Since 2009, there has been a Red-tailed hawk nest on a window ledge at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. A live-feed camera allows thousands of people in the USA and around the world to watch the eggs hatch, and then observe the feeding and care of the young hawks until they fledge in mid June.
Despite losing two mates, T1 and T2, to accidents, the female, Mom, has remained in the area, and there are high hopes that she and her new partner, T3, will nest together in 2015.
Della Micah
In the midst of the excitement of the first fledge, I sent John Blakeman the pictures I took yesterday of #3's ankles and feet just before s/he fledged, to see if John could determine the gender.
Della Micah
Della Micah I also sent the picture of #3 (right) standing near to one of the twins (left).
Della Micah
John Blakeman's response:
"I think both of the birds in the photos you sent are tiercels --- but big and strong ones. The toes are just a bit too short for formels. There is an outside chance of these being smallish formels; but with all the food they had, that's not probable. And the strong flight of the first-to-fledge hawk affirms the healthy diet. Fledging sequence is not necessarily in hatch sequence. Too many fledge-promoting variables---few of which we know much about. Stochastic. Chance." --John Blakeman
So there we have it - #3 is almost certainly a tiercel, and the twins are definitely a formel and likely another tiercel.
The short version: at 4:50pm on Thursday, June 20, the first eyass fledged from the Franklin Institute nest, and much to all hawkwatchers' surprise, it was #3. He flew first to the portico roof of the Franklin Institute farther down Winter Street where he became briefly caught in the bird netting. #3 escaped from the netting and then flew strongly in a semi-circle back towards the nest, landing two window ledges away. Eventually, he left the ledge and flew over to T2's tree and remained there as night fell.
I have never seen such strong, controlled flying from a newly fledged eyass. Usually, they flail around, struggle to gain/maintain height, crash-land into trees, and can barely steer. Not #3 - he flew beautifully with great control, and seemed quite able to choose a landing spot and successfully alight.
So here's the long version - Kay Meng and I were fortunate to be able to visit the Board Room Thursday afternoon to take what we imagined might be the final pictures of all three eyasses on the nest. At 2:00pm all three of them were lying lethargically on the ledge and nest. No wingercizing, no ledge hopping, no flap-jumping -- nothing but three napping eyasses. And no sign of Mom or T2.
Over the next couple of hours, the two older eyasses became a little more active, pecking at bugs, walking around the ledge a bit, climbing in and out of the nest. But #3 lay in a pile of feathers on the nest barely moving. I had really hoped to be able to get a picture of #3's ankles and feet to see if we could get a determination on whether it is a male or female, but he didn't stand up for over two hours!
At 4:30pm, the older eyasses were starting to flap and jump quite vigorously, so Kay decided to go down outside to street level and photograph them from the front. I stayed up in the Board Room hoping to get that shot of #3's feet.
Finally, at about 4:40pm he stood up, climbed off the nest and joined the other two on the ledge. #3 is on the right with the darker tail. The white/gray speckles all over the picture are the splatters on the window from their slicing. This is the last time I saw all three together on the ledge.
Della Micah
At 4:43pm, #3 stood calmly on the right, just hanging out, while the other eyass could not get close enough to the window to see what I was up to - probably wondering whether my tiny point-and-press was really a camera!
Della Micah
Almost immediately, #3 turned around and climbed back onto the nest, and stood looking out to the right. I took another picture of his unusually dark tail at 4:45pm, never imagining that this would be the last few minutes before he fledged.
Della Micah
It had only been about ten minutes since #3 had been flat out on the nest napping away the afternoon. I wasn't really paying much attention as he started flapping and then jumped up a couple of times near the front of the nest close to the window wall.
The is the final image of #3 on the nest, nimbly captured by Tess Cook, seconds before he left the nest.
Tess Cook
Quicker than I could realize what I was seeing, #3 then jumped up and out, flapped strongly, maintained height, and flew off to the right and out of my sight.
I could not believe what I had just seen, and the remaining two eyasses looked equally stunned. I called Kay (who had just arrived down below on Winter Street) and she quickly looked around and located #3 perched in the angled corner of the portico roof on the Winter Street side of the Franklin Institute.
