In recent weeks, we have only seen one eyass. This is the bird that has always seemed a little less active than its sibling. Of course, we have no way of telling, but we've been thinking that #1, the first to get going out of the nest, has also been the first to head out from Philadelphia southwards on its migratory flight.
The second eyass, imaginatively named #2, has been content to hang around the ball field at 26th Street by the Art Museum. Most mornings, it sits one of the goalposts...
Joe Debold
... or on the baseball backstop.
Joe Debold
Joe Debold, who has followed #2 high and low for countless mornings, has named it EG for Easy Glider which reflects its laid back approach. EG seems content to stay on the ball field, using the fences to look for hunting opportunities...
Joe Debold
... that often occur where the grass meets the underbrush.
Joe Debold
Joe Debold
#2 is flying very strongly...
Joe Debold
... and landing well.
Joe Debold
Its hunting efforts are enthusiastic...
Scott Kemper
... but are not always successful.
Scott Kemper
The parent hawks seem to know that this eyass still needs help, so they continue to make food drops. Here, EG finds a tasty young rabbit left in the grass.
Joe Debold
Joe Debold
... which it proceeds to eat with gusto.
Joe Debold
... and perhaps with some appreciation for the superb care it continues to receive from its ever-attentive parents. Here, mom is looking down on the rabbit feast from the nearby apartment building.
Joe Debold
As Hurricane Irene roared northwards last weekend, we worried how the hawks would fare. On the morning of Saturday, August 27, the haggards were together on a lamp post by the Art Museum. The tiercel (dad) is on the right. Their summer molt gives them a dishevelled appearance...
Scott Kemper
... in stark contrast to the smooth new plumage of #2.
Scott Kemper
While waiting for Irene, #2 entertained itself with some new machinery being used to clear the invasive trees and plants from around the ball field to give the native species room to grow.
Scott Kemper
This clearance has been pretty dramatic. In just a couple of days, the hawks' hunting grounds changed from this...
Carolyn Sutton
... to this.
Carolyn Sutton
The storm blew through Philadelphia all day Saturday, and in the hawks' territory the main damage was fallen trees. This tree was across the Parkway from the nest and the haggards often perched in it.
Carolyn Sutton
The nest itself seems hurricane-proof and showed not a stick out of place.
Carolyn Sutton
Just to demonstrate the severity of the flooding, here are the train tracks that run at the end of the ball field as they normally appear...
Carolyn Sutton
... and here they are after Hurricane Irene passed over.
Carolyn Sutton
The day after the hurricane passed, the eyass tested out its flying skills in the high winds. Here it is gliding on the wind with wings outstretched...
Scott Kemper
Scott Kemper
... and now it flies directly into the wind, cupping its wings around the flow, and barely moving.
Scott Kemper
But the big excitement after the hurricane was the arrival of two interloper hawks on August 30. One was an eyass, but with a much paler face than our young hawks.
Scott Kemper
Here's a close-up of its brown-striped tail.
Scott Kemper
The second interloper was an older hawk; its tail was red, unlike the eyasses which have brown striped tails. However, this hawk's eyes are still golden indicating that it is not yet fully mature.
Scott Kemper
Where did these hawks come from? Are they from neighboring hawk territories? Are they migrating hawks (passagers) blown off course in the storm? Is the red-tailed invader a former Franklin hawk?
The red-tailed interloper flew right at our #2 much to its surprise.
Scott Kemper
#2 did not take kindly to this incursion, and aggressively flew in pursuit.
Scott Kemper
Our eyass soon abandoned the chase...
Scott Kemper
... and the interloper flew up into a nearby tree, while its younger colleague perched farther away.
Scott Kemper
Meanwhile, #2 found itself in a stand-off with an extremely bold squirrel.
Scott Kemper
When squirrels get this close, it's as if the eyass is paralysed and can do little except gaze in utter bewilderment (head turned almost upside down!) at the brazen creature who ought to be the next meal.
