They're back. The Falcons of Water Street, New York.

Fingers crossed.....for PA bird.

Joe(XX)Nation

Look like its an only child. SO this kid will receive all the estate of the father.

Sleepy babies all in a pile.
Joe(waiting for feathery lunch)Nation

<br /> http://www.pacast.com/players/falcon.asp SAD, but only one egg hatched in PA , probably the cold snap in April did em in and the parents were a young couple, the previous pair that nested here was seen at a new nest site near at the state museum Obelisk.
However, as it is with most only children, this little guy will be an overachiever.

The NY heap just did a buncha stretching after some serious napping. Looks like they're down for the count again.

ooooooooooooooooohhh


good bloody meal being served!

gobble gobble

rip guts

gobble gobble

yum

One of the four NY babies is really small...less than half the size of the others by the looks of it. I've been worried about this one since they hatched.

http://falcons.55water.com/news.php

I always root for the runt.

Joe(my fraternity)Nation

Lots of laying about in the cool shade.
Lovely sunny day in New York.
Parents are both out.
Joe(shopping)Nation

The Runt Report
not to worry)

This afternoon one of the parents landed with a late lunch in tow.
Let's say Mom.
The chicks have all started staggering around on their very unsteady legs. One of them was out on the porch.

The biggest one and one of the mid-sized chicks immediately headed for mom and she started to serve portions to each.
The runt was in the back and completely out out of contention.
BUT LO!
She, I think it's a girlchick, headed right and did a perfect
end-around the biggest chick and planted herself directly in front of Mom. She began to feed her and ignored the two others.

I counted bites for about five minutes.
Here are the results:
Biggest Chick :15 bites
Other Chick : 12 bites
Runt : 36 bites!

The chick out on the porch tried valiantly to get back under the roof but by the time he arrived, there was nothing left but feathers.

As I left them, Mom was off to do some canvasing of the neighborhood. The two medium boys were sitting on the edge of the porch and the runt was snuggled up nicely in the folds of her big big brother.
Joe(ah, life)Nation

You counted bites!!??

Ro(glad the runt got fed)berta

Oh, good! The two times I saw them feeding, I couldn't tell if the runt was getting any bites. I feel much better now. Thank you, J.

Every year, I'm amazed at how fast they grow. They are HUGE compared to just last week!

Yep.
Counted bites.
(Might have been influenced by recently seeing a movie about birds in the Galapagos.)
Made a little chart and everything.

I named them Mongo, Runt, Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Joe(They get banded Thursday!)Nation

MA! We's in the news today!!
http://www.dnainfo.com/20110512/downtown/water-streets-baby-falcons-tagged

Look how big that big'un is!

And the little (Now named by me as Pookie) one was too small to band)(Shock! ohwow!)

Joe(pookie's godfather)Nation

I'm worried about the baby in PA. When the parents are away, the baby doesn't have other babies to huddle with to keep warm. It looks OK.

Cool!
(Great photos!)

Oh wow!
Just look at this!

The kids are flapping on the porch! Dad is watching.

Joe(Watch the edge!)Nation

Mom just arrived (2:28PM) with a snack. Everybody who was out on the porch came inside to enjoy.
Joe(no napkins were seen)Nation