Kay Meng
Here is that facade, and the angled corner is on the left hand point of the triangle above the lettering that says "The Franklin Institute." #3 was perched above the first T. As you look across this image, the row of windows under the balustrade has the nest window right at the end, but out of sight on this image (which is from last fall).
Franklin Institute
You can see here the nest window at the end of that row. So #3 flew in a large semi-circle out from the nest, and most unusually for a fledging flight, actually gained height to reach the portico ledge.
Google Maps
It soon became apparent that #3 was not perching comfortably because the soft bird netting that covers most of the historic buildings in Philadelphia was preventing him from settling into the ledge.
Kay Meng
Vigorous wing flaps did not help.
Kay Meng
Kay Meng
He started to edge along, perhaps hoping that as the angle opened up, he might find it easier to get a good perch.
Kay Meng
This eyass is nothing if not persistent, and would not give up.
Kay Meng
Kay Meng
Then it became apparent that "Houston, we have a problem."
Kay Meng
#3 had caught his talons in the netting, and could not get free.
Kay Meng
So much for a quiet afternoon and an easy first flight....
Kay Meng
...this intrepid young hawk had a talonful of trouble.
Kay Meng
Just as things started to appear rather desperate for #3...
Kay Meng
... he managed to extricate himself from the netting...
Kay Meng
... and accomplished another excellent flight away from that pesky portico, and back towards the nest, landing smoothly on a window ledge two over to the left from the nest as you look up.
Kay Meng
Here's a wider view with the twins on the nest, and #3 on the ledge of the window on the far left.
Pamela Raitt
For a while, #3 sat quietly, then lay down and seemed to take a nap!
Kay Meng
Meanwhile, Mom had been watching all of this from the top of her green neon circle behind the Barnes Museum.
Carolyn Sutton
She decided it was time to check in with #3, and flew to the roof immediately above.
Kay Meng
#3 woke up, and contemplated his situation...
Kay Meng
... sitting quite calmly watching all the excited hawkstalkers down below!
Kevin Vaughan
The ever-dutiful T2 arrived with a dinner rat for the remaining eyasses...
Kevin Vaughan
He was able to quickly drop-and-fly as the ravenous eyasses fell upon the rat frantically trying to mantle each other away from it.
Kay Meng
He flew over to his tree and watched for a while. The parent hawks are exquisitely tuned in to what is happening to their eyasses, whether fledged or still on the nest. They will make sure everyone gets fed wherever they are, and over the next few weeks will induct the eyasses into hunting their own prey.
Kay Meng
Once the feeding frenzy abated, both parents flew in to the nest, and the party of four dined together.
Tess Cook
No dinner for #3, however, as he paced along the ledge two windows over.
Kay Meng
This remarkably precocious, resourceful eyass then decided it was time to leave the ledge, and head for a nearby tree.
Kay Meng
#3 proved that his first two flights were no flukes. Once again he took off strongly and flew straight and true to T2's tree, picked a branch...
Pamela Dimeler
... made a perfect landing...
Pamela Dimeler
... and settled in for the night.
Pamela Dimeler
Once again, I have to note how remarkable these first flights were by the youngest, smallest eyass. I can still hardly believe that #3 was lying flat out on the nest from 2:00pm - 4:40pm, and ten minutes later was airborne, landing, extricating itself from netting, flying and landing again on a ledge, and then heading into a tree. At no point did he ever lose height which is really unusual. Most eyasses on their first flights go lower than the nest, sometimes right to the ground, and have difficulty getting up to a safe place. Experienced hawkstalkers have vivid memories of escorting fledged Franklin eyasses across streets, through traffic, along sidewalks, trying to keep them safe till they get themselves off the ground and into bushes and trees where they are much safer.
No such problems for #3! What a standard T2's first fledgling has set for the other older two! This short video shot by Pamela Dimeler on Thursday evening shows him flying from the ledge to the tree. The noise is the incessant din of the passing traffic down below on the Vine Street expressway.
It is hard believe that just two weeks ago (June 7) this intrepid flyer, #3, looked like this!