Scott Kemper
The squirrel made a final, contemptuous dart at the eyass who remained rooted to the branch.
Scott Kemper
The youngest interloper watched all this with equal bewilderment!
Scott Kemper
#2's fortunes picked up when it found another rabbit food drop, this time left in the tree.
Joe Debold
As it feasted...
Joe Debold
... the red-tailed visitor watched hungrily...
Joe Debold
... much to the annoyance of #2 who glared right back...
Joe Debold
... let out a couple of fierce screeches, and then in its consternation, dropped the rabbit off the branch.
Joe Debold
This was immediately observed by the visitor...
Joe Debold
... who jumped down, grabbed the rabbit carcass and flew off with it.
Joe Debold
#2 had a couple of other encounters with the interlopers. The eyass visitor flew onto the roof of the pagoda behind the Art Museum overlooking the Schuylkill river. #2 quickly landed on the rock wall at the base of the pagoda...
Scott Kemper
... and puffed up in indignation at the intruder invading its territory...
Scott Kemper
... and the intruder gazed down in some trepidation.
Scott Kemper
#2 hopped closer onto a fence and fluffed up in greater anger.
Scott Kemper
The interloper decided it was time to head out and flew from the pagoda roof as #2 crouched forward to take off in pursuit. Notice how tightly its talons have curled around the perch to give it maximum stability to push up and out.
Scott Kemper
And the chase was on!
Scott Kemper
When the interloper alighted briefly, its striped tail was clearly visible, indicating for sure that #2 was chasing the younger of the two visitors.
Scott Kemper
The red-tailed interloper was also harassed by #2. When it flew to a ledge on the glass front of the Art Museum parking garage...
Joe Debold
... it was chased again by #2 who immediately flew over and landed close by. It's fascinating to see them both gazing at the glass. Memories of the window ledge at the Franklin Institute?
Joe Debold
#2 edged ever closer toward the other hawk..
Joe Debold
... unnerving the visitor who took flight...
Joe Debold
... with #2 in pursuit.
Joe Debold
A fascinating aspect of this amazing morning is that neither of the Franklin haggards who rule this territory made any attempt to run off the intruders. It was all left to #2 to deal with these hawks who had invaded the Franklin hawks' territory.
As if this week hadn't provided enough amazing hawk happenings, it ended with the reappearance of eyass #1 who we were certain had migrated a couple of weeks ago.
September 1 began as usual on the ball field with an eyass hunting for breakfast finally with considerable success.
Joe Debold
It gobbled that mouse down whole!
Joe Debold
When it hopped up onto the fence, something caught its eye at the other end of the field.
Joe Debold
And there was the other eyass!
Joe Debold
It's pretty certain these are the two Franklin eyasses as neither showed the least aggression to the other, unlike the events earlier in the week with the interloper hawks.
These two happily flew and perched all over the ball field.
Joe Debold
They joined up on a pile of brushwood.
One of them dove deep and bravely into the pile...
Joe Debold
... and came up with the remains of a previous meal.
Joe Debold
These hawks have incredible vision but not such a great grip...yet. When the eyass dropped the scraps, it gazed down in consternation, but did not venture back down into that challenging brush pile.
Joe Debold
So here we are at the start of September, with all four Franklin hawks reunited. We'll probably never know where #1 has been for the past couple of weeks, and it can only be a few more days at most that the eyasses will be here. The urge to join the streams of raptors that are now passing high in the skies above them will soon become irresistible. #3 is still in rehab, and as soon as there is news of her progress, I will post it here.
I'll end by expressing my enormous appreciation to all the loyal readers of this blog who have been voting every day in the Most Valuable Blogger contest here in Philadelphia. The contest ends next week on September 9, and fans can vote every day. If the Hawkwatch blog wins a prize ($50 Amazon gift certificate) I intend to donate it to the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehab Center in appreciation for their care of #3.
Here's the link where you can vote:
http://philadelphia.blogger.cbslocal.com/most-valuable-blogger/blog/64-hawkwatch-at-the-franklin-institute
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