Saturday, December 31, 2011

End of year wrap-up and start of new season

As 2011 draws to a close, Kay, Carolyn and I thought we should check on the Franklin hawks last Thursday as they gear up for a new nesting season.

We quickly found Dad sunning himself on an ornate ledge of the Family Court building near the Franklin Institute.  As soon as Kay pointed her camera up at him, he stepped forward, talons overhanging the ledge, and looked steadily down at us.


         Kay Meng


He looked in fine fettle - almost fat - with thick shiny plumage fluffing up in the breeze.  He soon left the ledge and dive bombed some pigeons near Logan Square.  He did not seem to be seriously hunting, and as the pigeons scattered he looped up onto a wooden light pole.

         Kay Meng


He definitely seems to have bulked up....

         Kay Meng


... from the skinnier tiercel we saw at the end of the summer.

          Scott Kemper

We looked all around for Mom but she was nowhere to be seen.  Dad, meanwhile, sat contentedly in the sun on top of his pole against an impossibly blue sky. 

He went through a whole routine of tail fanning...

         Kay Meng


... wing stretching

         Kay Meng


... and head scratching

         Kay Meng

... before taking off and heading towards the Franklin Institute.

We followed him over, hoping to see some nest activity, but no hawks were there.  The nest sticks look a bit lower than at the end of the summer.  When the Franklin Institute did its annual scrub of the ledge after the eyasses had fledged, they probably trimmed the mound of sticks back a bit to make a flatter area for this year's nest.

         Kay Meng

There are some longer twigs pointing up, indicating that the hawks have been bringing sticks to the nest. 


         Kay Meng

In the next few weeks, we should see lots more activity as the haggards get into high gear with nest improvements.

 *                    *                    *                    *                    *                          

A happy update on the CBS Philly Most Valuable Blogger Contest: 
Thanks to the unbelievably enthusiastic support of Franklin Hawkaholics literally worldwide, I'm delighted to say that this Hawkwatch blog won the People's Choice Award!! 

The prize was a $50 Amazon gift certificate which I delivered into Rick Schubert's hands at the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in appreciation of the wonderful job they did in rehabbing #3 back to health from her broken leg, and then hacking her out to learn how to fly strongly and hunt, both of which she was doing very effectively when released in to the wild at the end of the summer (see post from September 11, 2011).

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's celebration tonight, and I wish you all great happiness and success in 2012.  And get ready for another magical nesting season with the amazing Franklin Institute hawks!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

#3 released and is flying free

I received wonderful news today from Rick Schubert at the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Center that #3 (aka Squishy) has been released and is now flying free. This picture was taken at the SWRC before she left.

         Steve Aldrich

From Rick Schubert:

"Number 3 was recently taken to an undisclosed location, where she is already flying free and is being hacked-out. She's an enormously strong and fast flier, with a penchant for killing almost everything in sight. She watches carefully, judges the best moment, then swoops down and grabs it. She's in a carefully selected habitat to give her the best chance for a long life.

With juvenile red-tailed hawks such as Number 3 at a wildlife center, the release is not a single moment where you let the bird go and walk away; it is a process. Because of that, she needs lots of privacy and quiet to complete the rehabilitation process.

As always, wildlife rehab is not about interfering with natural processes; it is about un-interfering. We give back a chance at life to an animal who lost it as a result of something we've done. Just a chance, not a guarantee, because we believe these animals have value in and of themselves, for their own sake as living beings, and not simply for the use or enjoyment of humans. In this case, the hawk didn't ask to be born on a cement building with cameras and streets and cars and artificial lights and honking horns and smog, nor did it deserve to take its very first flight looking into Winter Street, the Vine Street Expressway, and a dozen lanes of the Ben Franklin Parkway. Their adaptability does them credit, but millions of years of evolution doesn't prepare them to make a first landing on a concrete sidewalk.

The rehabilitation of Number 3 was a complete success. Thanks to all the Hawkwatchers for their concern, and to Della and Carolyn Sutton and Peg Smith for their help. It's always OK to care.

It has been a busy summer, as we took in over 100 injured birds of prey so far in 2011, in addition to almost 3000 animals in total, and our Clinic is still full of patients. We hope and pray that next year the Franklin Institute hawks won't need us again."

Here's #3 in a recent picture showing the strength that Rick mentions.

         Steve Aldrich

Hacking-out is a technique used in rehabilitation to help the hawk to become an independent hunter by giving her exercise and experience outside of any cage or enclosure.

It seems perfect timing to get this news of #3 finally flying free at the end of a week when we think we have seen her siblings for the last time and believe they have headed out on their migratory flight.

Here are the last pictures from September 2 of the remaining eyass.  It had just caught a mouse on the ball field....

                     Carolyn Sutton

... and then looking eerily similar in its take-off technique to #3....

                     Carolyn Sutton

 
... it left and we have not seen it since.

 All three of the 2011 eyasses are now on the way to the next exciting stage in their lives, and they head out with our highest hopes for them.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Hurricane hawk interlopers and the return of #1

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