At 4:44PM on Sunday evening our little friend made that brave decision to give up the security of his nest to begin his beautiful and adventurous life in the park.
His landing was very good considering that thus far he never experienced a floor that bounced under his feet.
Both is parents were close by to watch but not to interfere.
Palemale attempted to catch something in this tree just over Fifth Avenue while his brave little baby coped with the protesting robins and blue jays.
Stinker #2 appears settled in his first tree and hardly appeared concerned with all the protesting birds around him.
Much earlier in the morning he was practicing for his first flight.
His older sister who left their nest last Wednesday slept on a building rather than a tree of Saturday night.
His mom Lima passed by to chech on him on Sunday morning just before Palemale delivered food. The established belief that the parents allow the unfledged baby to get hungry enough to be encouraged to leave the nest did not apply to this baby. He was continually supplied with food throughout his stay--even more than he could eat.
A finch takes off from a rail in front of me.
Our newly fledged baby explores his first tree in Central Park and appears to be prepared for all his upcoming adventures.
His older sister watches from above on Fifth Avenue.
As of Sunday evening I don’t know how far away they are from a peaceful settlement of the Mid-East crisis, or whether they’re getting closer to solving the problem of what to do with all the plastic garbage floating on the Pacific Ocean. There may be a great deal of issues which are much more important going on in our haphazard world which I know very little about.
But what I do know is that at the end of Sunday evening there was a beautiful feeling around the East Side of Central Park where four beloved animals collected themselves and though it was more or less routine in the natural world, still it was magic watching them live it.
So at the end of the day it is nice to know that Nature triumphed over all the natural and man-made obstacles and did something beautiful which made me happy to be alive to witness so much of it.
In the world around me where there is barely anything else to admire, many of us were given something to look up to and more importantly, something to continue tobelieve in.
Lola, wherever you are I know you are happy to see that your dream has come true.
Photographed in Central Park and on Fifth Avenue, Sunday July 10, 2011.
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