Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Hawk Year!

It's surely been a long time since I last posted, but Hawkwatch is back in business!  

On this last day of 2012, hawk watchers are getting ready for another exciting year with the Franklin Institute red-tail hawks.  Mom and T2 are together and hanging out in their usual spots. Here they were this week on the Family Court building.

         Shannon O'Donnell

The nest came through Hurricane Sandy fine.  Karen Elinich from the Franklin Institute posted this welcome news in November:
"There's no new activity [at the nest], but we wanted to let everyone know that the superstorm may have knocked out power and knocked down trees, but it did no damage at all to the hawk nest! The box and the nest are undisturbed, exactly as the hawks left it. We'll be keeping an eye out in late December / early January when we usually see the adults return to begin tending to it. We're keeping our fingers crossed!"  - Karen Elinich
 
Shannon O'Donnell spied Mom this morning on a window ledge...
 
 Shannon O'Donnell  
... and T2 in a tree near the nest.
 
Shannon O'Donnell
 T2 has definitely "bulked up" after a summer and fall of good hunting. This was taken on December 16.
 
Shannon O'Donnell  
T2 succeeded brilliantly in every test he faced last spring when he was "adopted" by Mom as step-tiercel to help raise the week-old eyasses after Dad's untimely death.  Now, in perhaps his biggest test yet, he has to initiate nest activity and claim the Franklin nest as his own.  If he does not do that, there will be no more Franklin hawks. 
He and Mom are clearly a bonded pair and are regularly seen perching close together on neighboring buildings....
                          Shannon O'Donnell 

... and making hunting flights from the Family Court.

     Shannon O'Donnell

But it is up to T2 to decide where their nest will be for the 2013 season.

So keep your talons crossed that we will soon see nest activity on the Board Room window ledge.

 

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Happy hawks!

I'm pleased to report that both my foot and computer have maintained their recovery status this week. I have not visited the hawks in a couple of weeks, but hope to get down there in the next few days. The fourth heatwave of the summer here in Philadelphia finally broke a few days ago with some welcome rain and almost chilly temperatures in the high 60s and low 70s.

Despite the brutal heat, dedicated early morning hawkstalkers Carolyn Sutton and Shannon O'Donnell have provided daily updates and pictures of the hawks on the Franklin Hawkaholic Facebook page.  To misquote Herodotus: "Neither rain, nor heat, nor humidity, nor gloom of sunrise, stays these hawkstalkers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

On July 14, a small group of hawk fans gathered for a picnic by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Carolyn was presented with a most life-like white rat to commemorate her incredible efforts in being the main food dropper at the nest after losing Dad. Few people would have volunteered to fill their freezer with large numbers of frozen rats and mice, and then drive three times a day to the Franklin Institute to feed the hawks.

                Scott Kemper

Though the three-a-day feedings soon tapered to two, it remained a huge commitment over several weeks. Carolyn is truly the hawks' fairy godmother this year.

*                        *                       *                       *                       *

Sunrise hawkstalking sometimes provides extraordinary lighting conditions for lucky photographers. Scott Kemper captured this remarkable shot  - this is his original, untouched image.

                                 Scott Kemper


Another, equally beautiful image a few minutes later...


                                 Scott Kemper


... and then the magic of PhotoShop.

                                 Scott Kemper


                                 Scott Kemper


The young hawks continue to thrive, and have adopted a new gathering spot - a pair of somewhat deformed and hacked pine trees behind the Parke Towne Place apartment buildings. These trees provide great perching spots, and are full of little birds hiding in the foliage of the vines.

          Jennifer Wong


The hawks love perching here to survey good hunting opportunities.

            Joe Debold


            Joe Debold


            Joe Debold

Sometimes there is immature squabbling for the best spot.

            Scott Kemper


The young hawks' enthusiasm for hunting often puts them in great danger. They have learned that the grassy edges along the on and off-ramps of the expressway are full of their favorite rodents. Often their hunting swoops bring them perilously close to traffic. This driver fortunately braked in time....

          Jennifer Wong


The juvies' foolhardy confidence leads them into some strange spots. This disused railway tunnel runs alongside the river. At least there is no traffic under here - just hawkstalkers!

          Jennifer Wong

          Jennifer Wong

Though their hunting skills improve daily, they still cry out for food in the hopes that the distant, but always watchful haggards will respond. 

Both Mom...

                              Shannon O'Donnell


... and T2 usually appear somewhat indifferent...

            Shannon O'Donnell


... to the strident food squawks from the juveniles.

             Scott Kemper


And chasing Mom or T2 while squawking doesn't work either.

             Scott Kemper


Somehow, though, the haggards communicate where their food drops can be found, and this lucky juvie feasts on a mouse it located in one of the ball field trees...

                                  Scott Kemper

... while this one found a dead bird, which, judging from the flies, had been dead for a while.

