I've been gone on a road trip for 2 weeks so I was particularly anxious to see how the Family had progressed --- and to be sure that all 3 nestlings had survived. They had and boy, have they grown...
First, some background on "fledging" as I too was unsure what it actually means. It's from the Middle English "flegge" meaning "feathered" and refers to the development of a nestling's flight feathers. To quote Marie Winn writing in the excellent "Red-tails in Love" --- "Since the first flight inevitably follows a bird's complete feather development, fledging and first flight are virtually synonymous". As the first baby was born around April 10 (all 3 eggs hatch at 1-2 day intervals) and they are fully fledged (the males before the females) around 45 days from hatching, we may see the first serious attempts at flying during the week of May 23.
First, some background on "fledging" as I too was unsure what it actually means. It's from the Middle English "flegge" meaning "feathered" and refers to the development of a nestling's flight feathers. To quote Marie Winn writing in the excellent "Red-tails in Love" --- "Since the first flight inevitably follows a bird's complete feather development, fledging and first flight are virtually synonymous". As the first baby was born around April 10 (all 3 eggs hatch at 1-2 day intervals) and they are fully fledged (the males before the females) around 45 days from hatching, we may see the first serious attempts at flying during the week of May 23.
It's now around 5:45pm and feeding time is coming up. They've just spotted Mina coming in with dinner and are looking just a tad...ravenous? Shortly after this was taken, Mina landed at the edge of the nest with whatever she was clutching but fell over the side; I couldn't tell whether it was due to a bad landing approach or her prey was still alive and struggling. She tumbled in the air then righted herself but had to circle around about 3 times to pick up enough speed and balance to safely land near the nest. It was amazing to watch but it happened so suddenly that I missed photographing the action.
It's now around 5:45pm and feeding time is coming up. They've just spotted Mina coming in with dinner and are looking just a tad...ravenous? Shortly after this was taken, Mina landed at the edge of the nest with whatever she was clutching but fell over the side; I couldn't tell whether it was due to a bad landing approach or her prey was still alive and struggling. She tumbled in the air then righted herself but had to circle around about 3 times to pick up enough speed and balance to safely land near the nest. It was amazing to watch but it happened so suddenly that I missed photographing the action.
in this box: