks out the annoyed Robins around her, in the third she then checks out our group of birders, and then finally in the fourth she has fallen asleep. It was amazing to see and hear the park go from noisy day to quiet evening in only 10 or 15 minutes. When Big fell asleep, we could actually see her head drop as she dozed off.

So, the big, Central Park adventure has finally begun for these two fledglings.