Second Triborough Bridge fledgling takes off today

Astoria Park big babies on June 18, a week before the first one fledged
Photo by Bruce Yolton http://www.urbanhawks.blogs.com


Jules Corkery writes this morning about the 2nd fledgling's take-off:

Hi there,

After opening his wings and jumping to the perch this morning, he decided to take a little nap at 6:30 am only to have Mother fly over to the nest to nudge him awake and encourage him to follow her.

At 6:50, he got up the nerve and took a courageous flapping flight under the bridge
over the contractor's headquarters and across Hoyt Avenue North to the little shaded cemented area/parking lot. He was on the ground unnoticed (thankfully for that hour of day) and finally got himself onto the fence that separates the lot with the back yards of 19th and 21st Streets. He did get back on the ground only to have Mother encourage him to get up into one of the lots' small trees. He landed on a young branch with his wings still outspread but stayed relaxed and was able to get back on the ground. He entertained himself with dead leaves and watching a squirrel
and a robin going about their business.

I was able to observe this from quite a distance away close to the bus stop on 21st Street. When I left at 8:00 he was back on the fence "branching" the length of it. He
paused under the cover of overhanging foliage. Smart little guy. Mother was still there in the small tree. The jay did find her but gave up as it's a little beyond his jay-dom.

I saw Joe, one of the local park birdwatchers and he is going to go over and keep people away and hopefully keep him away from vehicles and the intersection.

Jules