Sunday, March 31, 2013

Three eggs again at the Franklin Institute

For the fifth straight year, the Franklin Institute formel has laid three eggs.  She is so incredibly reliable - three days between every egg she has ever laid - that it was almost certain that the third egg would arrive on this Easter morning.

Avid nest cam watchers were pretty sure, based on the hawk's behavior, that she laid her third egg this morning at about 8:40 AM.  She stood up at 8:55 AM to check out what had just happened...

        Mary Gamble Barrett

... but artfully concealed any view of the eggs, just about driving the hawk cam watchers over the edge!

T2  landed on the nest, and at 9:36 AM she stood up again, stepped back and we could see one... two...

         Mary Gamble Barrett

... and finally three eggs!

         Mary Gamble Barrett


Hawk fans in New York were anxiously awaiting news, and this image was immediately posted on the NYU hawk cam (NYU has a red-tail hawk nest on the window ledge of President John Sexton's office.  Their nest also has three eggs, and is about 10 days ahead of the Franklin Institute nest.)

         Parker - NYU Livestream nest cam


Earlier in the morning before the egg laying, T2 flew in with a nutritious breakfast snack of vole.

          Kevin Vaughan

She grabbed it unceremoniously...

           Kevin Vaughan

 ... prepared for take-off

          Kevin Vaughan

... cleverly maneuvered it from beak...

                Kevin Vaughan

... to talon in mid-flight...

           Kevin Vaughan

 ... and landed on one of their favorite breakfast sites atop the Civil War Memorial.  I've always wondered if they feel a karmic connection to the stylized carved eagles on either side.

            Kevin Vaughan

Not long after she consumed the vole, she returned to the nest and laid her third egg.  After all the uncertainty in January, February and early March as to whether they would nest again at the Franklin Institute (see previous blog entries for those months), it was simply wonderful this morning to see a hawk family of five again.

           Marjorie Goodman


T2 did not linger long, but set out to find a spectacular gift for Mom and the eggs.  He soon returned with a huge sprig of oak leaves...

           Marjorie Goodman


She seemed happy to receive this, and after tweaking the leaves into position, settled back onto the eggs.

           Della Micah


T2 bounced back in with a beakful of grass!  He definitely has his own style of decor.

           Katy Mae



Will there be a fourth egg?  Very unlikely, though not impossible.  In recent years the nesting pair of red-tails at Fordham University successfully raised four eyasses, but that is extremely rare.  Most rural red-tails only lay two eggs, but the plentiful food supply throughout the winter months around urban nests such as those at the Franklin Institute, NYU and Fordham ensures optimum nutrition for the formels, and so all those nests have had at least three eggs each year.

So now starts the long period of incubation.  From the laying of the third egg to the first hatching has always been in the range of 32 days, so sometime in the first week of May we should see the first eyass hatch.

Unlike many bird species where the female does the brunt of incubation, red-tail hawks share the work-load.  The original Franklin tiercel - Dad - was the most enthusiastic egg tender ever.  He would literally push the formel off the eggs when he landed on the nest, and she had to be quite aggressive to get him up and off the eggs so she could settle back on them (see blog entry "As the Nest Turns" March 27, 2011).

It will be fascinating to watch how T2 handles this incubation period.  So far, he seems pretty enthusiastic about his nest duties, willingly taking his turn on the eggs.

           Della Micah

He and Mom are working out the choreography of the changeover so that they don't inadvertently step on an egg.  As she flies in, he crouches down at the back of the nest to give her maximum landing room.

                Kevin Vaughan

 He steps over the nest bowl to allow her to reach the eggs.

           Kevin Vaughan


Then he pushes off powerfully from the nest...

          Kevin Vaughan


...and heads out into the morning sunlight.



What a privilege it will be to watch these magnificent hawks in the coming weeks.

           Kay Meng

           Kay Meng

           Kay Meng

           Kay Meng



Happy Easter Egg

Egg #3 arrived today - Easter Sunday - probably at 8:40 AM, but the first sighting came at 9:35 AM.

          Katy Mae


Then in honor of the day, Mary Gamble Barrett added some magic.

           Mary Gamble Barrett

          Mary Gamble Barrett


Will post a longer blog later on today.

Friday, March 29, 2013

More on Egg #2

The second egg arrived yesterday morning, and anxious hawk watchers got their first peek at noon when Mom finally stood up.

          Katy Mae

She settled down on them to rest with her wings comfortably relaxed down at her sides.

          Marge Goodman

Earlier yesterday morning, before she settled in to lay her second egg, Mom was out and about getting some exercise...

           Kevin Vaughan

... but she was never out of sight of the nest where her first egg sat.  When she flew back to the nest...

          Kevin Vaughan

... she took extra care to land gently to avoid damaging the egg.

          Kevin Vaughan

While she was away from the nest, T2 took his turn sitting on the egg. 

          Marge Goodman

When she returned and settled in for the morning to lay the next egg, T2 stopped by to check on progress. 

          Katy May

The angle of the light at that time of day creates some reflections in the window, but when the Franklin Institute staff install the black privacy screen, those reflections will be far less noticeable.

After the second egg appeared, and Mom left the nest for an afternoon break, T2 flew in and took a look at what had suddenly appeared.  Holland Ailes, a Facebook hawk fan, captioned this image, "T2 to self: 'We are going to need more sticks and a lot more voles.'"

