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.

Crows vs Snake

Backyard birds have been pretty scarce. But the crows are ever-present. Today I saw a couple of crows wrestling a snake. The crows won. I don't like that they harass my hawks, but they can catch and eat as many snakes as they wish!

A montage of the fight. Click to enlarge.

Nature: Earthflight

TV ALERT: Tonight at 8 (EDT) on PBS—What would it be like to see the world from a bird’s perspective? State-of-the-art technology and sophisticated camera techniques have now made it possible to do just that and more as EARTHFLIGHT, A Nature Special Presentation takes viewers on a breathtaking aerial adventure over six continents. Check out a preview here.

UPDATE: Didn't realize this is a six-part series. Should air every Wednesday. In case you didn't catch it or record, first part is already available online at the PBS site.

WE KNEW THAT!  Read an interview with the filmmaker. Love the last question and answer:
What do you hope EARTHFLIGHT viewers will take away from the series? 

I hope that people will discover that birds are clever and adaptable creatures often with a complex social life not so different from our own. They have an unrivalled knowledge of the life of the planet and through their remarkable journeys they bring countries and continents together in ways that are constantly surprising.

Migration Musings

I read a nice editorial in the New York Times this morning: Empty Barn-Rafters 

Phoebe this morning

As if on cue, shortly afterward my Phoebe made a rare visit to my backyard (she usually stays in the front and side yard, nearer her nest). Perhaps she was saying ‘so long?’ But not yet, perhaps. The phoebes are one of the first songbirds to return in the spring and the last to leave in the fall. Cool fact: In 1804, the Eastern Phoebe became the first banded bird in North America. John James Audubon attached silvered thread to an Eastern Phoebe's leg to track its return in successive years.

And, this afternoon, the sun finally came out after a gray, rainy weekend. I spotted both Desert Hawk and Sky Hawk (my neighborhood Red-tails) for the first time in a long while, soaring on the thermals. I wonder if “our” hawks (NYC, Philly, Cornell) have begun their journeys south?

A not-very-good photo of my hawk!

Hawk Mountain, in eastern PA. conducts annual raptor migration counts. To date, they have spotted 466 raptors, 47 of them Red-tailed hawks. Interesting site. http://www.hawkmountain.org/

The beautiful and mysterious monarch butterflies also make an incredible migration each year. I noted that on the Hawk Mountain site, they cancelled a program, “Tag your own monarch,” due to the lack of monarchs this year. 

Butterflies on 9-13-2012

I’ve observed this in my own yard … have seen only a few, while last year, my butterfly bush was inundated with them. You can find many articles on the Web on the sharp decline of the monarch butterfly. Click here for one. 

(Click to enlarge photos.)

 

In Case You Missed It

WSP Hawks: NJ30, a banded juvenile, showed up at the park. Many assume it is one of “ours,” possibly Kiku. Stories and photos at Roger_Paw and Urban Hawks. Also, a lovely essay by BrightWings may be found here. (http://carolesbooktalk.wordpress.com/2013/08/27/kikus-journey-ii/)

FI Hawks: Peanut was successfully rehabbed and released away from the nest area. Read about it at Sunnydixie’s excellent Hawkwatch blog.

Cornell Hawks: Sadly, two of their fledgings have died. Read about it here (http://rth-nestcam-cu.blogspot.com/) and here (https://www.facebook.com/birdcams) The third fledgling is fine, hunting and soaring around campus.

PaleMale: One of his fledglings had a collision with a rooftop pool dome on the Upper West Side. Cathy and Bobby Horvath rehabbed him and released him back to the park. Video available on their WINORR site. (And a photo of the kid catching his own meal the next day!)

Calgary Falcons: I don’t have much news, but as far as I know, all 3 fledged successfully and are well. Let me know if you have any other details or updates.

Sydney Sea Eagles: This lovely pair had two eggs, but both seem to be unviable. The researchers there plan to remove the eggs on Monday and perform tests. (There are toxins in the river where they hunt near the nest.) I have been hoping for a “miracle” hatch (like our dear Pip) in vain. It is unknown if they will have another clutch.