Kay Meng
An amazing, excellent hawk. God speed, little guy.
The other two will not be far behind, and then starts the nail biting time as they all make their way into the world. That is when we hawkstalkers on the ground go into high gear to keep you posted on all that's happening once they leave the nest.
Any day now, the eyasses will fledge from the nest.
Pamela Dimeler As with all other milestones, these hawks stick closely to their timeline, and in previous years, it has been right around 47 days from when the third egg hatches to when the first eyass jumps off the nest. So May 4 was when #3 hatched, and today, June 19, is the 47th day. I sent John Blakeman some of yesterday's hawk pictures of outstretched wings and close-ups of their head feathers, and asked his opinion on how soon they might fledge. His response: "All of these eyasses could jump at any time. There is virtually no down left on the head feathers, and the head feathers have almost completely covered their heads.
The remnant feather sheaths, anywhere on the birds, are no longer debilitating or consequential; merely artifacts of end-stage feather development. But don't be concerned if any of the eyasses (or all of them) elect to stay on the nest for a few more days. One of the Cornell eyasses persisted for many days, when it could have jumped much earlier. There is no way really to predict a jump-off date. The birds have no quantitative compulsion to jump after a typical number of days. Much more stochastic -- chance and random number. They all look healthy, alert, and prepared for the airspace they will soon pierce and begin to dominate. Give my regards to everyone at FI and the website. Another successful year." --John Blakeman The eyasses continue to flap hard and literally spread their wings, and we can see how well developed those feathers now are.
Pamela Dimeler
Pamela Dimeler No more feather sheaths are visible.
Valerie Russell Hutton Most of the wing flapping now is facing forwards to the street, another sign that fledging is imminent.
Christopher Ryan
Pamela Dimeler This is #3, just as ready as its older siblings.
Pamela Dimeler As they become more confident, they get closer to the edge... Maalox time!
Carolyn Sutton They are jumping vertically higher and higher "catching air"...
Pamela Dimeler ... and as with the flapping, are starting to jump sideways...
Pamela Dimeler ... and ever higher.
Valerie Russell Hutton As they jump/flap in and out of the nest from the ledge, they are getting more air time...
Pamela Dimeler ... and are running out of landing space.
Pamela Dimeler It is definitely getting crowded on the nest, and they are not respectful of each other's space.
Pamela Dimeler However, when The Boss returns, the body language changes drastically!
Christopher Ryan As soon as food becomes part of the equation, though, all decorum is gone.
Christopher Ryan If you click on the above image to enlarge it, you can clearly see the difference in eye color between the eyasses (gold) and the formel (dark). The eyes will stay gold for the first two years. They spend a lot of time out on the ledge now, and the Franklin Institute has now switched over to the ledge camera...
Tess Cook ... which is positioned outside the Board Room window.
Pamela Dimeler This camera lets us see all the action outside of the nest.
Pamela Raitt Mom and T2 continue to bring food constantly to their ravenous offspring. Rat remains a favorite...
Kevin Vaughan ... as well as squirrel.
Della Micah
But it is quite possible that the two white pigeons in the Family Court flock are no more. On June 15, dinner was noticeably paler than usual...
Della Micah ... and it was again a menu item on June 17.
Christopher Ryan When they are not eating or sleeping, the eyasses take note of everything in their environment, whether is in on the ground below...
Pamela Dimeler ... in the air above...
Pamela Dimeler ... to the right...
Pamela Dimeler ... or to the left.
Valerie Russell Hutton And all the while, the haggards watch the nest...
Christopher Ryan ... for anything untoward. Mom is on the right.
Christopher Ryan More often, she is at the tip-top of her favorite tree...
Christopher Ryan ... while T2 is off hunting.
Kevin Vaughan So let's wish these wonderful eyasses a safe fledge and happy landings as they get ready...
Pamela Dimeler ... to make that first big jump.
Pamela Dimeler Let me express my huge appreciation as always for the magnificent photographs from so many hawk followers. Your images make it a joy to write this blog.
Grew up in the UK in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. Educated at Cambridge University (B.Ed). Have lived in the United States since 1978.
I work at Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, PA as director of college guidance.
Posts
