Prospect Park Hawk Nest Update

Late this morning I ran over to Nelly's Lawn to check on the Red-tailed Hawk nest at that location. With the sun to the east of the nest I was hoping to shoot some video of the chicks. It worked out better than I expected.

I had just set up my tripod when the first little head popped up from inside the nest. Then a second. The big surprise was when a third chick stood up in the back of the nest. The chicks are still covered in down, but dark feather shafts can be seen emerging from the edges of their wings and tail. They are likely in their third week and by next week we'll see greatly accelerated growth. Their nest is relatively small by Red-tailed Hawk standards and they'll certainly outgrow in by the end of the month. Luckily, there are lots of branches around the nest perimeter to practice climbing and flapping.