Nelly & her chicks

This morning I took a quick look at Nelly & Max's nest in Prospect Park and there's good news.

When I arrived at the hillside to the east of the pine tree, Nelly was standing on the nest, facing me. A pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were relentlessly bombarding the Red-tailed Hawk. Weighing in at a trifling 6 grams, the pesky gray birds were of little interest to the 3 pound raptor. After about 30 minutes, the pale-faced hawk turned around and pulled a stashed meal from the base of the nest. She began feeding two fuzzy, white chick tiny pieces of meat. Watch closely and you'll be able to see the two chicks reaching up for bits of food.