             Scott Kemper


The haggards do a marvelous job of balancing the demands for food with leaving them hungry enough to persist in trying to hunt. The young hawks HAVE to learn to catch their own food in order to survive when they migrate in the early fall. Hunger drives them to hunt, and each day, despite the pathetic food cries, they are successfully catching more food, and learning those essential hunting skills.

A fast-flying swallow tempts this juvie...

             Scott Kemper


... but it knows it has no chance against such a nimble flier. Voles and rats in the grass are much slower and easier to catch.


             Scott Kemper


The talons crush the prey to death, and some dry grass is caught up from the initial fierce pounce.

             Scott Kemper


Then up to a firm, flat spot to begin eating what looks like a young rat.


                             Shannon O'Donnell


           Scott Kemper


Bugs in the grass also provide a snack for a hungry hawk. All those talons for a tiny insect!

           Scott Kemper


Here are some close-ups of said talons - primary hunting weapons whose owners are right at the top of the food chain.

           Scott Kemper


                                   George Lloyd


           Kay Meng


Not all hunting expeditions are for "live" prey.... some just truly seem for fun! Once again, Scott Kemper was right on the spot, and this time caught The Slaying of the Soda Can. It started with a normal spying of prey and preparation for take-off.

           Scott Kemper


The deadly launch...

           Scott Kemper

Talons down...

            Scott Kemper


... and in for the kill!


             

The soda can put up a good fight...

                          Scott Kemper


Umm... how do I get out of this slightly embarrassing situation?


            Scott Kemper



Keep calm and carry on... killing the can.

            Scott Kemper


Then make a graceful exit, looking purposeful...

            Scott Kemper


... and deadly.

            Scott Kemper


These small grassy meadows and parks that are their hunting grounds are surrounded by the urban paraphernalia of the sixth largest city in the United States. In addition to their acceptance of humans in their environment, they have also adapted marvelously to the variety of perches available from which to look out over the landscape.

While there are plenty of traditional, simple tree perches right in the heart of Center City...

            Scott Kemper


... the hawks also choose many highly technical, if not downright dangerous perches.

                               Scott Kemper



The scaffolding of billboards provide great look-outs...

            Joe Debold


... as well as comfy spots to kick back and rest one's talons.

            Jennifer Wong


The rail yards nearby also provide high spots from which to survey the ground below for rats and other vermin.

                  Scott Kemper


And the broken goal post on the ball field near the Art Museum has been a favorite spot for a couple of years now.

          Shannon O'Donnell


Of course, lamp poles are always popular... at sunrise especially,

            Scott Kemper


... as well as later in the morning.

                Jennifer Wong


It's hard to believe that there is much to hunt in the middle of Eakin's Oval in front of the Art Museum, but several times a summer, a hawk will proudly perch atop George Washington's hat!

            Carolyn Sutton


And as one hawkaholic observed about the image below, "You can't make this stuff up!"

                                      Scott Kemper


The wonderful photographers who generously allow me to use their images in this blog have captured some breathtaking shots of the young hawks in flight.  Here Joe Debold gets the whole sequence from lift off to full flight when the juvenile left the scaffolding on the billboard.


            Joe Debold


            Joe Debold


            Joe Debold


            Joe Debold


Scott Kemper is a master of the perfect plumage shot, whether landing...

            Scott Kemper


... with pantaloons catching air...

            Scott Kemper


...or taking off.

            Scott Kemper
A bonus in the image above is the expression on the other hawk's face as it watches its sibling get airborne!


In one of this summer's rare rain showers, you can see the water drops beading up on the feathers, showing how weatherproof is a hawk's plumage.

               Scott Kemper


Scott is also great at catching hawk silhouettes - a riveting confluence here of nature and industry at sunrise.

            Scott Kemper


Here are some other particularly expressive images...

Flexible...

                   Joe Debold


Handsome...

                              Joe Debold


High maintenance...

           Joe Debold


Pensive...

             Joe Debold


Finally, here is a video treat from Pamela Dimeler taken on Thursday morning, July 19.   Pam followed one of the juveniles who was perching in a tree alongside the Schuylkill river.  It then flew down and  pounced on a pine cone in the grass and played with it for quite some time. The lack of mantling seems to indicate that the hawk knew from the start that though it had not caught prey, it had snagged a most entertaining object.

The hawk was loath to leave its pine cone, and flew with up with it into a nearby tree - unusual behavior. It then tried eat it - perhaps pecking out some insects - and almost tumbled out of the tree trying to keep hold of it.  Pam then followed the hawk as it flew from tree to tree, eventually landing in a pine tree (5.09) from which it launched a successful hunt, capturing a large vole in the grass.

After devouring the vole, the juvenile bounced around the tree balancing precariously on thin, wobbly branches until a passing train's whistle startled it into flight. Great job, Pam!

The Youtube address for this video is

It will give you a bigger screen than below.