Black Eagle

Speaking of second clutches, I just heard about an African Black Eagle cam. The pair — Emoyeni (mom ... believed to be over 40 years old!!) and Thulane (dad, her third mate), laid two eggs in late April. The eggs were unviable and Emoyeni eventually removed them from the nest , which sits on the edge of a cliff, near a waterfall in Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden in Johannesburg, South Africa. After a few week’s absence, she returned and it has been confirmed that she has laid two new eggs. The outcome is uncertain, as it is very late in the breeding season, and the new chick will endure hot summer temps and may not have the required time to learn to survive on its own before being chased out of the area.
Watch the cam at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/africam-black-eagle

Emoyeni’s nest in the botanic garden

      

Bad Summer in Philly / New Kestrel Species?

• The two oldest hawk siblings in Philly have died from window strikes. (Both flew into windows at Moore College.) The third juvenile, Peanut, was found injured on Tuesday next to the Ben Franklin Parkway. Read a story on Philly.com here.
Update: Peanut is at Schuykill with rehabber Rick Schubert, and is "resting, eating mice and staying quiet; waiting for an x-ray appointment. Sunny has just updated the Hawkwatch blog with more details on all the fledglings. Read it here.

Falco tinnunculus (roboticus var.) Click to enlarge.
(Photoillustration by Tablet Magazine)

•  From tragedy to comedy: A kestrel suspected of being Israeli spy by Turkish authorities turns out to be just a bird! Read the story here. And another story looks into how “Bird-brained conspiracy theories keep a tenacious foothold in the Arab Middle East, where science lags behind the West.” Read it here.  

Other News from Cornell and Down Under

Perfect Broccoli. A plant scientist at Cornell University is trying to create a perfect broccoli that will thrive in warmer climates, improving freshness and taste for many. His methods do not include genetic modification, but his research is still tinged with controversy, as he has partnered with Monsanto. Read the article in the NYT here. (Thanks, eliotts, for the heads-up on this!)

Sounds of the Saxophone. Researchers at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, are studying how a leopard seal named Casey responds to different sounds. It's believed that these seals “sing” to attract mates and perhaps to establish territories. Among other audible “environmental enrichment activities,” a zookeeper there plays jazz to him. Watch a short video here and read about it here.

More nest updates

Peace and Harmony have either fledged or are practicing advanced branching. Read the blog at http://mnbound.com/bald-eagle-blog/

Sad news at the Franklin Institute. The female hawk crashed into a window and died. Read Sunny's blog at http://sunnydixie.blogspot.com/

Not a lot of news on our WSP fledglings. Roger_Paw has some great pics from July 8. Bruce Yolton (Urban Hawks) has not been to the park much.

The sea eagles’ nest in the Sydney Olympic Park, which Paula introduced us to two years ago, is back in action! The first egg was laid on July 6 and the second on July 9. Watch the sea eagles here (pop-out view): http://www.ustream.tv/seaeagles/pop-out . Or at the Sea Eagle cam site, which hosts the chat, here: http://www.sea-eaglecam.org/video.html


My eastern phoebes have fledged!
Did not get to see any of them make the leap. :-(
Hope they are doing well.

And also back: The Decorah eagles have fledged from their new nest, but are branching in the cottonwood that houses their old nest! Link is listed at the right.


And now for something completely different! Just found a Coopers Hawk nest cam (from Canada). View it here: http://www.livestream.com/coopershawkwebcam?utm_source=website-channel-page&amp

Eastern Phoebe nest update

About a month I ago, I chatted about a nest under the deck of my house, which has been there for at least 10 years, being washed out by the heavy spring rains. The eastern phoebe who built it lost 3 very young chicks. I reinforced the support under the nest and gave her a copper roof to prevent the rain from getting to her nest. She rebuilt in a jiffy and I believe has a new brood! (click on the pics to enlarge)

It's very dark up under the deck where the nest is ... peering up there the past few days I thought I saw one beak. Today, I went down to the basement door, camera in hand, with flash engaged. Imagine my surprise when I downloaded these pics and saw four babies!! Phoebe is awesome. She was quite mad that I was near her nest. (And I hope I didn't freak out the babes too much.) I calmed her down by sprinkling some mealworms between the bushes behind "her" bench in the garden. I love to watch her grab them up, fly up to the bench to check for intruders, and then fly into the nest.