Nest activity and Sunday hawks

The hawks are busy bringing in sticks to the nest and arranging them to their liking.   Now that the Ustream camera is up and running at the Franklin Institute http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-franklin-institute-haw-cam  we can watch the hawks at work.... but the glimpses are brief.... and mostly in the mornings at this point.

Here's the tiercel poking a stick into place.  The grid that seems to line the nest is a reflection of the ledge on the inside of the window.

He then settled down into the nest bowl for a couple of minutes.

He looked as if he were about to leave, when who should appear....

...but the formel - mom!

She pushed to the back of the nest to fix an errant stick...

... and dad took off to find more sticks.  You can see his legs hanging down as he exits top left!

The formel continued to tweak the sticks...

... and then she too settled in the nest bowl for a few minutes.

The plastic bags have started arriving....

... as well as newspaper.

And then both were rearranged into an origami-like shape.

John Blakeman commented recently that "The haggards have very nicely refurbished the nest, as I expected they would. The sticks are thick and carefully placed, the signs of an experienced pair.  I fully expect another trio of eyasses. This pair has its act together, and they are now performing for us."

*                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *        

On a cold, gray Sunday morning (February 5), we found the hawks in one of their usual perching trees near the Central Library building.

 

                           Carolyn Sutton

They then flew down to what has been their favorite morning hangout this winter - the roof ridge on the far end of the Family Court building - accompanied by their attendant flock of pigeons.

           Scott Kemper

Each faced the opposite direction - the tiercel with his paler chest is on the left.

           Scott Kemper

And from the opposite direction, you can see the formel's darker chest and face.

           Scott Kemper

Although Scott shot this from almost two blocks away, you can see how much bigger the formel is than the tiercel, and how she is much broader and rounder in contrast to the tiercel's more rectangular shape.

           Scott Kemper

Because the hawks had been sitting on the end of this building for about an hour, and we had nothing much to watch except the endless wheeling of the pigeons, we missed seeing dad leave.

           Scott Kemper

But he was not gone for long, and when he returned he seemed ready for romance!

           Scott Kemper

And with no further ado...

           Scott Kemper

... the deed was done!

           Scott Kemper

Dad then flew down the front of the building and settled onto the ledge.  Did the pigeons know that he wasn't about to move anywhere anytime soon?

           Scott Kemper

The Hawk Cam is on!!!

The live feed hawk nest camera at the Franklin Institute has been turned on .... let the viewing begin! Below is the link, and I have posted it at the top of the green column on the right  for easy access.

www.ustream.tv/channel/the-franklin-institute-haw-cam

Thank you, Franklin Institute, for providing us with this amazing resource.

Here's how the nest looked tonight at about 11 PM.  The low level of light makes it look much grainier than it will be in daylight.

Hawkwatchers who saw the nest in daylight today observed that one of the hawks - most likely dad, the tiercel - had already brought in some plastic bags for nesting materials.

Here the is tiercel last Sunday perched in one of his favorite trees at the corner of 20th St. and the Parkway.

                       Carolyn Sutton
Though his feathers are fluffed out in the wind, he is very plump after his winter of feasting on the pigeon population in this area.

A couple of weekends ago, Kay Meng, Carolyn Sutton and I watched the hawks catching some rays on the sunny side of the Family Court Building. 

        Kay Meng

        Kay Meng

The pigeons in the Logan Square area seem spectacularly unafraid of the hawks.  They travel in large flocks.... safety in numbers? ... and frequently gather on the stone balustrades of the Central Branch of the Free Library. 

        Kay Meng

When they break out into smaller groups, they still stay packed together.

           Kay Meng

We noticed a couple of white pigeons who really stood out in the crowd - not a good idea when hungry red-tail hawks are close by.

         Kay Meng

This white pigeon seemed unconcerned about the risk it might be taking stepping away from the flock.

        Kay Meng

At one point, dad swooped straight into the flock on the Library, scattering them to the skies.

        Kay Meng


He did not make a kill, and perched on the now empty ledge of the Library.

          Kay Meng

The pigeons swiftly regrouped and in minutes were back, but a little farther along the balustrade.

         Kay Meng

We were hoping to see some nest activity, but the hawks did not go near it.  The sticks have definitely been replenished, though, since we were last there.

        Kay Meng


The tiercel flew to a tree beside the Barnes construction site....

         Kay Meng

... and then launched up into the blue sunny sky.

        Kay Meng
We watched him swing in lazy circles above us, gradually gaining height.

        Kay Meng

        Kay Meng

        Kay Meng

        Kay Meng

        Kay Meng

And finally, after he had soared and glided into the distance, we took a walk over to the Barnes Museum site.  The building is just about complete, and now they are working on the landscaping.  It looks as if there will be many new trees and smooth walls for perching, as well as stretches of lawn that will certainly tempt squirrels and other rodents.

