Season's Greetings

Happy holidays, friends! I wish you and yours a joyous holiday season and health and happiness in the new year!

More WSP photos

Bruce has just posted some more pics from May 19, 2014 of the WSP hawks. (Urban Hawks link at right.) Orla and Silver are getting pretty big! Be sure to check out his blog. Here's a sneak peek:

More video, better views

Bruce did a live broadcast last night (4-28). I’m sure the video will be on his site. Don't forget to "follow" Bruce on Livestream so you'll be notified when he goes live. Go to his Livestream page to sign up. Here’s a quick peek at the Orla and Silver:

 

The kids had a very healthy appetite; feeding went on for quite a while.

More video

Bruce’s site is back up! He has new photos and footage of our hawks from Fri. Apr. 25. Also, here is a direct link to his newest footage: http://youtu.be/DCjmqMpKDUM Thanks, Bruce!

First Video!

Bruce Yolton went to WSP yesterday afternoon and got video of our Hawks. Near the end, you can see a bit of one of the babes (I assume Orla?). The video is posted on YouTube.

Tough Spring

Especially for Red-tail hawk and other nest viewing (and for the hawks themselves).

No NYU Cam. Just discovered a very nice highlight video of last season by BrightWings (from the google doc page). Watch it on YouTube. ( http://youtu.be/JZwjUZ_KPHA )

Probably no Franklin Institute cam ... most of you have heard that the hero hawk T2 was found dead. Mom probably "dumped" any eggs she had. There seem to be a couple of immature suitors around.
(Click on pictures for larger view.)

FI mom is a beauty. On the lookout for a new mate. (Photo by Keven Vaughn)

Cornell hawk cam is fantastic, but BR and Ezra are enduring horrible spring weather. Here, BR has been stalwart keeping her eggs warm, while she is covered in snow and ice!

Big Red trying to remove some ice from her feathers.

Of course, MN Bound nest and Decorah nest are cold. Been tougher to follow MN Bound nest as chat has been down for some time and blog has not been updated in a while.

Decorah nest

MN Bound nest

Even the Cornell and Ontario Feeder Watch cams have been down ...

The Calgary falcon nest cam is up ... awaiting the falcons' return.

Screen cap courtesy of BirdSeed. Red speck in lower right corner is CalgaryBirdLady!

Warm weather nests:

Meanwhile, we have some extra viewing time at the Southwest Florida nest. E4, who will be 14 weeks old on April 2nd, seems content to stay at home and we still await his fledge.

Ozzie and Harriet on high branches, urging E4, on the lower branch, to fledge.

Of course, all is well at the Albatross nest in Hawaii. Wish we were there!

And there's a new Phoebe Allen in California. Two chicks have hatched. (The previous Phoebe's chicks were rescued by a rehabber and successfully released!)

No NYU Cam this season

Word has flown around the net quickly, so I'm guessing most of you know by now. NYU has decided not to install a cam this season. The screen/film they put on the window would "prevent/interfere" with the cam.

We'll have to rely on our "boots on the ground."

Just as I was reading the news on the chat, DesertHawk flew over my house. :(

UPDATE: Learned that as of March 10, there were two eggs in the nest.

ALSO: If you haven't already done so, sign up to follow Bruce Yolton's livestream events. Hopefully he'll stream from WSP more often. Here is the link:  http://tinyurl.com/qgch6j

Nest Visits, Eggs, Branch Watch, and DST

With all these happenings, can spring be far behind?

Rosie and Bobby are visiting nest and look to be close to laying. As are Big Red and Ezra. Decorah has 3 eggs already, and MN Bound has one so far. E4 is getting reading to do some branching. Still no word if we will have a cam at WSP.

We will miss you, Orla

In loving memory of Oemurr ...
Thank you, Violet, Bobby, and Pip
We all met viewing their nest, perched high on a ledge on the 12th floor of Bobst Library. We watched and waited, wanting so badly for one of Violet's "doomed" eggs to hatch. And then the impossible happened. Pip hatched! We watched her grow, and as she did, so did our friendships. And then Paula E. built us our own cozy "nest" and, perhaps impossibly, too, we became a real community. With Orla's passing, we have lost one of the kindest people we could ever hope to meet. Rest in peace, friend.

Back Yard Bird Paradise?

I've been working hard to help the back yard birds this snowy and frigid winter. Have 5 seed feeders and numerous suet feeders. I'd say I'm going through 20 pounds of seed a week. (I think the suet is frozen!) But it seems I've attracted the attention of a sharp-shinned hawk. It's the first time I've seen this raptor! (My red-tails have not been around much this winter.) Kind of sad ... it's one thing when we see hawks go after mice and rats. Poor goldie! Apparently songbirds are these raptors food of choice. The hawk is a beauty, though. Quite small, I'd say half the size of a red-tail?

Sharp-shinned hawk gets a goldfinch. (Click to enlarge)

Teamwork!

Ozzie and Harriet on the Southwest Florida eagle cam are quite the team. They both are helping to reinforce the crib rails as their eaglets grow by leaps and bounds. And, both help to shelter the babies in an early evening rainstorm. Quite a difference from Phoebe, who had to incubate, feed, and raise her babies all on her own!

Building crib rails, 1/10/14

Ozzie and Harriet shield E3 and E4 from the rain, 1/10/14

In Honor of Phoebe

In honor of Phoebe, a wonderful hummingbird we have followed, who has been missing since Jan. 8. Her current brood is in the care of an experienced rehabber. This screen shot is from earlier last year (March 15, 2013).

Phoebe feeds her babies on 3/15/2013. Click to enlarge.