What a Difference a Week Makes

         Scott Kemper


This has been a week of stunning developments at the Franklin Institute nest since the hawks finally came to their senses and returned to the best nest site in Philadelphia.  The nest grows visibly each day...

         Kevin Vaughan

 ... and is in stark contrast to how it looked last Sunday.

         Della Micah


Undoubtedly the most significant event occurred early last Tuesday morning, the day after they returned to the nest.  This was the first time they were seen copulating, and hawk fan Sherry Krider was quick enough with her camera to catch the action..... which lasts about 30 seconds max!

      Sherry Krider


Kevin Vaughan caught them at it again two days later on Thursday...

         Kevin Vaughan


Moments after, T2 looks distinctly pleased with himself!  Mom not so much...

                  Kevin Vaughan

Just as exciting, though, is to see both hawks fly into the nest as though they had been doing it for weeks, instead of that frustrating flirtation with the GlaxoSmithKline ledge only just a week or so ago.

          Kevin Vaughan


 The camera in this picture is the ledge camera which is used later in the season when the eyasses are old enough to jump and flap out of the nest onto the ledge beside the nest. 

          Kevin Vaughan

The UStream nest cam that started broadcasting a few days ago is inside the window immediately behind the nest, and gives us this view directly down into the nest bowl.

          Danielle Duffy


Another sign of T2's increased attention to his mate occurred when he brought her a rat gift to the nest.  She immediately flew with it to a nearby tree...

              Kevin Vaughan


... and then to a lamp pole, and began feasting.

          Kevin Vaughan


T2 also got his share.

         Kevin Vaughan

Here's a full view of the Franklin Institute when the rat fest was underway.  Mom is on the lamp pole with the nest window to the right.  T2 is in the tree on the left.

       Carolyn Sutton


Throughout last week, both hawks worked tirelessly on nest refurbishing.  As befits her four years of experience, Mom thinks big when she collects sticks for the nest.

         Joe Debold

         Joe Debold


T2 doesn't quite yet have the knack of breaking off big sticks...

         Kevin Vaughan


... so his contributions tend to be more modest!

        Scott Kemper


But he's gradually becoming more ambitious...

                  Joe Debold


... and even audacious!  This was a HUGE stick for him to get back to the nest.

                    Kevin Vaughan


 Landing on an empty nest is pretty much a matter of getting the landing gear down, and then it's a straight drop into the nest.

          Kevin Vaughan

                            Kevin Vaughan


When there's another hawk already there, the landing technique requires more finesse, as well as careful crouching by the hawk at the back of the nest.

          Kevin Vaughan

                                   Kevin Vaughan


Today (Sunday), T2 branched out a bit, and brought pine fronds to the nest to provide softer materials to line the nest bowl ready for the eggs.
What a different hawk he is from the one who last Sunday was larking about in the bramble patch while Mom sat forlornly on the GSK building.

          Scott Kemper


Did he hear at some point,  "Your mission, T2, should you choose to accept it, involves refurbishing that nest over there at the Franklin Institute."

          Scott Kemper



Well, it's clear that he accepted the mission, and he is certainly making up for lost time.

          Scott Kemper

          Scott Kemper


Now that the Ustream nest camera is up and running, and we can see the hawks in real time, it's important to be able to distinguish them, especially from the back view which is mostly what we see on the nest cam, so here's a refresher course.

Mom, on the right here, has more white in the V-pattern on her back.  T2, on the left, has less white in that area.  He also has a distinctive dark band running horizontally across the bottom of his tail.  Because of the foreshortening, Mom looks smaller than T2 here; in fact, the opposite is true.  She is considerably bigger than he.

          Kevin Vaughan


That dark tail band on T2 is very clear in the image below.

           Kevin Vaughan


This shows T2's beautiful feathers without much white, and the dark tail band.

                         Scott Kemper


Mom's equally beautiful plumage shows much more white, almost in a butterfly pattern on her back, and barely any stripe across the bottom of her tail.

              Kevin Vaughan


Though we rarely see them from the front on the nest cam, there are clear differences there too.  T2 has a white bib beneath his beak and down his neck, while  Mom is uniformly dark all over her head and neck.

          Kevin Vaughan


She also has a much fiercer, more intense expression than T2.

 

             Joe Debold


As always, I am very appreciative of the generosity of the incredibly talented photographers who allow me to include so many of their images in this blog.  Readers who visit the Franklin Hawkaholics page on Facebook are treated to many more pictures, but because not everyone uses Facebook, I'm going to share some more of the truly extraordinary photographs of Mom and T2 over the past week.




Mom

          Scott Kemper

         Joe Debold

          Joe Debold

          Scott Kemper

T2

         Kevin Vaughan

        Carolyn Sutton

                  Kevin Vaughan

         Joe Debold

          Kevin Vaughan

         Kevin Vaughan

                         Kevin Vaughan

          Joe Debold