BREAKING NEWS!! THE FIRST EGG APPEARS

At about 1 PM today, much to everyone's surprise, the formel laid the first egg of the 2012 season.   John Blakeman fortunately was watching the cam and got this image just after the egg appeared.
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Dad had been continuing to dump plastic and other junk in the nest despite the formel's best attempts to clear it out.  She appeared to have little interest in settling down to lay an egg, and quite frankly, who could blame her, when the nest bowl looked like an outtake from Hawk Hoarders from Hell.

Earlier today was the first time she  stayed on the nest for more than a couple of minutes, and as John Blakeman notes, "the formel showed few 'eggnancy' traits. She just dropped the egg and resumed normal activity. She's a pro, with no problems."

More to follow in a longer post.

Will the first egg come soon?

We are all anxiously watching the nest cam awaiting the appearance of the first egg of the 2012 season. 

John Blakeman, raptor biologist and expert on all hawk matters shared this information last year 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 first egg has been laid."

-John Blakeman


The formel is still not spending much time on the nest compared with her mate who persists in bringing really weird stuff to the nest.  Last Thursday, the nest started out with nice pine greenery around the edge, and some paper in the nest bowl.

Within an hour, the tiercel brought in a flattened cardboard box, and we noticed what looked like a tiny origami high top sneaker!  It turned out that was the paper crumpled artfully!

Then the box was gone...

... replaced by an important looking stick.

On Friday morning, there was more of what can only be described as junk in the nest, all brought in by the tiercel.

On Saturday both dad and mom were on the nest, with mom appearing to be a bit dismayed at the state of the nest bowl into which she was soon to be laying her eggs.

When the tiercel left, she started to declutter it, removing some of the paper.

Back came dad to the nest bowl which is now so deep, one cannot see a hawk in it from the ground.

He brought more paper, of course...

... and then started tweaking the pine fronds.

Then it was back to the paper and cardboard area....

... trying to get it just to his liking.

The next thing to appear in the nest was a large, solid looking plastic bag.  Neither hawk seemed particularly interested in it.

Dad started to eat a bird carcass at his feet.

When mom realized there was food to be had...

... she moved right in on his snack, and flew off with it!

He was left with the mysterious bag.

Let's hope this bag will soon be replaced by an egg.

Nest....Camera....Action!

The action is now fast and furious at the nest as the hawks add to its decor.  Last week, pieces of pine greenery started to appear, along with variations on the paper and plastic theme for the bowl lining.

By the end of last week, the front wall of sticks rose ever higher with some sizeable branches in there.

You have to be a bit lucky when watching the Ustream feed to catch the hawks on the nest.  Sometimes hours go by and nothing.... except maybe a hawk gazing out at the streetscape.

Then, in a trice, something quite extraordinary.  Earlier this week the formel had made one of her rare appearances on the nest, and was working on twig placement at the back when dad flew in and literally dove head first under her and body-blocked her off to the side.

The tiercel (dad) is the maitre de decor, and this is definitely HIS nest.

He spends much more time in the nest than his mate, tweaking and organizing the various twigs and sprigs....

... as well as sitting in the bowl of the nest.

Hawkcam watchers can be forgiven their assumption that the hawk who spends the most time at the nest is the female.

An easy way to identify the tiercel is by the white spot at the back of his head.

That spot is pretty easy to see even when he is out at the front of the nest.

In contrast, the back of the formel's head has no white spot.

There are also some differences in the markings on their backs.  The white patches on the formel's back spread further over her wings and the spots are bigger than dad's.

His spots are smaller and more concentrated in the center of his back.

If you're lucky enough to see them from the front, there is a clear difference in their facial and chin coloring under the beak.  Mom has a dark chocolate colored face and chin, while dad's chin is light gray, and overall he has a paler face.

       Kay Meng


In this sequence from last Friday, the formel landed on the front of the nest with a sprig of dead oak leaves.  Dad snatched them away from her...

... and started to arrange them amongst the pine greenery, while she watched.

He poked and pulled at them...

 ... and was having some difficulty placing them to his liking.

Mom continued to watch his efforts, and when she stepped forward...

... he lay down on the pesky oak sprig as if to lay claim to it, even though it was her offering.

She seemed to know she was not wanted, and took off leaving dad to finish his work.

And then take a break.

Here are some pictures from Kay Meng taken this morning (Sunday) when we visited the nest, and saw both hawks there together - a relatively rare sight.  The formel on the left is bigger and more imposing than her mate.

Of course, it wasn't long before they engaged in their favorite activity....

Kay also caught this great shot of the tiercel's magnificent tail and wings as he came in to land on the nest.

We're heading into egg-watch time.  Last year, the first egg was laid on March 17.  In 2010, it was on March 13, and in 2009 on March 9.  Not long to wait......