City birds just seem to find out early...

At least one of the nestling red-tail hawks is now a fledgling, and has already figured out that if he gets tired, there are cars parked down on the street where he can take a break. A photographer spotted him there and caught this lucky shot.

As of yesterday afternoon his nestmate was still perched on the rail of the fire escape on an office building in downtown Portland, OR, working up his courage to take flight. I've been checking the nest periodically on the webcam site and he's no longer visible, so maybe he's airborne. The parents both showed up yesterday morning with food for them, so even the reluctant one won't starve.


The blog accompanying the webcam says the babies were more mature than most fledglings, so they have a better chance of survival.

I'm already feeling a twinge of empty nest syndrome.