          Marge Goodman

On Wednesday, T2 made sure his mate was well-provisioned with some pigeon.  He had clearly eaten some of it before making his delivery.

          Pam Dimeler

Mom left the egg in T2's care while she took some exercise.

          Pam Dimeler

She then removed the pigeon and left to dine elsewhere.  It is great to see T2 once again adapting to a new role - egg sitter.  He doesn't yet push to sit on the eggs with quite the same enthusiasm as Dad, but longtime hawk watchers will remember that Dad was not much of an egg sitter either the first year or two, but gradually warmed up to that role.

          Katy Mae

T2 remains totally into his role as chief pine branch provider, and continues to bring large samples to the nest.

            Kevin Vaughan

 Here he is on Wednesday, taking a break on his favorite lamp-pole...

                           Kevin Vaughan

 ... before heading back to work.

          Kevin Vaughan

Both hawks are doing a beautiful job with their roles at the nest...

          Kevin Vaughan

 ... and the Franklin Institute hawk family currently stands at four... and counting.  Thanks so much to the hawk cam watchers for these great screen captures.

           Marge Goodman


If all goes well, there will be an Easter egg on Sunday!


Thursday, March 28, 2013

Egg #2 is here!


Mid-morning today, Thursday, March 28 - right on schedule - saw the appearance of the second egg.

           Katy Mae


           Della Micah


 I'll write up a longer post this evening with more details.

Congratulations to the Franklin Institute hawks!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Mother and Egg resting comfortably: proud father makes first visit!


What a wonderful moment it was on Monday to see the first egg of the 2013 season, and Mom gravely inspecting it, especially after all the earlier doubts as to whether she and T2 would nest at the Franklin Institute.

          Sandy Sorlien


Scott Kemper hilariously commented, "Mother and Egg resting comfortably," and she was indeed, though perhaps a little more ruffled than usual.

          Scott Kemper

 It was not long before T2, the proud father, arrived at the nest...

          Katy Mae

...but she was not going to allow him a peek at the egg.

          Katy Mae


 When he finally saw his egg, he seemed bemused, leading us to wonder if this is his first egg ever.  T2 is indeed a mysterious hawk; we know nothing of his past life prior to his sudden appearance at the nest last spring in the wake of losing Dad.

          Scott Kemper


For a moment, it looked as if he might settle down on the egg, but he did not linger long on the nest.

          Scott Kemper


 Yesterday, March 26, it was business as usual for T2 as he got to work collecting more stuff for the nest - dry leaves...

           Kevin Vaughan


           Kevin Vaughan


 ... as well as his favorite spruce from the Barnes Museum.

            Kevin Vaughan


 The black stripe across the end of his tail is so clear as he fans his tail to land on the nest.
 
            Kevin Vaughan


 He never stays long, always seeming to be a hawk on a mission.

            Kevin Vaughan


 Mom spent some time away from the nest collecting sticks...


            Kevin Vaughan


 ... and some leaves.


            Kevin Vaughan


Collecting nest materials was not the only thing on T2's mind, however, this morning!

          Kevin Vaughan


Both hawks look in superb condition, and rightfully proud of the new family they are starting for 2013.

          Kevin Vaughan

For the past four nesting seasons, the eggs have arrived like clockwork with exactly three days between each, so we can expect the next one sometime on March 28.

Some hawk cam watchers have been concerned that this first egg has been left untended and uncovered in the nest.  Until the appearance of the third egg, the sitting is merely maintenance, not incubation. The embryo of this first egg is not developed much, if at all. A fertile egg simply just sits there, viable and alive, but with no growth of the organism inside until incubation starts in earnest after the last egg is laid. 

As we wait for the next egg to arrive, here's some valuable information from John Blakeman, raptor biologist, about what to look for in the formel's behavior as she gets closer to laying her eggs:

"The formel, when the big egg really starts to form and descend down her one fallopian tube (mammals have two of these; birds have one, so that they don't have to fly around with unused extra weight), will take on a somewhat stiff and concerned 'look.' She will not be as active and will just sit there for long periods, looking a bit dazed.

And if I had a fallopian tube with a descending mass commensurately as big as the hawk's egg, I'd be dazed, too.

Then she'll sit down in the nest and get ready. The laying of the egg can't been seen. It just comes out, without much effort. But she'll get up a bit later, turn around, look at it, and then sit back down. That's probably when we'll see that the egg has been laid.

We have to understand that the structural and molecular synthesis of an egg is a very metabolically intense process [for the formel]. All the calcium, for example, in the egg shells and dissolved in the albumen, which will be used to make the eyass's bones, comes right from the bones of the formel herself.

The same is true for the lipids, the fats of the egg, that will power the eyass before hatching and eating. All of those nutrients come from the formel's body, not directly from her food.

The egg is assembled in a day or so during its descent down the single fallopian tube. It takes a lot out of the formel. That's why it's so important for her to feed well in January and February, to pack in reserves of all that makes the new eggs."

--John Blakeman


Tonight, as she will continue to do for the next couple of months, she stands guard at the nest...

          Katy Mae

... and will be gathering her strength to complete her egg-laying and begin the long weeks of incubation.