         Della Micah
In short, the Barnes landscaping looks very hawk friendly, and should provide some great play areas for this year's eyasses. 

The image below looks across the entry plaza of the Barnes (still surrounded by construction fences) and over to the Franklin Institute in the background.  The nest is directly above that silver trash can, in the window furthest to the right on the top row.

        Della Micah

Here's another view over to the Franklin Institute, with one of the white Civil War monuments - a favorite feeding perch for young eyasses - in the middle.

        Della Micah

This is turned slightly to the right, and shows another open area that will have grass and trees.  The big trees on the left run along the Ben Franklin Parkway and are favorite perching and roosting spots for the haggards.

         Della Micah

This is looking at what will be the main entrance into the Barnes Museum.  I'm standing on the corner of 20th and the Parkway.

        Della Micah

Here's what it looked like two years ago prior to the start of the construction.

        Della Micah

The Barnes Museum will be opening this spring, and is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors to the Parkway museum area that also houses the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the newly refurbished Rodin Museum, as well as the Academy of Natural Science, and of course the Franklin Institute.

No doubt the Franklin hawk family will be front and center, taking in all the excitement.  The activation of the Franklin Hawk cam today, along with temperatures that will be in the 60's tomorrow, bring spring, eggs,  and eyasses ever closer.

Thank you again, Franklin Institute -- you're the best!

New Year's Day with the Franklin hawks

January 1 in Philadelphia feels more like a spring day with sunshine and balmy temperatures in the 50s.  Indeed, the Mummers are concerned that they may actually be too hot inside some of those elaborate, feathered costumes!

Because it was such a lovely morning, and the Mummers Parade was over on Broad Street, thus not affecting access to the Franklin Institute, it seemed a good plan to start off 2012 by visiting the nest, hopefully to see both Mom and Dad.

Well, the good news is I saw both of the hawks and have pictures of them; the bad news is that I took the pictures, and not Kay, Scott, Joe or George!

I met Carolyn at the nest at 7:30 AM and we waited... and waited... but no hawks to be seen.  We did see scores of police officers assembling for pre-parade briefings; Winter Street seems to be a major gathering point for this activity.

Our patience was rewarded at 8:15 when the tiercel flew to the nest bringing a stick.

He poked his stick into the pile up there and then rearranged some of the other twigs.

He then looked out for a few minutes...

... before flying into a nearby tree on Winter Street.

He climbed around a bit, grabbing at and discarding small twigs...

before finding one to his liking, and flying it back to the nest...

and then quickly flying away to a tree alongside Logan Square.

But where was his mate?  We had not seen the formel in three hours of hawkstalking on Thursday and she was nowhere to be seen today.  It had, in fact, been two or three months since she was last seen.

We split forces to look for her with Carolyn heading down Vine Street and me prowling the Logan Square area back to the nest. Carolyn's hawkspotting talent paid off when she located Mom sitting up on a spotlight pole at 19th & Vine.

What a huge relief to finally locate her.  The sad news this week of the death of Violet, one of the Washington Square Park nesting pair in NYC, was a stark reminder of the dangers that can befall hawks.

Like her mate, she looked fat and healthy.

It is also noticeable how much broader through her chest she is than the tiercel - just a bigger bird altogether.

In our excitement at finding the formel, we missed seeing Dad leave his tree, and once again had only one hawk in view.

This time, I won the hawkspotting award as I spied him on the top of a distant flagpole outside the Family Court building.

I think it is quite a perching feat to appear so comfortable atop a slippery round finial!

During this time, a large flock of pigeons kept swooping past both hawks in daredevil fashion.  After each fly-by, they perched on the balustrade of the court building looking down almost in derision at the hawks below.

"This is not going to end well," I thought to myself as I noticed both hawks looking increasingly interested at the prospect of a possible pigeon brunch.

And then... boom!  Dad launched himself up at the balustrade and the pigeon flock exploded outwards and away - all except one.

If you look at the middle of the right hand balustrade, that brown/tan blob is the tiercel with his pigeon prey.

Almost immediately, the female flew in, grabbed the pigeon and flew with it to the end of the building - to the exact spot where we had first spied Dad last Thursday.  She started ripping off the feathers which fell around us like a snowstorm.  Here are some of them by Carolyn's foot!

Meanwhile, the tiercel flew to the top of another flagpole and resignedly waited for the feast to end.

You can see the formel's tail hanging out from the ledge on the left as she leans forward to eat.

 How satisfying it is finally to see both of the Franklin hawks together and looking so well.

A Happy New Nesting Year looks imminent!