Saturday at Fifth Avenue had some excitement. The third fledgling, gently fell to the canopy of entrance to 927 Fifth Avenue after being swept away by the wind from a high ledge.
This fledgling has been having issues getting adjusted to life off the nest. It spent hours on a sixth floor ledge on Friday concerning the staff of 927 and today the mother spent about two hours trying to lure it away from a railing and into the park with food.
The fledgling stayed on the canopy after falling and looked healthy. It ran up and down the length of the canopy for at least twenty minutes. Eventually it tried to jump onto a lamp, then a tree and ended up on the ground. It wasn't in any immediate danger, except for being close to Fifth Avenue traffic.
Lincoln Karim, the photographer behind palemale.com, choose to pick up the fledgling and take it up to a high terrace on a building two doors south.
Protocols for handling these situations vary. Many rehabbers believe a grounded fledgling should have a few days in captivity to let it get established before being returned to the city. Giving the grounded hawk to a rehabber would also ensure the hawk wasn't dehydrated due the previous heat wave.
Also, the high terrace may not have been the best relocation choice. Since the mother was trying to get the flegling into the park, it might have been safer to return it to a low tree in Central Park, rather than the high building perch.
We'll know in a few days if Mr. Karim made the right choice.
(Hawk watchers had seen all three fledglings in the morning. I only got to see the third fledgling, and late in the day one of the earlier fledglings.)
